Washington pub The Wheelhouse keeping residents entertained during lockdown

The Wheelhouse Pub, in Albany, is keeping residents entertained and sending out a message of positivity with virtual quizzes, buskers nights and live performances all from their Facebook page.

The popular pub, which is owned by Cameron Brewery, wanted a way to keep themselves busy while also sending a positive message to residents while the pub remains closed.

After an extremely difficult year, manager of the Wheelhouse, Joanne Wood, was keen to look at the positives of the challenges the pub has faced.

She said: “I can’t even put into words how difficult the last year has been. There’s been a lot of tears, anxiety and stress but we’re all just trying to look at the positives, take it a day at a time and handle everything that comes our way.

“We don’t do food so we needed a way to keep ourselves busy and keep our name out there, so we’ve come up with a weekly schedule to hopefully keep people entertained and have some fun. We can’t wait till we’re able to reopen again and our top priority will be to make sure everyone is as safe as possible.”

The virtual entertainment has had a great reaction from regular pubgoers and has encouraged the staff to keep working to offer a positive relief from the pandemic.

The pub, which Joanne says was doing well before the pandemic hit, is hosting a buskers night every Tuesday, a quiz every Wednesday, and live performances every Saturday, as well as thinking of ways to do even more.

Keen to make the best of a bad situation, Joanne added: “It’s massively important for everyone to support each other at the minute in their own way. Communities have to come together and try and help.”

To find out more about the virtual entertainment from The Wheelhouse, visit its Facebook page.

Related: Washington pub owners react to the news of a third national lockdown.

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