WHILE many pubs are suffering the effects of the credit crunch, St Mary’s Catholic Social Club in Radcliffe is booming.

And regulars believe they have one person to thank for its success — top film director Danny Boyle.

The 52-year-old has attended the club for decades with his father, Frank, and even thanked members in his acceptance speech for best director at the Oscars. The world’s media descended on the club, in Pine Street, when Danny held a home-coming press conference there to show off his award.

And while the worldwide buzz generated by his film Slumdog Millionaire may be calming down, the club is still revelling in the attention. Treasurer Steve Kelly said: “I was delighted when Danny mentioned us at the Oscars. It made the whole world wonder where Radcliffe was and why he’s so proud of the club.”

The social club, which opened in 1949, is enjoying its best business for more than 15 years and takings are up by more than 10 per cent.

It has also seen a massive increase in the number of people joining the club — with 73 new members since January 1, compared to an average of 10 in the same period in previous years.

Mr Kelly said: “We have had a huge increase in members since Danny started telling people about the club. There are some people who just want to meet Danny, but a lot of people are really interested in what we have to offer.

“We have been surprised to find a lot of people in Radcliffe didn’t even know we were here. But with all the media coverage of Danny, it’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t know about us now!”

With the spotlight firmly on Danny and his home town, fans have been bombarding the club with letters and parcels for the former St Mary’s RC Primary School pupil.

Mr Kelly said: “The postman normally delivers one or two letters for us, but we’ve had a huge amount of mail for Danny. People are sending letters and scripts and packages for him. We’ve piled them all up and taken them round to his dad’s house.”

The club is now hoping to make the most of the attention to secure its future for years to come. We’re very grateful to Danny for promoting the club, but there is still more to do. We want even more people to join the club and enjoy our facilities.

“Our older members often have to leave due to poor health and we’ve struggled to recruit enough new members in the past.

“We’re at the hub of something here and really want to do as much as we can,” said Mr Kelly.