‘Covid hero’ hotelier prepares to reopen after 15 weeks feeding hundreds of vulnerable Whittlesey residents

Colin Wilson runs The Falcon Hotel in Whittlesey and, although he has been accommodating a few key workers throughout the last three months, he now plans to fully reopen under strict government guidance.

He said: “I have been going through all the paperwork. It is a big property as I have a bar, hotel, restaurant and function room but I will be ready for next Saturday.

“I am fitting 10 hand sanitiser dispensers around the place.”

Colin, who turned 60 during lockdown, is showing no signs of slowing down, having had to look after the eight-bedroom hotel single-handed since furloughing his eight staff three months ago.

Despite living in Dogsthorpe, Peterborough, every Wednesday he has opened up his kitchen and supported the Helping Whittlesey volunteers, cooking free meals for the isolating, elderly and vulnerable, thanks to donations and food from numerous sources, including abroad. Despite the heat he still rustled up 236 hot meals on Wednesday in a kitchen not geared up for mass catering.

The team of helpers delivering the meals presented him with a cake, apron and card in recognition of his efforts on his birthday on June 18.

Wife Michelle, 47, said: “He is even more of a hero for doing it as we don’t even live in the town.

“I’m just so proud of him. He manages it all so I don’t worry. He has been doing it alone for 13 weeks and he is shattered. They have funding for another three or four weeks and he will carry on doing it until then.

“Now we can get the staff back in to help too.”

They have taken the time to refurbish some of the hotel, repairing and replacing outdoor seating, removing the smoking shelter and putting up new sail canopies, as well as clearing out unwanted equipment in the kitchen.

Half of his 10 tables will be removed from the bar, but he plans to spread out into the function room. The pool table will be out of action as it cannot be kept sanitised and Colin explained: “You have to think of extra stuff like that.

“The first couple of weeks will be difficult for everyone to get used to the new ways of working and getting customers’ details if needed for track and tracing. They will also need to follow a one-way system with our doors and they cannot move around, instead we will be serving them at their tables. That will require more staffing and cleaning will take more time as rooms will have to be deep cleaned on departure.”

Staff will also be issued with PPE if required. There will be marker tape on the floors and temperature checks on entry. They were unsure how bar and restaurant customers will feel about having to take their contact details.

“It will be 15 weeks we have been closed,” said Colin. “I have been doing takeaway breakfasts, lunches and Sunday lunch carveries, as well as a Father’s Day afternoon tea, all by myself.

“We will never recoup what we have lost. I do a lot of fishing parties during the season and as they come annually they won’t be back until next year. Weddings have cancelled until next year.”

He had also just taken on a converted horsebox outdoor bar and catering work, but those bookings had all been cancelled too.

Michelle said: “It has been hard to keep the wolves from the door and keep ourselves safe as we have an eight year old niece to look after as well and I am the main carer to my elderly parents so we need to be as safe and strict as possible for everyone’s sake.”

She said it has been tough having to turn people away wanting to book rooms at the hotel who wanted to visit elderly relatives in Whittlesey.

It has also been frustrating for her, as she manages the six holiday caravans they rent out to holidaymakers on two sites in Ingoldmells, near Skegness.

She said it has been “a nightmare” with lots of people cancelling their summer breaks ahead of the government’s decision on the leisure industry and she has already lost thousands of pounds in missed bookings during lockdown. Throughout the summer she has weeks where more than half her caravans are empty and she is banking on a late surge to cover costs including thousands in ground rent, as the parks have not yet offered any rebates for her lost months.

Michelle said: “Half of my bookings for the summer have cancelled, when normally they are packed.

“I had one person cancel back in April who was really nasty about it. I would not let her anywhere near my caravans again.”

She expects to need longer to clean properly after customers vacate a caravan and may have to travel from Peterborough to do it herself if she cannot afford to pay her cleaner. Check-ins will have to be later in the day.

No bedding will be provided but hand soap dispensers are being installed.

“I do not want to calculate how much money I have lost, but you cannot go back in time,” said Michelle. “I am really hoping I can fill up and keep my staff employed.”