09 Mar ‘Freedom’ at Popworld
‘Freedom’ is Southend’s hottest new Special Needs club event with top DJs to entertain Essex hosted by Paul Gee and Jazzy!
Freedom club night is a full nightclub for anyone with a disability/different ability. We are heading into our 5th year and this Wednesday we are moving back into our original home which is now the new Popworld Southend!
Our age range is 18+ and we have a full bar, are wheelchair accessible, have our own merchandise range and most importantly we are inclusive.
We run every Wednesday from 6:30 pm to 10 pm and support the
“Stay up Late” Campaign (#nobedtimes).
Entry is £5 and carers come free.
You are welcome to come for a show-around visit before bringing a group or individual to see what we are all about.
We look forward to welcoming you to our amazing night!
The History of Freedom
We created Freedom initially at Dick DeVigne’s in March 2018 as a full-on club night for our friends with disabilities/different abilities.
This year on 29th March Freedom will be 5 years old, we have built the night together from nothing to the 250 plus guests that attend. We average 150 a night with 250 plus on special events!
When covid hit we took the night onto Facebook Live and then Mixcloud from our dining room using a green screen to create a club look. We did this every Wednesday evening, all Bank holidays, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day & Boxing Day, and New Year (we even had all our neighbours and local community join us as well as reaching care facilities locally and as far away as Cornwall and way up north.)
When lockdown eased we reopened but had to move to CoCo’s as Dick DeVigne was a casualty of Covid. We stayed at CoCo’s for about a year then when Dick DeVignes reopened as Rhythm Room we were more than happy to be asked back. Now we are undergoing a massive transformation into Popworld! The management, Stonegate Group, loves Freedom and is very much involved in our night so have helped us to temporarily move into Moo Moo’s while the refurbishment is done.
We have built the night on hard work, contacting, and meeting with homes and groups in the area. All money taken on the door is reinvested into the night. During our time we have had Matt Linnen perform, Southend United players attend, tribute acts do a few songs and we often have themed nights with lots of giveaways! Our Christmas snow parties are legendary! On our birthday last year, the Mayor came to cut our cake! We have been on BBC Look East TV, BBC Essex, and Radio Essex and had features in the Southend Evening Echo.
We celebrate birthdays with Freedom birthday cards and make a fuss on the stage, we have our own merchandise range that is very popular, I print all this myself, mugs, t-shirts, teddy bears and so much more! Every Wednesday at 8pm we play the Bob Sinclair song, Freedom, as our anthem as the words are appropriate. We include all the carers in our nights and even have off-duty carers attend as they love Freedom!
We have Freedom Ambassadors who help, one was a guest and now has the confidence to train as an SIA doorman and does our door along with the club’s doorman, and another has built In confidence and DJs for the middle part of the evening along with our professional DJ, another does our TikTok, and others promotions and helping new guests settle in.
The Freedom Team/Family consists of Paul Gee and myself, DJ Jazzy, Shirley, and Moley (Peter). We all have attributes that have helped shape Freedom. Paul is a former nightclub manager & DJ and is still working as a DJ and in events/ conferences events and is a Radio Presenter on Street Sounds Radio. I am a two times cancer survivor having previously worked in theatres, hotels, and latterly in banking, I now work for myself in design and printing as well as running Photobooths with Paul. DJ Jazzy is trained in SEN teaching and is a maths teacher, (he is also our nephew-in-law), Shirley worked for Dick DeVignes and loved Freedom so joined our team and Moley is also a DJ and a carer. We call ourselves the Freedom Family as we have been there for each other and all our guests through all the difficult times during lockdown.
We are so excited for Freedom’s future!
Best wishes,
Kathy, Paul, and the Freedom Family
