It is not always the children to blame

[annie, Glasgow]

Hi Annie.
Yes we do,,,it’s called Hobson Choice....ie No choice at all.

Yes we had a reserve,but we also had aN earlier 4 month shutdown...

In the case of many WMC 10% of surplus is 10% of nothing.
Decades ago you couldn’t get into our club after 20:00 it was full,,we were paying over £1000 for turns,,these days we have had to stop bands and only pay £100 for pub singers.

You really are out of touch Annie.

JC

Hi JC

The club that I maintained the accounts for is alive and thriving JC.

It is not one size fits all - we know that.

There are a one or two social clubs in my area that are expanding.

If your members can't or won't support the club, sad but time to move on.

Annie

[jc, liverpool]

Hi Annie.
If you have to ask why WMC stay open do don’t really understand the social function they fill in local communities.

There is a double whammy for WMC during this pandemic,,,not only were they shut for months and now the further restrictions affecting finances,,,,the life blood of many clubs that enabled them to keep their heads above water is the lack of private function.
Every Friday night a birthday,wedding,even funerals brought in money.
Every Monday was a C&W night,fans from all over Merseyside,,,every 2nd Friday was Northern Soul night,the place was packed.

All these are now off the table due to restrictions,,,,,,we can’t survive on just Sat and Sun nights,,,no matter how much you increase the price of drink (in itself another put off for people) or ask the members to pay more subs (it’s not a private club in Pall Mall),

JC

[andyn, Bucks]

Hi JC

The club that I maintained the accounts for is alive and thriving JC.

It is not one size fits all - we know that.

There are a one or two social clubs in my area that are expanding.

If your members can't or won't support the club, sad but time to move on.

Annie

How do you know they are expanding? As you are commenting I assume you have seen their accounts...............or have you a family member that runs it

[annie, Glasgow]

How do you know they are expanding? As you are commenting I assume you have seen their accounts...............or have you a family member that runs it

I have family who are members and they pass the copies of accounts as published at the AGM to me.

Annie

[andyn, Bucks]

I have family who are members and they pass the copies of accounts as published at the AGM to me.

Annie

Of course

[annie, Glasgow]

Hi Annie.
If you have to ask why WMC stay open do don’t really understand the social function they fill in local communities.

There is a double whammy for WMC during this pandemic,,,not only were they shut for months and now the further restrictions affecting finances,,,,the life blood of many clubs that enabled them to keep their heads above water is the lack of private function.
Every Friday night a birthday,wedding,even funerals brought in money.
Every Monday was a C&W night,fans from all over Merseyside,,,every 2nd Friday was Northern Soul night,the place was packed.

All these are now off the table due to restrictions,,,,,,we can’t survive on just Sat and Sun nights,,,no matter how much you increase the price of drink (in itself another put off for people) or ask the members to pay more subs (it’s not a private club in Pall Mall),

JC

In Scotland, we have community social clubs but not called WMC.

They run along similar lines I suspect.

OMG i know how difficult it can be - I recall the day the club was in hawk to the brewers. They resolved to clear the debt and never be in that position again. A lot of hard work over the years.

Yes it is tough, and ultimately the members will decide whether they want to tough it out.

The answer lies in the accounts.

Annie

[jc, liverpool]

Hi Annie
Can I ask when was the last time you regularly attended a Workingmens Club.?

btw,,there was 60 people in the Concert Room on Saturday Night,,(max under lockdown rules to enable distancing),,I would say 50 of those have been members for over 30 years,,don’t tell them they won’t support the club,,,,

At that level of support we will survive,,,,,,but if these new lockdown rules last 6 months we will shut,,,no matter what the members do.

JC

[annie, Glasgow]

Hi Annie
Can I ask when was the last time you regularly attended a Workingmens Club.?

btw,,there was 60 people in the Concert Room on Saturday Night,,(max under lockdown rules to enable distancing),,I would say 50 of those have been members for over 30 years,,don’t tell them they won’t support the club,,,,

At that level of support we will survive,,,,,,but if these new lockdown rules last 6 months we will shut,,,no matter what the members do.

JC

Hi JC

TBH I don't attend any WMC clubs now on a regular basis.

So your club has a good core of regular members. How many new members do you recruit??

I would be shocked if the restrictions will last 6 months. Different issue is that the restrictions don't address the main route of transmission.

Annie

PS Just a thought does your club know of a local CU that could help if required??

[PeterM, Southwell]

It's very sad JC especially for people such as yourself who clearly enjoy your club. But wasn't the writing on the wall anyway? Hasn't the Covid situation just hastened what would have happened over a longer period of time? The same thing is happening to pubs. I can think of a number of villages nearby who have just one pub when they used to have two, and those which survive do so only because they have a restaurant. Probably lots of factors: drink driving, no smoking and cheap supermarket booze amongst others.

[philhar, wallasey]

With regards to WMCs and similar,my view is that even those who have acted prudently ( and most do from the sporting clubs I've been involved with) are likely to be on a knife edge now,I know some that definitely are.
This is not saving for a rainy day this would require saving for almost a fallow year which very few organisations are able to do,no matter how well they were doing pre Covid.

[Topdeck, London]

AIUI all clubs work under the members only rules which gives them special tax status(none)

If the members can't afford to employ people they need to do the work themselves.

[andyn, Bucks]

With regards to WMCs and similar,my view is that even those who have acted prudently ( and most do from the sporting clubs I've been involved with) are likely to be on a knife edge now,I know some that definitely are.
This is not saving for a rainy day this would require saving for almost a fallow year which very few organisations are able to do,no matter how well they were doing pre Covid.

Not only the bookings for the function rooms, but also lost all the takings from the regular weekday events, darts, pool, dominoes. For the pubs this was 20 odd people guaranteed on a quiet weekday.

[jc, liverpool]

AIUI all clubs work under the members only rules which gives them special tax status(none)

If the members can't afford to employ people they need to do the work themselves.

Hi TD
They do...
A small example...we had to let the glass collector go,,,members now collect the glasses and wash them.
We had to let the guy go who looked after the bowling green,,a couple of members now look after it,,not a small job.

I am confident we will survive for a few years yet,but these unusual times are presenting a challenge.

But as Peter said it’s an uphill battle most drinking establishments are facing,,,,people just don’t go out any more.
For us it’s especially difficult to attract new blood from the mid 30’s age group,,,cheap drinks,live music,they don’t want to know.
We have darts teams,domino teams,snooker teams and bowls teams,,,,We have a women’s quiz night on a Wednesday,,all on hold for the minute.
All these activities bring in funds.



JC

[jc, liverpool]

AIUI all clubs work under the members only rules which gives them special tax status(none)

If the members can't afford to employ people they need to do the work themselves.

Hi TD
The special tax status would be OK if we made a decent surplus,but we don’t.
JC

[Topdeck, London]

Do the members own the premises?