This posting is intended to provide guidance to all users of Mellor Brook Community Centre in the light of current national government policy on Covid-19 suppression. The contents are to be shared among all users of the Centre. The measures set out here are likely to be modified in the future as circumstances change and as Centre management reappraises conditions applying to its usership and to the locality. Such changes will be communicated to all activity-group leaders by email.
Minimise contact with individuals who are unwell. Any person with symptoms below should not attend
Room capacities: the principle of social distancing has not been discarded but it is recognised that different activities should require appropriate limitations. Yoga, Pilates, dancing and other activities involving physical activities should be mindful of the former 2-metre rule and accordingly limit the occupancy of the hall to 15. Singing causes greater risk of contamination from droplets suspended in the atmosphere and should be similarly limited in numbers. Attention should be given to orientation of participants so that they do not directly face each other. For other activities where most occupants are sedentary such as an audience for a performance, an upper limit of 50 is applied.
Sharing of equipment is to be avoided
Cleaning: Group leaders will continue to be responsible for the cleaning of regularly touched surfaces at the conclusion of their activity. In the case of physical movement-based activities such as Pilates, Yoga and Dancing classes, this will include wiping the floor with a suitable disinfecting agent. Other groups will continue to wipe surfaces that are touched frequently including door handles, handrails, tabletops and other surfaces. Further detailed information on cleaning products, practices, etc from Centre cleaner, John Evans: 07962 121 678
Face covering: leaders, organisers and hirers are encouraged to wear a face covering on arrival and on departure, to provide extra protection when passing through communal areas of the Centre. Once in their position to undertake their activity, the covering can be discarded.
Tissues should be supplied by organisers and will need to be disposed of into a bin, then hands cleaned.
Catering: the kitchen is now available. Although it is very unlikely that COVID-19 is transmitted through food or food packaging, as a matter of good hygiene practice kitchen users should wash their hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. This should be done routinely, including before and after handling food, before handling clean cutlery, dishes, glasses, or other items to be used and after handling dirty or used items such as dishes.
Sanitiser gels: these will continue to be maintained and stocked and all visitors should use them on entry, on exit, after use of tissues and at any time inadvertent contact with other users may have been made. Hand washing should also be encouraged – this is still considered the most effective means of reducing risk of contamination.
From 1 August 2021 Mellor Brook Community Centre will no longer require completion of a Risk Assessment by it’s hirers. Nor will it require organisers to record names and contact details of all activity attendees. This will now be a matter of choice. QR posters will continue to be displayed and centre visitors are to be encouraged to use them in conjunction with their NHS app. Some rooms can now have a higher occupancy level (see below).
The greater transmission associated with the Delta variant means it remains important to be considerate of those who are more vulnerable and who may wish to take a more cautious approach. It will therefore be appropriate at some activities or events that measures including wearing face masks and social distancing are taken so that people who are clinically more vulnerable or not yet fully vaccinated can attend.
This list of measures will be discussed at committee meetings and revised according to advice from central government, from Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) and from Ribble Valley Borough Council and will take into account any special local conditions.
Centre management values the opinions of its users as individuals and as groups. Many groups have partner groups, national body affiliations and memberships. If you, your colleagues, friends, participants or governing body has insights, fears, ideas or relevant recommendations, please feed these back to your Community Centre co-ordinator, Rachael Calvey: rachael@mellorbrook.org / 07436 271153
Plans for a managed return to the Centre were first put into practice in early September 2020. Since that time, visitors have been required to adhere to a range of Covid-19-specific conditions as part of their activity group’s hire agreement. These measures were itemised in a Risk Assessment document tailored to each user-group taking account of that group’s specific activities and the risks of exposure to and transmission of Coronavirus in the delivery of that activity. This was an involved exercise for both Centre management and for group leaders.
The Centre aims to continue to promote a culture of safe practices while removing some of the conditions applied up till 19 July 2021. To this end it proposes to continue its high-level cleaning measures, sanitiser provision, emergency personal protective equipment provision (PPE) and the application of reduced room capacities. It asks that all organisers bring to the attention of all their participants this revised code itemized at the conclusion of this letter.
Seamus Heffernan, Chair volunteer management group’ Mellor Brook Community Centre