UP CLOSE: How the Working Men's Club in Radstock will look when it re-opens tomorrow

By Susie Watkins

3rd Jul 2020 | Local News

So no one knows quite how this is going to work, but at the Working Men's Club in Radstock, staff know they HAVE to make it work - they owe it to the members.

Those members, who have all been waiting patiently to meet up with friends for three months, and the families who want to pop in for a community catch up, the club is known for being a hugely social place.

But it will certainly feel like a bit of a different space. Opened up for Nub News we saw all the work and effort that has been put in to make it safe for everyone to come on Saturday.

Everyone, if they are not part of an existing bubble will have to sit on separate tables, so meeting up for a pint, may mean sitting at one table and your mate sitting at another.

But the affable Club Secretary isn't letting those kind of worries - or the huge figures on the costs of re-opening - overwhelm them in the centre of Radtock.

He told Nub News: " We don't know what to expect and how things will work, but the point is we will re-open because our members expect us to."

That kind of loyal service used to involve hiring out a busy function room with up to 180 members having a real knees up. With a stage for live bands and a huge floor ready to host a dance. All of that is now been sectioned off, with spacing between tables,seating divided into separate bubbles, stickers on the floor and sanitisers at all the stations.

All to keep customers safe when they come in on Saturday.

This is how it will be different, explained Andy Fry to Nub News: " First of all no standing up to drink.

"Anybody who comes in will have to be registered. We will have someone on the door at all times. They will have to register with their name and contact details.

" Obviously we are a members club, but anyone who wants to come in can sign in. But they will also need to give us their names and contact details. They need to come in, find a table and then a member of staff will come and take their orders.

" The pool table is off limits and darts as well.

" I think it will be busy on Saturday. I think lots of people will want to see their friends, they haven't been out for three months. We are happy to be re-opening and ready to go.

" We would just like to say to our members stick to the guidelines.. and enjoy their time with us."

That said, opening up on Saturday is going to be a big financial invesrment.

Andy was kind enough to share some of the costs with Nub News:

- A thousand pounds in electricity

- Eight thousand pounds in wages

- Sky Sports costing £700

- BT sport costing £300.

- Beers and drinks - when the Club has a delivery it expects to be paying out around £2,000 to £3,000 a week.

- Perspex screens for the bar about £450 - plus all the PPE equipment for the staff and signs and sanitisers around the big building.

" At the end of the day, " Andy said, " We have to give it a go, if we don't open up other places do and you will find your customers going elsewhere, you have to keep your customers. We do this all for the members."

     

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