As we’re starting to move slowly from lockdown and working out what the new normal will be we’ve been thinking about how the launderette will operate next, and we want to share that with you whilst letting you know how we’ve managed to stay open this past 15 months. There is still a lot of uncertainty about the next steps out of lockdown and what the government’s announcement next Monday (14th June) might be. At the launderette we have already made some decisions about what we will be doing to continue to protect you and our staff in the immediate future to ensure we’re operating in a way that will ensure we can stay open long into the future and we’ll share those with you in this post. We’re grateful for all of your understanding over the past 15 months and really appreciate your continued support.
What We Did:
As a not-for-profit community business run by and for local residents it was important for us to stay open and provide an essential service throughout the pandemic, and we are proud that with the hard work and support of our great staff we have managed to do this as a small team of voluntary directors, with one of team effectively overseeing things on a daily basis. Like a lot of small businesses we’ve found this past 15 months very difficult – we’ve lost around 60% of our annual income and only received one small government grant in April, (around 12% of our usual income), and furloughed three staff from May until October. We have only been able to stay open because we used reserves we had been saving for premises improvements to cover our costs, and then by taking out a government Covid19 Bounce Back Loan Scheme early in the New Year. During the first lockdown we took the decision to cut back our opening hours due to having far fewer customers, and because of the small size of the launderette we couldn’t have people inside the premises doing their own laundry so we took the decision that if we were to stay open laundry would need to be dropped off, washed by our our staff and collected later. With some minor changes to opening hours/days this is how we’ve continued to work.
During the pandemic three of our brilliant long-serving staff team left – Sabreen and Jasper moved on to new jobs, whilst Maire, who started work with us on the day we first opened in 1992, took the opportunity to retire at the end of March 2021. It hasn’t been possible to organise the send-off they all deserve but we hope to arrange something very special later in the year to mark Maire’s retirement and to thank her, Sabreen and Jasper for being such a great part of the launderette team as well as showing our appreciation to all of our truly brilliant staff team.
What We Will Do Over the Next Few Months:
When the government announces that lockdown has ended we have taken the decision to continue operating as we currently do at least until the end of this year as it will still be necessary to ensure that we keep you and our staff safe whilst Covid19 and its variations continues to affect us all. We have come to this decision after considerable thought as the launderette is too small for people to safely distance – even with just two customers and one member of staff present – and the very nature of the business means it becomes very hot and stuffy very quickly as the design of these historic buildings means we do not have a through-draft of air. As we become busier we will open slightly longer on certain days, and as business improves we will start to employ more staff so that we can start to open earlier in the morning and later in the afternoon, as we used to. As soon as it is clear that allowing customers into the premises to do their own washing as we used to then we’ll let you know. We’ll keep you updated here and on social media We have, however, decided that the launderette will permanently continue to open six days per week, closing on Wednesdays.
The Future:
September 2022 will mark 30 years since launderette opened for business, (planning and fundraising started in 1989 after consultation with residents), and as we intend to stay open for many years to come we will be marking this special anniversary in a number of ways. We had intended to start working towards that anniversary earlier this year with a crowdfunding campaign but, as more restrictions and a further lockdown was announced we decided to wait until times were a little easier for us all. Later in the year we will begin the first of our crowdfunding campaigns to redecorate the premises, restore the frontage (which will allow us to replace the shutters) and possibly replace one or two washing machines as they are all the same age as the launderette! We then hope to continue with crowdfunding to fully replace the remaining machines and dryers, re-plan and refurbish the premises and take the opportunity to provide internet information point, Wi-Fi and a tea and coffee machine, and to raise funds cover the initial employment of a community business manager to develop and increase our services.
Currently the launderette has a team of three paid launderette assistants, Ali, Tina and Mina, all paid the Living Wage Foundation rates, and they are overseen by four voluntary directors who carry out admin, management and fundraising. Jean Locker and Philip Green are two of the remaining original board and have been directors for over thirty years, Anita has been a director for twenty-five years and Tabitha joined the board last year. After their many years of giving up their time and sharing their skills Jean and Anita have decided to step back, currently Philip and Tabitha share the daily management responsibilities but as our future plans develop and a manager is employed the role of the directors will change to a less hands-on role. We will continue to be a not-for-profit community business run for residents with local residents on the board.
