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Parties & Functions

Our clubhouse is situated in a superb location alongside the River Thames and is within an 10 minute walk of the town centre. The large function room (11m by 6m - with seating and tables available) and bar area (has seating for about 30 persons) both on the ‘first floor’ and leads on to the balcony overlooking the river. We can accommodate up to 100 guests and are available for hire to both members and non-members.

We typically only hire our Clubhouse on a Saturday nights, options on other days are limited due to us training, but there is no harm in asking. Setup can only start from 6:45pm as the club is in active use during the day, so time is needed to prepare, stock, check and clean facilities. The doors will be open to your guests from 7.30pm. Last orders is at 11:30pm, the bar shutters will be down at 11:45pm and Club is to be locked at midnight.  If you use the kitchen then plan on the time you will need to set it straight.

Our fully serviced bar is run by unpaid club volunteers, they are, mostly, not expert bar staff, but they will all try to meet your requirements, they will serve you, collect glasses and clear tables. It takes time to find our volunteers so notice of events is 6 weeks for most bookings.

Drinks. Over the last 5 years we have been making increasingly greater losses on the limited sale of draught beer and lager, primarily due to the beer going off quicker than it can be drunk! So we have now stopped getting in barrels for every function. However, we do have the ability to provide draught beers from our local Loddon Brewery. These freshly brewed ales only have a life of just 4 days and so what is ordered in needs to be used at your function and the barrel will be placed on the bar. The brewery can supply us: 10Ltr (18pints), 20Ltr (36pint) or 40Ltr (72 pint) barrels. You can make your choice by looking at the brewery website. We recommend the Hullabaloo Bitter (4.2%), but do not place an order as we have an account and need to agree delivery, so please ask us to order what you need for your function - please understand the risk is with you as any left over beer in a barrel will be deducted from the deposit on a cost per pint basis. The amount remaining will be worked on by weighing the barrel (we know the weight of a full and empty barrel) and fairly accurately determine what beer is remaining. We routinely need 2 weeks notice to get the order placed and delivered. The Loddon Brewery does not make a Lager, we have plenty of bottle options, but they also do a slightly more expensive IPA (4.4%).

If you expect to require more than usual of any other specific drink do please let us know in time to get extra stock in.

Income from bar sales is an important part of our financial plan, therefore we do not expect you to bring your own drinks to the club, our prices are very reasonable on soft and spirits and wines, the bottled beers are comparable to local prices but still good locally. If you would exceptionally like to bring some of your own bottles, perhaps for a toast or similar, then we will charge a corkage fee as shown on the price list noted below, or if your drink is not listed then as negotiated. We will be happy to serve drinks you bring in for you and your guests over the bar.

Note that smoke machines are not allowed in the club as experience tells us they will set off the fire alarm.

There is a disabled lift from Ground to the First floor, this will be operated by the bar staff only, it would be useful to know if it may be needed so our volunteers can be briefed.

The basic cost of bar and function room is £250 to be cleared one week before the event. Plus a £100 refundable deposit is required to secure your date - refund is in accordance with your terms of hire. The kitchen may be hired for a further £60. 

Parking is available in the adjacent council Thames Promenade car park, which is available at no charge on weekends, but tickets need to be displayed if the ticket machine is working. 

Upcoming Availability

Booking can be requested using the link to the form below. Note, we need at least six weeks notice where possible in order to be able to organise the volunteer staff. As long as the current rules for Covid 19 safety continue as expected then we believe we can cope with the required measures. If the Government conditions change to a situation where we feel unsafe to open, then your deposit and hire charge will be refunded.

Booking process

Please review the sample terms we will ask you to sign an electronic form once your booking has been confirmed.  You can also view our example bar stock list and prices (always under review as suppliers raise prices). 

If you are not familiar with the venue and need to visit us, we are normally open Monday-Thursday evenings about 5-8pm, and Saturday and Sunday mornings from very early until about 1pm.  Any of our Members will be happy to show you around without an appointment if you are passing.

When you're ready to book, or if you have any additional questions, contact us at venuehire@readingrc.com

Alternatively, click the button below to complete a booking request.