What are your hobbies? Do they involve being in the same room as people you know, and people you don’t know, in real life?

This Philosopher-in-Residence has been having several conversations lately about the value of in-person experiences, and also the stress and anxiety that can come with social interaction in the modern world.

True to my geriatric millennial demographic tag, this is not an opening paragraph that people much younger than me would have penned. However, feeling ok about trying hobbies is relevant to any age or group. So I decided to write this fortnight’s blog in praise of bingo. As well as enjoying a flutter at my local bingo hall (Apollo Bingo in Camborne, should you be curious), I’ve also seen a raft of community hall and pub bingo options crop up over recent months.

If I’m losing my audience already, once thing I can promise you, dear members of Plankind, is that bingo is FUN. To try to encourage you to branch out or re-engage, as per MMAP’s Improving Your Confidence Plan, here are some tips for being prepared and therefore potentially feeling able to give this hobby a try:

1. If you want to take a companion, you can help calm any nerves with each other. But for solo souls, you absolutely, definitely, will not be the only lone player – loads of people will be on their own and you can usually sit on your own table in proper bingo halls. So don’t worry about this.
2. You usually need to register as a member beforehand for bingo halls – this helps you to commit as well. They are totally used to newbies and you can pop in and ask any questions beforehand to feel equipped and ready on the day.
3. There are a bunch of options which can be confusing for newbies – I recommend speaking to the person on the till who will be happy to explain the different options. I just go for the paper booklet option as I’m not ready for the electronic options. Don’t feel daunted, just ask questions.
4. Your first time – if at a community bingo option, they will often offer to go slower with calling the numbers. You can explain beforehand that you are really new and will need slow calling and maybe an overview of how they run their session – as some community bingo options differ ie they might go for 4 corners of the card, 1 or 2 numbers from each line, or something else before you play for a full house. If at a main bingo hall, the calling will be fairly speedy and sometimes linked with sister halls around the country over the tannoy. If you miss some numbers, ones that have already been called will be displayed on a large screen. You can tell yourself prior, that everyone makes mistakes on their first visit, plan to treat it as a learning curve where if you do manage to keep up with a whole game, it’s a bonus and if not, you will have learned tons and feel much more able to visit another time.
5. Most community bingo and bingo halls offer reasonably priced refreshments – if this is within your budget, dietary requirements and comfort zone, plan to take up this offer too.
6. Dabbers! If you’re unfamiliar, dabbers are giant pens which dab a big coloured circle onto the number you are marking off on your bingo card, Often available at the venue but you can use a regular pen too.
7. Last but not least: typically in bingo, you will need to call out to signify your win BEFORE the next number is called. You can call Yes, or Bingo, or anything else that signifies the staff needs to come over and check your card to confirm the win. This is the trickiest thing for newbies, the worst that can happen is that you are wrong, or you call too late, in which case you will be a bit embarrassed but you’ll know for next time (this has happened to me!) Best case scenario, you call before the next number is read out and then you are the proud owner of a prize!

As a final note, I didn’t receive any fees to promote bingo and I need to note that bingo is a form of gambling, when the fun stops, stop and only pay out what you can afford to exchange for an afternoon or evening of bingo. This blog, as with many of Make Me A Plan’s free or paid-for services, is intended to promote screenfree hobbies and feeling confident in your personal life and not intended to encourage online gambling or anything that could leave you feeling more isolated.

Next fortnight I’ll be writing On August. Please get in touch with any particular aspects of this subject you’d like me to write about.

In the meantime,

Happy Planning

PS If you want some other free tips for your business life, check out the Working Well blog – out fortnightly on Wednesdays, courtesy of Make Me A Plan’s Productivity Expert, Penny Le Kelly. Browse the latest edition here:

https://www.makemeaplan.com/news/how-to-inspire-your-colleagues-to-get-active/