Lambeth rallies to save 102-year-old Deaf Club founded by Britain’s first female Olympic tennis champion
Clapham Deaf Sports and Social Club – founded in 1924 when five-time Wimbledon singles champion Lady Charlotte Cooper-Sterry OBE laid the foundation stone of a purpose-built church and institute for the deaf on Clapham Road – has been served an eviction notice, with the 300-member club facing the loss of its home on Monday.
The club meets in the basement of the Grade II listed St Bede’s Centre at 412b Clapham Road, a building designed by Edward Maufe – the architect who later designed Guildford Cathedral – and originally built for the Royal Association in Aid of the Deaf and Dumb using compensation funds after their Oxford Street premises were demolished in 1923.
In 2014, the building was purchased by a Cherubim and Seraphim church, which generously allowed the deaf club to continue meeting rent-free.
The club celebrated its 100th anniversary in February 2024, and today serves around 300 regular members – mostly profoundly deaf and communicating in British Sign Language.
It is one of only two such clubs in London, with members travelling from boroughs across the capital.
An eviction notice was issued in December 2025 but did not reach the club’s leadership until June this year, after the person who received it failed to pass it on.
Brixton Buzz was shown correspondence from the church’s solicitors citing a license which sets out the terms of the club’s tenure, but club officials say they have also not seen the license.
The church has cited three reasons: utility bills generated by the club, the need for renovation of the space, and smoking – including cannabis – by some attendees.
Club chair Joanne Stokes told Brixton Buzz the club had already offered to pay the utility bills, but negotiations had not been resolved. On the smoking, she acknowledged the issue and said the club was prepared to sanction the individuals responsible.
Lambeth Council has now taken up the club’s cause. Green councillors Sam Dorney-Smith and Natalie Kane visited the club this week alongside council officers, and are actively searching for alternative accommodation.
Dorney-Smith wrote to the church leadership asking for a delay of a couple of months to allow the council time to find a suitable new home. “As the council we are happy to try to help find them a new location, but we need some time on this,” she said.
Amelia Willis, the council’s Head of Community Engagement and Participation, said after visiting:
“We were blown away by the history, sense of community and network of support across the club.
We will reach out to our different contacts to see what spaces could be suitable and available.”
– Amelia Willis, Head of Community Engagement and Participation, Lambeth Council.
The club meets on Tuesdays from 10am to 8pm for over-50s and on Wednesdays from 4pm to 11pm as a sports and social club, with sessions regularly attracting 50 to 100 people.
Members need a space where they can set up games, prepare food and socialise – ideally remaining in Clapham, though they are open to other options.
Lady Cooper-Sterry (above), who was 54 when she laid the foundation stone on 23rd February 1924, remains one of the most remarkable figures in British sporting history.
Having lost her hearing completely at age 26, she continued playing at the highest elite level using lip-reading. She went on to win five Wimbledon singles titles and in 1900 became the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal, at the Paris Games.
The foundation stone she laid – inscribed AMDG, ‘For the Greater Glory of God’ – has since been removed from the building.
The council has asked the church whether it still has the stone.