IMPORTANT NEWS – A (partial) return to shooting!

I am pleased to announce that your committee has now completed plans for a partial reopening of the club following the government’s easing of lockdown regulations and the release of AGB’s ‘Guidelines for a return to shooting’ (https://www.archerygb.org/return-to-archery-phase-one/).

Our plan is to open the club initially for just Saturdays and Sundays for the next 2 weekends to enable us to control numbers and monitor the safety from a Covid-19/Social Distancing point of view. After these weekends, we will review how things have gone and if satisfied, open the club for some weekdays as well.

A small group of committee members have done a lot of the physical preparation work at the field so that there are now 10 marked lanes, 7.5metres apart, with taped-off areas behind the shooting line to ensure proper social distancing at all times. You can view a plan of the field layout on this link

The clubhouse will be kept closed, and should not be used except for access to the first aid kit and toilet ‘emergencies’ and all refreshments have been put away. The workshop and BOX will be completely closed.

New signage is to be created and will be put up during this week.

The open days will be divided into 2-hour sessions and an online booking system to enable members to reserve a session has been set up and tested and is now open for bookings.

The booking system can be accessed at:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040A4BAFAD2DA6F94-gaccovid19

We have also prepared a document that details all of the measures taken and the practices and protocols that we are putting into place, and a summary guide for members, which are both available on the links below.

GAC Covid-19 Guide for Members:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/15Xh7ZIn2TEcGkubcWgVOlthyFS7SFD5DWcl5KfgM5iM/edit?usp=sharing
This is the reference document for members summarising the key elements of the return to shooting plan

GAC Covid-19 Detailed Guidance and Protocols:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k1zME_PycVC6njWr2TImAJ713TcSzDxdmyrJfjh2d0Y/edit?usp=sharing
This is a detailed description of all of the processes and protocols that have been put in place.

YOU MUST READ THE GUIDE FOR MEMBERS AND THE DETAILED GUIDANCE BEFORE MAKING A BOOKING

Because this will be a completely unfamiliar way of accessing and using GAC, for the first weekends, there will be a non-shooting Field Captain (and assistant) at each session so that they can give their full attention to member safety.

For myself and your committee, the safety of members is absolutely paramount, from both the point of view of shooting and the Coronavirus risk, and this has informed our planning and this cautious and gradual return to shooting. I must stress, that for the moment, the club remains closed during weekdays and you MUST NOT GO AND SHOOT OTHER THAN AT THE PRESCRIBED SESSIONS.

I know that individually we will have different levels of risk and concern about the coronavirus, and will completely understand any reluctance to return to the club in any capacity, so please don’t feel compelled to come back if you have any concerns at all (and of course no one should come back if they feel unwell or are in isolation or shielding).

I hope that all makes sense and you are happy with the proposed plan, but if not, please email me chair@guidlfordarcheryclub.co.uk with any questions.

Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you on the shooting line (from a 2m distance of course!)

Simon

Simon de Kretser
Chair
Guildford Archery Club
email:chair@guildfordarcheryclub.co.uk