The recent government announcement that Clubs could re-open from June 1st, with a maximum of 50 people in the venue we imagine has excited you. However, after careful deliberation,
The Board and management at Glenorie RSL have made the decision to not re-open our doors at this stage. This decision was not an easy one to make and many scenarios and factors were taken into consideration. Whilst our doors have been closed, we at the Club, have been very busy undertaking small reno’s, maintenance, some exciting landscaping and rebranding. We are looking forward to sharing this with you when we see you all again. In March when initially shutdown due to Covid-19, in order to mitigate the losses of having zero income, we negotiated with our contracted suppliers, and were successful in having many of our monthly service agreements put on hold until we re-opened. During this time, we have also received Jobkeeper payments for some of our staff members. These factors have alleviated some of the financial pressures on our RSL.
The re-opening guidelines, have seemed to change almost daily. However, what we do understand from the most recent guidelines, is that in order to comply, more employees will be required to keep everyone safe, and that will be an increased cost. Additionally, if we were to re-open at this point, all the service agreements will be activated once again at 100% and operational costs would resume to normal. However, our ability to earn an income to cover these costs will be reduced substantially, as we are only allowed to have 50 people in the venue at any time. Financially, this would not be a wise decision.
As far as all our loyal members are concerned, we want to be fair to everyone, however having to limit entry to a certain number will create situations that would be very difficult for both members and club staff. For example; there are 48 people already in the club and a group of eight arrive for a dinner reservation they have made for 6.30pm. Who do you ask to leave? A decision would have to be made on who enters or who leaves in order to accommodate the pre-arranged reservation of eight whilst still remaining within the maximum capacity of 50 people. As we are not exclusively a restaurant it is not possible to limit entry to a timed reservation basis.
The decision to remain closed was not taken lightly, but given the information at hand to date, we believe it is in the best interest of our members and staff in regards to safety, fairness and financial sustainability.
As new information filters through, things may change. Keep watch on our Facebook and Instagram accounts for regular updates of what’s happening and a date for when the doors will open wide to our Members. We miss you and look forward to seeing you all again soon, hopefully not in the too distant future.
