A Short History Of Millie's

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I originally got the idea to set up a night club for adults with disabilities from my younger sister who has cerebral palsy. As Charlie became an adult she became more frustrated by people of her age going out at night, having a few drinks, having fun, and dancing, which are all things that she felt unsafe to do. Being her older sister and working in the disability field, I saw there was a great potential to create a safe environment for all people with disabilities to experience a nightclub environment, and have the freedom and choice to do as others do.

It was set up on the spur of the moment; I had no idea about funding or sponsorship at the time. As I used to work for the owners of Brass Monkey I went to them and asked for the venue, which they gave to me free of charge, and got my friends to work the door and bar, which they did voluntarily. I made up posters and fliers and took them round to the care homes and day centres that I knew of, and on 17th June 2006, Millie’s was born.

Several months down the line we had to look for a new venue and went to the Conquest Social Club. This is a great little venue, but it was too small and the social club of the local hospital - raising the question, who goes clubbing at a hospital?

A few months later Krash opened - a fantastic nightclub with full disability access (including a toilet) and a light-up dance floor. Perfect. This was re-named Green Room and we were there for over 17years.

The Green Rooms (part of The Chatsworth Hotel) closed, and with accessible and affordable venues disappearing from our town, I approached our local theatre, The White Rock. They were excited by Millie's Nightclub and how they could support it. So June 2024, as we celebrated our 18th Anniversary- we moved in to The White Rock Theatre. Studio 27 is the perfect nightclub setting, spacious enough, dark enough, our DJ's have a stage, accessible toilets- perfect!

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At the same time as making sure that our customers have fun, we are also trying to encourage independence, which is why we charge a small entry fee, and encourage the venues that we use to not alter their bar prices. We are open monthly- see our events page- 7pm to 10pm. We are still volunteer run, now with the support of White Rock Staff. We have security staff to ensure everyone feels safe throughout the night.

There are currently two resident DJs, both with disabilities, who do a fantastic job of keeping the music flowing and the dancers going. Occasionally we have a live band, a local group performance, a themed night and even karaoke!

I hope you get to visit us sometime...

 

Millie & Charlie