Streete looking online to keep parish park bingo going
A global pandemic is not enough to stop fans from enjoying their usual game of bingo in Streete Parish Park on a Monday night.
The only difference is people can now play from the comfort of home while social distancing with family.
Since the nationwide lockdown forced bingo halls all over the country to close, the hard-working committee of Streete Parish Park had been examining ways to get back to regular activities, and bingo in particular as it is an important income generator for the park.
A spokesperson said this week: “In light of the public gathering ban due to the coronavirus, we have had to do a lot of thinking to come up with ways of supporting the financial demands of keeping our community centre open.
“Bingo on a Monday night has been our main source of income over the years, and, sadly, Covid-19 put a dampener on the usual gathering – so, to meet the demand, we have decided online bingo is the way to go.”
Online bingo is a new challenge for Streete Parish Park: “We are starting a new game with new money. The jackpot is starting at €2,000 and we are starting a new lotto as well, at €2,000, so if you don’t fancy your chances at bingo you can play the lotto online as well.
“To be fair to everyone, we have frozen the jackpots from our normal bingo along with our lotto until such time as we can recommence normal bingo.
"Our committee feels this new way of playing has huge advantages to players by being accessible to everyone with a compatible device like a smartphone, tablet or PC.
“There is no worrying about being in a crowd having to social distance or having to travel as the winter nights get closer, and with the uncertainty of the relaxation of the lockdown rules, we just had to think outside the box.”
The committee members are award that some older players could find online bingo a bit difficult at first, but they are on hand to help get them started.
Bingo will be live on Zoom at the usual time of 8.30pm on Mondays, hosted by the regular bingo callers who are practising as we write.
All players need to take part is a smartphone, a pen and the playbook, which can be printed at home.
To access your playbook, sign up to the online bingo and lotto using the links on the Streete Parish Park Facebook page or go directly to website ‘Streete and District.ie’.
“We really hope you will support us and you make sure to tell all your friends you might even relax and enjoy the game with a glass of wine or beer, just to get into the spirit of things,” said the spokesman.