The government has delayed the end of Stage 4 of the lockdown by four weeks, but this still means it will be over 2 ½ weeks before the start of our flagship Summer Meeting in Eastbourne, which we are excited to be providing as our first national face-to-face event for about 18 months, subject to any unexpected changes to this revised road-map.
Although government restrictions will have ended entirely by then, we will be working with the venue to put in place arrangements to help minimise any risks, by means of table spacing and one-way traffic where possible. We also expect all players to regularly use anti-bacterial hand gel and to do their best to accommodate any requests from opponents to wear face-masks, which we will provide for those who don’t have their own.
We would welcome members entering for the Summer Meeting as soon as possible so that we can get a sense of numbers for planning. As always, if you later change your mind for any reason, you will be able to get a full refund from us. Similarly, if you are uncertain about attending, you should make bookings at hotels that allow full refunds on cancellation within a stated time.
Clubs who planned to re-open on June 21 will doubtless have been disappointed to learn of this delay, but whenever they do open it is essential that they have completed their own risk assessment together with that of any shared premises they use, and that if they have any doubts they tell their local authority of their plans to get their approval.
Further information about a variety of matters to do with the COVID-19 pandemic is available on our website and we are planning an online seminar at the end of July for clubs and counties to come together and share information to plan their re-starts.
June 16, 2021