A pensioners’ club in Sandwell that provides hot lunches and games of bingo and dominoes is to close after more than 20 years.

St Mark’s Community Project in Smethwick is to close on September 30 due to money troubles.

The club, based at St Mark’s church hall in Thimblemill Road, delivers hot meals to pensioners in a mile-and-a-half radius.

The project, which does receive some funding from Sandwell Council, also holds lunch clubs at the hall from Monday to Friday.

Ronald Ashford, aged 89, has been attending the club for six months and said he was devastated by the news.

The retired BT worker said it had become a lifeline for him after losing a leg.

“It is an awful shame,” he said today. “We are all such good friends there and where are we going to go now? I go there for my lunch and to play dominoes twice a week. Everyone is really upset by this.”

St Mark’s Community Project chairwoman Nina Rogers said in a letter to members: “It is with much regret that the board of St Mark’s Community Project has come to a decision to close the lunch club and meal delivery services after September 30.”

“This has been a very hard decision to make but there are several difficulties and new ways of funding make it unlikely that we shall be able to raise the necessary basic money to continue.”

Councillor Linda Horton, cabinet member for adult social care, said: “It is entirely the group’s decision to close.

“St Mark’s wrote to the council informing it of the board’s unanimous decision to terminate the lunch club and meals delivery service.

“The group feels sad that this decision had to be made, but for many reasons they had decided there was ‘no viable way of keeping the service running’.  The board felt this was the right time to close when they could do it honourably and properly.

“The council at no time threatened to withdraw or cut funding to St Mark’s Community Project and the council is working with the group to support it in what way it can up to closure.”