| Administrative History | Bexley Forty One Club is the local branch of The Association of Ex-Round Tablers' Clubs. a social networking organisation for men aged over forty who are also former members of Round Table. Thus, Forty One Club forms part of the Round Table Family of clubs, together with Round Table, Ladies Circle and Tangent. The Round Table itself was formed in 1927, exclusively for men aged under forty, with the intention of offering younger men the benefits afforded by similar groups such as Rotary Club, which were dominated by older people. It took off quickly, and within a few years there were more than a hundred Round Tables in towns and cities across the United Kingdom. It became common practice for retiring Tablers to stay on after retiring age as so-called "honorary members", however it soon became clear that the Round Table risked itself becoming over time a group largely of older people. The first Ex-Tablers Club was formed in Liverpool in 1936. Former Round Table members from other parts of the United Kingdom quickly followed suit, as later did former Tablers overseas.The Association of Ex-Round Tablers' Clubs.was formed in 1945 at a meeting of Forty One Clubs in Wakefield and the first President, John Shuter of London Old Tablers Society, was elected. Today there over 18,000 members in 820 clubs across Great Britain and Ireland . Their primary objective remains to support The Round Table in their activities. Members of Round Table are obliged to end their membership when they reach the age of forty. |