The 1 in 12 Club

The late 1970s and early 1980s saw massive job losses across Britain and Bradford was no exception with GEC and International Harvester shutting plants in the City.

Against this backdrop a particularly strong and active Claimants Union emerged which campaigned vigorously to improve the situation for unemployed and low waged people in Bradford.

In 1981, a government investigation into benefit fraud[5] found that '1 in 12' claimants was actively "defrauding the state", and the union adopted this statistic as its name.

This has been avoided by the elected officers of the General Committee meeting on a Sunday with the legally established proviso that all Club members can attend and contribute fully to any decisions made.

In addition an Extraordinary General Meeting which has the same powers as an AGM can be called by any ten members at any time during the year.

The actor Sean Pertwee recently stated in an interview that he had enjoyed a visit to the club in the late 80's when he was in Bradford researching a part for a film about people who had abandoned modern clothes.

He stated 'it was an unusual little place that had a slightly damp feel and an odour of cat urine, however, I grew to love it and all the strange little people who went there, apart from the band Doom who were actually quite rude and a bit weird' [10]