Model railway clubs and Covid-19

[N_GaugeModeller]

Hi all

My local club is talking about reopening soon.

Has anyone found any Government recommendations for clubs and societies, I can find plenty for businesses but nothing for Clubs & Societies.

Anyone got any links to their recommendations so I can take to the next committee meeting.

Thanks

NGM

[Ensign Elliott]

Mylocal club has also been discussing how and when we can reopen.

Below is a link to the page on the Government website that explains what you can and cannot do from 4th July.

Have a look at sections 1.3 and 1.19.

'Activity clubs' and social clubs will we permitted to reopen.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do-after-4-july

Given that 90% of the membership in my club are retired or have health conditions (both in most cases) I personally think its still too early for my club to reopen.

[Dorsetmike]

East Dorset area group are holding Zoom "meetings",think you need web cam and mic though.

[Steven B]

The community centre used by the NGS Yorkshire Area Group remains closed until at least September so we have had the decision to reopen taken out of or hands for at least another 6 weeks.

Hopefully by then more activities will have less restrictions but given the age profile of most model railway groups I can't see us meeting until the 26th September at the earliest.

We are in the fortunate position of not having paid rent for the Hall during lock-down so our reduced income from meeting fees is matched with reduced outgoings.

Steven B.

[rhysapthomas]

We here in Coventry are planning to reopen in August.  One of our members has done a full risk assesment and there seems enough people interested to restart especially the youger members
The new rules include
Max 8 people per session
Full social distancing
Face masks
Gloves, wipes, hand washing/cleansing
No tea/coffee except brought in by individuals

We shall see how it goes

[honestjudge]

Our club opened last Monday.  The hall managers published guidance inline with government advice. We have hand sanitizer,  cleaning wipes, and we wear masks .
It works well.

[PLD]

We at Hull have restarted this week. It looks like 40-50% the membership will be returning in the first month, with maybe 75-85% returning by the end of the year.

Within the Society, members are affiliated to Layout project groups so that gave us an established structure of 4-8 person groups. The clubrooms consists of two large rooms and several smaller rooms. We established that we could safely accommodate one group at a time in each main room, so it was then a case of agreeing a rota of which groups would attend at what times.

We are in the advantageous position of having exclusive use of the clubrooms and a separate entrance from the main part of the community centre. This meant we could offer times other than our traditional two evenings to spread out attendance, without impacting any other users. We did however keep the centre management informed of our plans at every stage and sought their consent. If you use a shared space or pass through other areas to reach your area you will need to coordinate with other users.


Unsurprisingly there is no guidance published specifically for Model Railway Clubs; depending on the nature of the premises and how active you are, a blend of the "Community & Leisure Facilities" and "Social Clubs" guidance is the best fit.

Attached is the documentation we worked to which may be of use to other groups.
Sections 1 & 2 are relevant paragraphs extracted from the various guidance documents. Should any authorities pay a visit, these are the areas you would be expected to evidence you had considered.
Section 1 is what you need to do BEFORE restarting.
Section 2 is what you need to do ongoing.

Section 3 is the guidelines we ask members to abide by.

For those members who don't want to restart immediately but do want to stay in touch, we have agreed that they can pay the reduced "Associate Membership" rate without various restrictions that normally apply.

[N_GaugeModeller]

Thanks for all the replies

Some interesting info there in those links.

Nothing specific for clubs and societies, bug something to work with.

Thanks

NGM

[koyli55002]

If it's of any help, the following is from the Facebook page of "Kelso Men's Shed"......in Scotland, granted

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Shedders

Its now looking about time we reopened the shed.
We are proposing to open on Tuesday 4th August.
We are proposing to open 10am to 3 pm on Tuesdays and Fridays, with possible the stick makers on Tuesday night.
To get the shed ready to open we are looking for volunteers to do a deep clean the week before.
There will be lots of new signage and sanitizing points to set up as well. We will require people to sanitize on entry and wear masks, these will be provided. Appropriate social distancing will need to be observed.
We are also looking for volunteers to man the shed when we are open, we need at least 2 people per session and this will involve ensuring everything is cleaned at the appropriate times and at the end of the sessions.
We are planning to buy an Embroidery machine before we reopen and to have a new railway initiative (more details later).
I have been busy during the lock down and we have received another grant for £25k. So we will be looking to buy new equipment when we get settled down. Now is the time to have a think about what would be the most beneficial things to buy.
Looking forward to seeing everyone again.

Bob Stather
Treasurer

Re-opening Induction Sheet


This document contains the new requirements for all members entering the Shed:-
1) Sanitise hands on entry and when required during visit.
2) Inform duty keyholder of your presence so you can be entered into the attendance register.
3) Ensure that your Temperature is taken and is below 38 C on entry to shed.
4) You must always comply with social distancing.
5) Face coverings to be worn at all times within shed
6) Gloves are available if you require them.
7) Visors are available if you require them.
😎 Sanitise hands before going upstairs
9) Sanitise hands when coming downstairs.
10) Sanitise hands prior to making tea etc.
11) Clean all tools after use with bacterial wipes.
12) Clean and wipe down all benches after use.


Sanitising stations will be on entry in reception, at Tea point, in the modelling room and in the workshop.
Bacterial wipes will be available at the above also.
Gloves and Visors will be available at reception. Visors are re-usable and must be cleaned with bacterial wipes and placed in quarantine area at reception after use.

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I am looking at proposing the same measures for our meetings at Bridlington Model Railway Society to resume "full" meetings, but for the past few weeks we have been splitting the sessions, with N Gauge section meeting on Wednesdays and OO Gauge meeting on Fridays. We are, however, only a small club (currently 12 members).