The presence of Feel Good Club will certainly be missed
Adam is a senior What’s On and LGBTQ+ reporter for the Manchester Evening News, covering new restaurant and bar openings, food reviews, gig reviews, and issues that matter to the LGBTQ+ community. Adam joined the M.E.N in 2019 as a Facebook Community Reporter and also runs the LGBTQ+ Bulletin newsletter.
The owners behind Feel Good Club have announced they will be closing the venue down in a month(Image: Feel Good Club)
It might sound a bit dramatic, but it’s hard to put into words what Feel Good Club meant as a venue to the city – but I’ll certainly give it a go.
Sure, it’s a café, a bar, and an events space – we have a lot of those already. But this spot, on the corner of Hilton Street in the Northern Quarter, was more than just that – and its loss could be significant to so many.
Earlier this week, owners Kiera and Aimee announced they would be closing the venue at the end of September after five years saying they had to ‘accept with heavy hearts that it’s our time’.
For many, Feel Good Club was a safe space, it was a meeting point, and its void isn’t one that can just be replicated and replaced. For those who regularly visited, it was hailed as ‘one truly safe spot in town’ and ‘such a welcoming place’.
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Feel Good Club in Manchester City Centre(Image: Feel Good Club/Instagram: @visitfeelgoodclub)
Since first opening, it has hosted a range of varied events, club nights, markets, thrift pop-ups, and meet-ups, ranging from burlesque and extravagance from Miss Chief Cabaret, queer brown brilliance with the House of Spice, and fundraisers for the trans community and Palestine.
I’ve been there for brunches, for games nights, for post-work drinks, for hungover lunches after post-work drinks, and been there just to grab a coffee and chill with a book. It also happens to have a nice little spot outside for the occasional bit of sunshine too.
But the venue has also been a stomping ground for new performers, comedians, drag queens, singers, and writers, and has also hosted community groups, workshops, run clubs, and other gatherings. Perhaps equally as important, it also served potato smilies.
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Because of this, it was seen as a place where members of the LGBTQ+ community could come together and feel seen outside of the Gay Village. Whilst the Village has its own history and importance, being visible away from areas like that are equally vital and still quite hard to come by.
In fact, if anyone ever asked me for a safe and welcoming space outside of the Gay Village, Feel Good Club was always at the top of my list of recommendations. Inside Feel Good Club, you’d meet groups of people who were openly themselves, accepted, and embraced.
And, in all honesty, it’s something that isn’t possible today in some of the other venues just yards away. Like I said about this year’s Manchester Pride, the trans, non-binary and intersex community are under attack right now.
Owners of Feel Good Club Aimee Skillen and Kiera Lawlor(Image: Manchester Evening News)
The agenda targeted towards these communities is so toxic and pointed that I can imagine it’s hard not to constantly feel like you’re under scrutiny – even just for walking down a street, or going into a venue.
That’s why venues like Feel Good Club often tend to be rare and hard to come by. This is another hurt for the community to bear, but it is also a reminder that places outside of the Village can, and should, embrace everybody.
We shouldn’t have to feel hidden away, or confined to one area, in order to be able to embrace ourselves without judgement. With the toxicity surrounding the world today, more venues in Manchester should try to be more like Feel Good Club.
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Feel Good Club will be closing its doors at the end of September after five years
Of course, there are still some amazing and inclusive venues doing great things. It wasn’t just confined to Feel Good Club. There’s Fairfield Social Club, there’s Afflecks Palace and there’s HOME, whilst the likes of Freight Island, Depot and Warehouse Project also look after the trans and non-binary community with their events and policies too.
Earlier this year, one trans person told the Manchester Evening News that all they wanted to do was ‘to exist, be loved, and not have to fight the system to be recognised’. And, whilst it may seem trivial to some, having a place where people could drop the mask and not feel under constant scrutiny can do wonders in helping them feel like they exist. Even if it’s just for half an hour whilst having a coffee.
If Pride this past weekend has shown us, it’s important to turn up and support one another. We need to support the venues that are important to us, to others and to this city, because otherwise, we just won’t have them anymore. And on a separate, wider note, we also need to be kicking up a fuss about the sky-high business rates that are leading to closures of some of our most loved venues across the country.
We still have a month before Feel Good Club closes its doors, so feel free to pop in and spend some time there if you can!
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