Pilotpj - having only just seen this thread - well done! I graduated from Lufbra in 1979 and would have certainly joined a flying club if there had been one! I made do with the gliding club just to stay current, but was also a member of ATC so got a fair chance of slinging a Chippy round the sky every now and again! I think all the responses to date have pretty much said it all.
The only other suggestion would be whether you could get a loan from the SU to pre-purchase a block of hours to get a further reduction on hourly rates that would then be paid for by the P1 as they flew.