Bingo hall: ‘We’re still battling on’

A HISTORIC and familiar bingo hall in Gainsborough has experienced a boost in business after The Standard told their story - but they still need you support to survive.

King’s Bingo Hall, previously known as King’s Theatre and the Albert Theatre, has been on Trinity Street since the 1800s and has been used as a bingo hall for over 50 years.

Last month, we reported that with dwindling customers and financial struggles, King’s Bingo Hall was struggling to stay open - facing fierce competition from online bingo sites and suffering at the hands of the economic downturn.

“The Standard made a sterling effort to us raise awareness of our problems and get people back into King’s Bingo,” said owner Roger Whitnall.

“It was a superb write-up and really got our message across - we can’t thank them enough.”

He continued: “Things are looking up, but we aren’t out of the woods yet.”

While Roger thanks Gainsborough residents for their support and custom, he says that there’s still a long way to go until they’ll be certain to stay open.

“We’re reducing our opening times to just four nights a week now on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays,” he said.

“Now we’re just about covering our costs each month, and we’ll be looking at things on a monthly basis to see if we can continue.”

“Following our appearance in the Standard, we were approached by the radio and everything has worked towards business picking up a bit. We had a better run up to Christmas and we’ve been doing OK since then.”

Roger added: “We still need people’s support if we are going to stay open and continue in the coming months.”

Sue Hollingworth from King’s Bingo said that King’s Bingo was a great way to spend an evening with friends or to meet new people.

“Things have certainly improved since we were in the paper,” she said.

“We’ve seen a fair few new customers but not as many as we’d like.”

She added: “It’s still a fight for survival.”

“People should come along and just relax and enjoy themselves. Bingo with us is a great laugh and such a good night out.”

“Even with just 30 people there, the atmosphere is brilliant - and the more people that come along, the higher the prize money will be.”

Related topics: