Page 46 - br-may-2020
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May 2020                                                                             May 2020

                                                                                            NEWS FROM THE ROYAL OAK


                                                                                           As  the  news  came  to  stay  away  from
                                                                                           pubs  a  week  before  lockdown  we
                                                                                           decided to get ahead of the curve and
                                                                                           print  100's  of  menus  for  home  delivery
                                                                                           and  takeaway  and  get  them  through
                                                                                           the  doors  of  the  village.  So  by  the
                                                                                           Thursday  all  houses  in  Bere  Regis  had
                                                                                           received  a  menu  with  Winterborne
                                                                                           Kingston to follow over the weekend.

                                                                                           Orders  started  coming  through  before
                                                                                           the weekend ended. Then came the full
                                                                                           lockdown and the pub closed its doors.
                                                                                           Unfortunately  for  us  the  pub  funds  the
                                                                                           post  office  and  so  we  were  very
                                                                                           concerned  as  to  how  we  would
                                                                                           continue this vital service.
                                                                                           As  social distancing rules came in I was
                                                                                           concerned for the safety of the staff and
                                                                                           so after a week of asking people to wait
                                                                                           outside  whilst  we  served  someone  I
                                                                                           made the decision to move all the Post Office equipment and start the following
                                                                                           week through the window with reduced hours. Thankfully this has been received
                                                                                           well  by  most  people  and  means  the  service  continues  6  days  a  week.  9-1pm
                                                                                           Monday to Friday amd 9-12noon on Saturday.
                                                                                           We are also doing one to one appointments in the afternoon for those who are
                                                                                           nervous about being around people at this worrying time. We are serving in masks
                                                                                           and  gloves  and  clean  down  the  card  machine  between  all  customers  and
                                                                                           spraying anti vital spray across all outside surfaces around the window.

                                                                                           We are still doing home deliveries Tuesday to Saturday 5.30pm to 8.30pm and this
                                                                                           has proved to be popular and we are very thankful for everyone's support. This is
                                                                                           far from a get rich scheme but will help keep the Post Office open until our world
                                                                                           starts to return to normal.
                                                                                           Whilst this is all going on I have also fully redecorated the bar and just finishing the
                                                                                           ladies toilets. The garden is all dug and looking great. Let's hope you can all come
                                                                                           and have a drink in it before the summer passes.
                                                                                                                                                  Janette Woodhouse




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