00:01welcome to mecca bingo here in king standing on a sad day for many people because this is the final
00:08bingo session this building opened as the odeon on the 22nd of july 1935 it closed the cinema in
00:16december 1962 and soon after became a bingo hall its second life that means for more than 60 years
00:24this has been less about the silver screen and more about regulars routines friendships and community
00:29i spoke to lewis a former caller and also a regular player about what the place has meant to them
00:36you make lifelong friends you become like a family you spend more time sometimes with your
00:40colleagues than you do your own family um you pull together um you you know each other's kids
00:46um go to each other's weddings it's it's unlike anything else like a family really compared to
00:51other clubs um it's got a soft spot coming with my mom because my mom sadly passed away last year
00:56and i still see her sitting in her usual seat that she always sat in um also it's not just
01:03the bingo
01:04it's the friends you've made here and we're you know we're going to try and keep in contact but
01:09it will never be the same and it's low it's the only local bingo in the area as well so
01:15um you know
01:17i don't know what we're going to do i suppose save some money while the former odeon was built at
01:25a
01:25time when cinemas were picture palaces it was designed with the scale and glamour of the 1930s
01:31and became known as one of king standing's best known landmarks its cinema life lasted 27 years but its
01:37bingo life lasted more than twice as long after closing as a cinema on december 1962 it was converted
01:44into a top rank bingo club later becoming mecca bingo that second chapter helped keep the building
01:51open and in public use long after many old single screen cinemas had disappeared but bingo halls now
01:58face pressures of their own from changing habits and online gambling to rising costs and the challenge
02:04of maintaining these old large historic buildings i've been coming here for 50 years and this is a place where
02:11you meet all the all your friends all the people you meet new friends it's just been amazing and i
02:19don't want it to close but unfortunately it's going to close i have won a thousand pounds here i've won
02:25a
02:26couple of hundred pounds here you don't come for the it's it's a bonus if you win but you come
02:33for the
02:34the the laugh and the chit chat and and whatever and it's just you know if you win it's a
02:40bonus the
02:41building is grade two listed giving some hope for its future but the closure marks something personal
02:48for king standing for many this is where friendships were made routines were shared and familiar faces
02:54became part of the week for the community here its loss will be felt deeply
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