Scottish Bingo Halls Remain Closed
Scottish Bingo Hall owners are demanding that the Scottish government clarify when bingo halls can reopen. Over the border in England most bingo halls are now open to the public again whilst the doors of bingo hall clubs in Scotland remain firmly closed.
Richard Laciok, who runs Globe Bingo, said hundreds of players are eagerly awaiting a return to the town centre hall but First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has given no clear guidance yet on when this can happen.
He told a Scottish newspaper: “I cannot understand why we have to stay closed while other leisure facilities such as pubs and restaurants close to us in Johnstone High Street have returned to business.
“We have risk assessed the premises and gone to great lengths to prepare the hall by introducing screens, temperature checks, PPE and reduced capacity.
“I believe that by putting these measures in place we have created one of the safest environments for our customers.
“Our customers are eager to get back and it’s very frustrating because we believe we have safer facilities than other places in Renfrewshire.”
Richard also stated that says he believes civil servants at Holyrood are holding back on the reopening decision because they have a misconception that most bingo players are elderly and, therefore, more at risk from Covid- 19.
The reality is though that only 22 per cent of his members are aged over 65, surprisingly the largest number – 29 per cent – are in the 18 to 35 age group.
He added: “The building here is large, with a seating capacity of 700.
“On a busy session we are getting around 170 through the doors and on quiet day we can expect about 50, so space is not an issue and neither is tracing as all our players have membership cards which they swipe on arrival, so we know exactly who has been in and when.
“This is also having a financial impact as we are still having to pay for insurance, utilities such as gas and electricity and phone lines.”
