SBHC Covid Safety Policy

We meet back together for our first face-to-face rehearsal on Tuesday, September 7. Both Committees have carefully thought about how we should do this safely and we’re setting out the SBHC safety guidelines in this email.

Barry also needs some idea of how many people intend to return on that evening, so it would be helpful if you could email him to give some idea of your plans to come back. Some of you have already done this, and thank you for already doing that.

There is a link below to a short survey for you to complete and return to confirm you have read these guidelines. 

We didn’t think it would take so long and we did think Covid would wear itself out and go away. But it hasn’t, and isn’t doing any time soon, so we need to be very careful of everybody’s safety.

First – the double vaccination. We have to insist that, if for any reason at all, a person has not received two doses of the vaccination they must not return to rehearsals, even if this is for a medical reason. We hope you all understand why this needs to be the case – we cannot take the extra risk.

Second – the lateral flow test on the day. Follow the link for information on how to obtain test kits. https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests  Please do take the test on the rehearsal day to ensure that you pose no risk to others. Sign-in sheets will be at the entrance to the rehearsal room and we ask you to affirm that you have done both of these things. 

So the routine will be – arrive at the front door, sign in at the table set out for your part, go straight to a chair and stay put, sing, go to the toilet if you need to, bring your own water (there will not be a break), leave quickly at the end and talk to friends outside in the open air. For now we will run rehearsals from 7.30pm to 9.30pm.

We know you will expect to shake hands with old friends, but please don’t do it in the rehearsal space.  You may have already met up and you may shake hands automatically, but please don’t. There are people who don’t want to have their hand shaken at the moment and you will embarrass them if they are forced to back away from you. If nobody does it, then nobody will feel embarrassed. Just wait until you are outside. But keep the room a touch-free zone for at least the time being.

Ian is aiming to set up a camera to Zoom the rehearsal for the benefit of those who are absent. It may not work on day one, so please bear with us.

New members will always be welcome, but we feel we have enough concerns in getting ourselves back on track before we offer The Wayfarers Chorus to others. So please, don’t invite or bring along friends and relatives at the moment. We will let you know when those doors are open again.

I would recommend that we keep this in place until at least Christmas, but reviewable by a short joint meeting of both the Music Team and the Admin Team each month to discuss this issue, taking into account the Government’s prevailing guidelines at that time.

It’s possible that you have concerns or anxieties that you want to raise. If you prefer not to come back yet that’s absolutely fine. We will do our best to keep everyone safe, encouraging masks and being aware of social distancing as far as possible, but ultimately every Chorus Member must decide for themselves the level of reassurance they need. We look forward massively to coming back, appreciating as never before the joy of Tuesday evenings. And if you have suggestions on how we can improve things, do let us have them.

Barry.

29.08.2021

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