Community Centre Update

NOTICE TO MEMBERS: BINGO AND RAFFLES 

Clarification of the situation around licensing 

Dear Members 

The Trustees wish to clarify the situation regarding the Bingo and Wednesday Club sessions. We understand that these events are important to everyone and want to ensure that you are correctly informed. These are the current circumstances. 

As Trustees of Wonford Community Centre we must be compliant with the law and fully appraised of events taking place at the community centre.  

As such, we have been reviewing current activities and the licensing requirements and have found that licenses required to run these activities have not been kept up to date. 

RAFFLES 

In order for a public venue to host raffle sessions, or lotteries, the premises must, by law, hold a SMALL SOCIETY LOTTERIES license. We have checked with the city council and this license expired in February 2022.  

At the Trustee meeting last week it was agreed that we will fund the cost of a new small society lottery license and the application form has been submitted to Exeter City Council. This means that you will be able to continue to have raffles at your events and we will confirm once the new license is in place.  

BINGO 

In order for a public venue to host bingo sessions, the premises must, by law, hold a BINGO PREMISES LICENSE.  

The Licensing Officer at Exeter City Council has confirmed that no license to run bingo sessions is in place, indeed, there are no records for Wonford Community Centre having ever applied for such a license. In addition, any person organising a bingo activity must hold an Operating License.  

A new bingo premises license costs £3,215. At the present time this is not a cost that we can justify because the bingo is not being run as a fundraising activity and the community centre makes no profit from these events. Until such time as a bingo license is in place, no further bingo sessions that include monetary transactions can take place.  

We are conscious that the Wednesday sessions are an important community social event. We therefore have offered that members can continue to meet on a weekly basis on a Wednesday afternoon. Bingo as a game can still be played, but without the correct license in place no monetary transactions can be involved.  

The café will also open on Thursdays as usual if members wish to meet up outside of the session. 

Looking ahead, as Trustees we must ensure that any fundraising events held at the community centre are covered by the appropriate licensing, so we are obtaining advice from the licensing officer at the city council in that regard. 

If anyone has any questions, please contact one of the Trustees.      

23 July 2024