The former Premier Bingo in Alloa, which closed in August 2023, looks set to reopen after its present owners have successfully applied for a bingo licence.
The Auld Gambling Hoose on Mill Street operates as a live music hall, with bingo held on Monday evenings. Now, a full licence will give the owners permission to hold bingo throughout the week.
The application to increase the amount of bingo being played at the venue, came after repeated requests from local residents.
Premier Bingo, a small independent chain of three bingo halls in Scotland, shut up shop on all three venues and went into administration. This was at a time when post-COVID, Bingo halls up and down the country were feeling the pinch of the cost of living crisis.
Now, with heating repairs on the way and new bingo staff being scouted, the bingo fans of Alloa, can expect more bingo and bigger prizes than the £2000 weekly prize authorised under its current licence.
People Power Brings Back Bingo to Alloa
A statement from the Alloa Bingo Club said:
“Whilst being on site for some of our early works, we got absolutely badgered by passers-by about reopening for bingo again.
“Based on the extremely low numbers of people playing bingo at the club over the last five years, this was something we were not keen to do.
“But we relented. Our expectations were very low. In fact, we fully expected we would have to cancel after four weeks due to poor attendance.
“We have been absolutely blown away by the number of people turning up week after week. Clearly, there is still a demand for bingo in Alloa, and not one Monday goes by without more badgering from you guys about opening more days.”
“Based on the incredible support from you guys and the clear and obvious demand for more bingo at the club, we applied for a full bingo licence.
“We are delighted to announce that this has been granted.
“So, we have started planning to test out a couple of more days of bingo in the new years.”
Janey’s Story
At the time of closing, one patron, Janey Mcgee wrote to Bingo Daily, to tell of her displeasure at the closing of the popular bingo venue. She said:
The news we received about Alloa Bingo closing was really sad. It may not have been a busy hall, but they had many members who were happy to join and play.
There would be many pensioners who only went in the afternoons as they wouldn’t go out in the evenings. They enjoyed meeting with friends, having bingo, and also enjoying a chat and having tea/coffee, so to me, they would feel their lives wasted as they wouldn’t travel the distance to play Bingo. For myself, I am from Glasgow and was never one to go out clubbing at weekends or don’t drink either. My Mum was always my best friend, and we did everything together. Our happy time was going out for lunch, and a wee bingo evening with her. So when I moved from Glasgow to Alloa and eventually became a member of the hall after a lot of encouragement regarding my illness, especially my Epilepsy, as sometimes I didn’t get a warning of my seizures, so I didn’t like to be alone, but the staff were always so very friendly and kept a close eye on me. The same friendly people who sat around me as we always sat on the same seats, so seeing the same people who went on the same nights as me and becoming friendly with them in the hall made me so comfortable and relaxed in case of seizures.
Angry at Closure
The main reason a couple of my friends and I were really angry/annoyed when we got the news of the bingo closing is that anytime we got a bingo win, there were a few who inquired with staff if you needed to take all your winnings out of your account if you played on the bingo machine rather than bingo books. However, we were told no, you can leave your money in your membership account if you want. It’s definitely safe. that’s the way a few of us worked, letting winnings build up, and the next time you were back at bingo, just paid out of your account.
Between the four of us having money in our accounts, which is ours, and me having the most in mine, none of us received our money back. I contacted the council to get the name and direct number/email of the new owner to deal with the matter. At first, I was told they couldn’t give me the details, but when I explained the situation to the woman, she said, “No, that’s not right,” and asked me to hold the line. She then came back with the name and email address of the licensing officer and was told to send an email to him explaining everything I had explained to her, and someone would reply to me.
It wasn’t long after I received a call from the license officer telling me he had contacted the manager of the Alloa Premier hall regarding the matter the manager told him the electrical fault repair was nearly complete and the hall should be opened back up soon, also not to worry about your winnings as they are perfectly safe too, which has obviously been all lies as I spoke to another two other different people regarding the situation.
One who knew exactly what was going on informed me of what was planned. So what I was told was that there was definitely no intention of opening back up. I spoke to my friends and together we were even planning to get a lawyer to deal with the matter and for us get the money belonging to us.
Missing Alloa
My friend has contacted me a couple of times to invite me along with her and her daughter for a night in Stirling bingo, and they can collect me and drop me home afterward. I went, but I was not as comfortable as I was in Alloa, as I didn’t know the hall, the staff, or the people around me. It makes me weary. Also, Alloa is only five minutes along the road, so easy enough for me to go to and get back from. Any other hall I wouldn’t be keen to go to any as I won’t travel alone, especially at night regarding my Epilepsy, I feel it is absolutely a disgrace, especially as Alloa Hall is in the town, not a wee small village where no one would attend, it’s also sad news with me too as being unfit for work due to my illnesses.
My time and happiness were meeting a couple of friends for coffee in the morning or lunch, then, on certain nights of the week, meeting a couple of different friends for bingo night. Alloa was easy enough to get to. It would be good news to hear if the matter/problems got sorted and if the hall was taken over by a new manager/company to get it up and running again, but no doubt it will be like many other places in town that were closed and opened as a charity shop/ barbers/hairdressers. Many people will feel the same as me pointless to go shopping in Alloa lately!!
Let’s hope Janey, her friends, and all other bingo fans in Alloa enjoy the new bingo opening times!
The post Alloa Bingo Hall to Reopen Full Time After Local’s Requests appeared first on BingoDaily.