The Elmer's Arms - HelpOurArms

After much careful consideration we have decided The Elmer’s Arms will not be opening this Saturday 4th July.

Customer safety & satisfaction has to be our top priority, meaning we intend to remain closed until we feel more confident in our ability to provide this.

As frustrating & sad as this is, we also know that many of you will understand the decision & our difficult situation.  A struggle to maintain social distancing in the cosy Elmer’s Arms & restrictions to that other vital element, music, being the major factors.

We want to guarantee a safe & enjoyable environment for our customers but we feel this just won’t be achievable at present.

Below is some further bumpf regarding the scenario & our reasoning.

And so, we find ourselves joining the realms of similar venues & launching a Crowdfunder for a little assistance through the coming months.

We know these are tough times for so many but if you are in a position to give The Elmer’s Arms a helping hand (please only donate within your means) – you’ll get a big virtual hug from us ????

Some Elmer’s Arms goodies, as designed by the fabulous Joff Winterhart, will also be available for purchase shortly!!

The money raised will ensure The Elmer’s Arms can return when it is safer to do so.

We have been keeping busy during Lockdown; so as well as covering some ongoing costs, funds will contribute to essential repairs plus investment in to rather splendid improvements for us all to enjoy when we are able to welcome you back!

Bristol is such a fantastic place with an amazing network of Breweries, Venues, Publicans, Musicians & of course you, our lovely Punters & Friends. Let’s all keep on keeping on.

Can’t wait to get behind that bar & see you all for a much needed pint soon!!

Again - Thank you for your ongoing support.

Stay Safe & Look after one another.

Elmer Xxx

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Government has eased lockdown & relaxed some social distancing restrictions, allowing pubs to officially re-open.  Unfortunately, a lot of the (sometimes vague) guidance is not workable for The Elmer’s Arms as we know it.

We would be unable to implement all the necessary risk mitigations & extra requirements as we are.

To open now would be too risky & we feel, not the responsible thing to do.

One of the biggest hurdles for The Elmer’s Arms is obviously social distancing in such a small venue with extremely limited outside (pavement) space.

Sadly, social distancing is not the only issue to overcome.

There are increased workloads, staffing, costs & stress that come with the extra measures that will have to be put in place to ensure we keep everyone safe.

Government funding has helped us through these last few months and we are in a very fortunate position to have an extremely reasonable & supportive Landlord.

However, as soon as we open again overheads such as utilities etc increase and ensuring viability under the vastly reduced capacity, whilst also implementing the extra measures is going to be very, very tricky!

As the situation seems to be changing constantly, we will see how things pan out in the coming month and plan to implement any changes & measures we can in order to re-open sensibly when possible.

As per Pre-Lockdown, The Elmer’s Arms would still operate well for mid week quality drink consumption & low key gatherings but the numbers our business relied upon on Fridays & Saturdays will obviously not be allowable (perhaps for many, many months yet!).

We are also a very social & music orientated venue.

Singing, dancing, standing close to others and being in confined spaces (The Elmer’s Arms experience!!) are deemed to be high risk activities and not permitted, along with music at any sort of raised volume.

Live music & DJing are in The Elmer’s Arms blood & the Music Venue Trust have been campaigning to help grassroots music venues in similar situations (who cannot currently operate in their usual manner) like The Mother’s Ruin, The Louisiana, The Old England etc. All of whom have also run Crowdfunders in order to cover costs for adjustments in the way they work and expected lower capacities/revenues.

The money raised will ensure The Elmer’s Arms can return when it is safer to do so.

We have been keeping busy during Lockdown; so as well as covering some ongoing costs, funds will contribute to essential repairs plus investment in to rather splendid improvements for us all to enjoy when we are able to welcome you back!

Bristol is such a fantastic place with an amazing network of Breweries, Venues, Publicans, Business Owners & of course you, our lovely Punters & Friends. Let’s all keep on keeping on.

Can’t wait to get behind that bar & see you all for a much needed pint soon!!

Again - Thank you for your ongoing support.

Stay Safe & Look after one another.

Elmer Xx