Buzz Bingo reopens in Sunderland - what to expect on a socially distanced trip to the bingo

Buzz Bingo in Pallion, one of the largest sites in the national bingo chain, has reopened its doors to players, with a number of new social distancing measures in place.

The large bingo hall delayed its reopening to ensure it had the appropriate safety measures in place as the country eases out of lockdown. It welcomed its regulars once more from August 20, and staff say people, many of whom come daily to the hall, have been enjoying being back playing the popular game.

Pre-covid 19, the capacity at the hall was up to 1,000. That’s been reduced to 307 to ensure social distancing and is one in a number of enhanced safety measures in place.

Others include more regular cleaning, especially on touch points such as the electronic bingo tablets, a one-way system, sanitisation stations, masks for staff and food from the restaurant, which is ordered from disposable menus, is served to tables under a cloche to reduce touching.

In the slot rooms, there are perspex screens between machines and people can only stand with fellow players if they are in their social bubble.

The site is open seven days a week, from 10am to midnight, and on the first day of reopening people were queuing at the door.

Regional manager Paul Farrelly said: “We have many regulars at the Sunderland site, some come every day for a game. It’s part of their social life, so they really missed it when we closed.

"We’re aware a lot of our customers are older, so we’ve been really careful with safety procedures, with lots of staff training, so we can be as safe as possible. It’s been great having people back and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Sunderland customers are very vocal and would tell us if we’d got it wrong, but from the feedback on Facebook, people feel safe with the measures in place.”

He added: “Electronic bingo was popular before lockdown as it’s an easier way to keep track of numbers. We have a membership who sign in, which we can use for track and trace, and we clean the tablets in between uses.

"For paper bingo, many people bring their own dabbers and the papers are thrown away at the end of the games.”

The Pallion site employs around 20 people who’ve been brought back from furlough, with the cleaning staff working more hours to ensure there’s more regular cleaning.

So far, the procedures have worked well and the hall is looking forward to welcoming more people through the doors over the coming weeks.

Evenings are the most popular hours at the site, which also has a strong student crowd in Sunderland, with around 200 usually attending its student nights.

Buzz Bingo, which also has a site at the Galleries in Washington, has been phasing its reopenings with all sites across the country aiming to be open by September 21.

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