Eyes down as Elgin's Carlton Bingo hall reopens
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IT WAS eyes down once again for regulars at an Elgin bingo hall this week.
Carlton Bingo saw an eager, socially-distanced queue form for its reopening on Monday, May 24, for the first time since Christmas Eve last year.
A bingo hall since the 1960s, the South Street building can hold more than 500 people including the balcony. However, it can currently take only a fraction of that to allow for social distancing, with capacity reduced to 130.
The business employs 11 people and operates a bar and a bistro within the hall.
To ensure bingo-goers are kept safe, green stickers have been put on tables in use, with every other table taken out of action, and a one-way system put in place as well as a stepped-up cleaning regime.
A steady trickle of people flowed through its doors on early Wednesday afternoon.
Assistant manager Becca Hadden said: "It's nice to finally be back open along with a lot of other local businesses. It's been a stressful time.
"We've been quite lucky. We kept the majority of our staff. We did have a couple of redundancies over the first lockdown, but coming out of the second we've actually been able to take a couple more back on.
"Our capacity is 130 but with the staffing levels we find that 100-110 is comfortable as the staff need to be able to work safely as well."
Becca has got to know many of the regulars in her six years there and said that, for many, their days out at the bingo were an important aspect of their social lives. She said: "We find it's a real source of community for folk here.
"A lot of our customers are older and won't see a lot of people outside of the bingo and this is their form of socialising. For many the bingo is part of their weekly routine – they'll come in and sit in the same seats, speak to the same people at the same time each week.
"It's been isolating for a lot of people through the two lockdowns, and unfortunately we did lose a couple of our customers within that time.
"A couple of customers who had early onset dementia haven't returned because this is so far out of their routine now and this is just something that they're not going to come back to, which is sad."
She added: "Before the first lockdown we were averaging about 1200-1300 admissions a week, and when we reopened after the last lockdown we were getting 500-600, so we lost about half of our customers.
"We're hoping now that as people get fully vaccinated and people can see all the procedures we've put in place, that will encourage them to come here and feel safe."
A refurbishment planned before the pandemic has been put on hold.
One regular Wednesday customer, Janice Milne, from Elgin, said: "The system in place is fantastic – we're not too near each other. The queuing outside is well-managed.
"I have really missed the bingo, though there is a Facebook page where we could chat. I'm glad I'm back. No win yet – but here's hoping."
Another customer, Charmaine Scott, always visits the Elgin bingo when up from Edinburgh to see her sister. She said: "I love my bingo – I missed it. It's just the excitement of getting down to your last number, and the social aspect of it, going along with friends.
"We did a couple of Zoom bingo nights through my work and I was calling the numbers. That was fun, having that little bit of togetherness and enjoyment."
The bingo hall can accept groups of six people from three separate households and is free to join.
