Re-opening of village halls .
26th. July 2021
On 19th. July 2021 the majority of the COVID restrictions were removed, generally allowing the use of the hall to be unrestricted.
A number of the covid measures put in place previously, however, remain.
Users of the hall should still scan the QR code or pass their contact details to the organiser of their event.
The one way system and sanitation stations remain.
Further details are available here.
16th. June 2021
Lifting of restrictions scheduled for 21st. June 2021 has been delayed for four weeks until 19th. July 2021.
For wedding receptions and wakes the rules have been relaxed to allow an unlimited number of guests subject to the capacity of the venue. In the case of village halls the permitted covid capacity is 50% of their normal capacity. For RVH numbers are limited to 70 people indoors (adults and children are counted), staff are excluded.
All other covid restrictions remain.
14th. May 2021
Village halls are permitted to open from 16th. May and that's exactly what we're going to do!
We have been beavering away to prepare the hall after it has stood idle for more than twelve months.
We have thoroughly cleaned it from end to end, top to bottom. We have sanitised just about everything that can be sterilised.
We've blasted the hall with a UV disinfection lamp.
Hand gel sanitiser dispensers are fitted and the Test and Trace QR code is displayed.
We are in the process of placing the necessary posters and signs - some advisory and some mandatory.
All users of the hall should familiarise themselves with our supplementary, COVID, conditions, Appendix E.
Thanks to the small gang of volunteers for their hard work.
17th. March 2021 (updated 19/3/2021)
Below are details of activities and events that will be permitted as the Covid 19 restrictions are eased.
Each step is dependent on all four of the following conditions being met.
All dates are “no earlier than” and the Government will confirm a week beforehand. When accepting bookings, it would therefore be prudent to consider the dates of the latter two steps as more likely to be changed than the first two.
1. The coronavirus vaccine programme continues to go to plan.
2. Evidence shows vaccines are sufficiently reducing the number of people dying or needing hospital treatment.
3. Infection rates do not risk a surge in hospital admissions.
4. New variants of the virus do not fundamentally change the risk of lifting.
•Controlled indoor events can take place with up to 50% capacity.
•Hospitality settings will be able to open in accordance with the “rule of 6”, so community cafes, coffee mornings and social clubscan take place.
•Film shows, plays,concerts and sports matches can take place, subject to social distancing.
•Indoor sports activities, including exercise classes, table tennis, badminton can take place. **The “rule of 6” will apply.
•Up to 30 people will be able to attend weddings, receptions, funerals,and wakes. Christenings and bar mitzvahs will be allowed.
•Organised outdoor entertainment can take place.
•The "rule of six" will be abolished for outdoor gatherings, replaced with a limit of 30 people. **The “rule of 6” will apply to indoor events. Guidance on social contact between friends and family will be reviewed. While so-called “vaccine passports” are under consideration for allowing certain indoor venues to re-open safely at this step that would hopefully be confined to larger venues, not village and community halls
** Note that a group of people living together in the same household would be counted as one person for the 'rule of six'.
•All legal limits on social contact are removed. Outdoor events with more than 30 people can take place.
•Dancing is permitted.
•Restrictions on numbers at weddings and funerals are abolished.
__________________________________________________________________
3rd. March 2021
Contrary to the government’s announcement on 22 February, village halls will not be able to reopen after Easter, except for a small number of permitted activities.
England’s 10,000+ rural community buildings will instead have to wait until 17 May before they can be hired out for many functions including exercise classes, coffee mornings, performances and celebrations such as weddings and birthday parties.
Halls will however be permitted to open for use as polling stations.
____________________________________________________
2nd. October 2020
One of the items discussed during our last committee meeting was a date for re-opening of the village hall.
We considered a number of factors, primarily:
1. that the daily infection rate was increasing.
2. that with the approach of winter the infection rate was likely to increase further (in common with other strains of coronavirus)
3. that the control measures already in place restricted the types of function and number of attendees that could take place in the hall.
4. that already there were local lockdowns in place, although these tended to be well to the north of Suffolk.
5. the probability that stricter control measures would be imposed and the likelihood of another national lockdown.
We considered a number of factors, primarily:
1. that the daily infection rate was increasing.
2. that with the approach of winter the infection rate was likely to increase further (in common with other strains of coronavirus)
3. that the control measures already in place restricted the types of function and number of attendees that could take place in the hall.
4. that already there were local lockdowns in place, although these tended to be well to the north of Suffolk.
5. the probability that stricter control measures would be imposed and the likelihood of another national lockdown.
We also considered that the cost of the precautions and safety measures that we would have to put in place would far outweigh the income that we would derive from hire fees and that attendance at functions would, in any case, be reduced as a result of people not being prepared to risk mixing in an enclosed space.
We decided that the hall would remain closed for the remainder of 2020 subject to review monthly.
Our decision was based exclusively on the effects of the pandemic.
Later that same evening Downing Street announced more stringent measures to control the pandemic. ________________________________________________
|
14th. July 2020
Following discussion the management committee consider that it would not be viable to re-open the village hall in the immediate future.
We will review the situation at the beginning of November 2020. The hall will therefore remain closed until at least 1st. November 2020.
We will, of course, open the hall as soon as it is practical to do so however consider that at present it would jeopardise the health of users and committee members.
_____________________________________
18th. June 2020
We are advised that village halls will be allowed to re-open for general use (subject to certain restrictions) from 6th. July. Large gatherings will not be permitted. We are currently assessing the impact of the regulations and will post updates as soon as we are able.
_____________________________________
community Action Suffolk have issued the following notice regarding re-opening of village halls for general use.
We will post further news once it is issued.
Village Halls Update
|
At present the current date for re-opening of village halls for general use is scheduled for 4th July.
We are working with ACRE to develop a guidance for halls to follow in opening in a safe manner. Once the information is complete we will publicise via our networks.
|