Club statement - reopening 2 December

Note: this page has been updated 4/12/2020 to reflect further updates from England Squash and Boston SRC.

Boston SRC has issued the following update to all members with regards to the reopening of the club from Wednesday 2nd December:

Dear Member,

We hope you are keeping well. As you will have seen in the last week, gyms and indoor sports facilities will be permitted to reopen from Wednesday 2nd December. The club's doors will reopen to members from 10am that morning, and remain open 24/7 from that point. However there are severe restrictions on play, as explained below. We also wanted to update you on a few other matters, including:

• Junior coaching

• New court heaters

• An appeal for help with delivering some new tables to the club (does anyone have a van?!)

• The AGM currently scheduled for 10th December

We have held off from updating you until this point as we have been waiting for clarity from England Squash on what activity will be permitted at the club, and guidance has now been received from England Squash, which can be read on their website. We are sad to confirm that given Boston's 'tier 3' status, squash and racketball will both be severely restricted. The only squash/racketball activities to be permitted at the club are solo practice, play strictly within households, junior coaching sessions the club organises (both 1:1 and groups) and one-to-one coaching for adults using socially distanced practices. A summary of the restrictions can be seen below, taken from the England Squash website (updated 4th December 2020):

The gym will be open as it has been since July, with the equipment generously spaced out in the gym and function room, and sanitising materials provided. Please continue to wipe down all equipment before and after use.

The bar will be closed, as required of pubs/restaurants in tier 3.

Like many of you, we are extremely disappointed by the restrictions on squash and racketball, and cannot understand the rationale for a ban on solo practice or play with members of the same household (note: these restrictions have since been reviewed - please see above). We understand that England Squash are reviewing this guidance and that guidance may be altered to allow this play, and this will be confirmed on Monday. We will keep you updated.

We do have to ask that members assist us by complying with these rules whilst they are in place. Many of you will be aware that Boston's infection rates are some of the highest in the UK. There could be severe implications for both the club's reputation and finances if we were accused of any violations. Therefore we do not intend to turn a 'blind eye' towards the guidance or enforcement. It goes without saying we do not wish to have to resort to taking action against any members breaking the rules, so please help us preserve the ethos of the club! As you will read below, we do intend to compensate members as much as possible for the closure and restrictions period.

Junior coaching

In better news, junior group coaching is permitted in tier 3, and Pete and Jacky will be leading these sessions as usual from Saturday 5th December. Please e-mail Pete (bostonsquashandracketball@gmail.com) to book on to these sessions. We look forward to welcoming all juniors back to the club!

Finances and refunds

During the recent closure, we placed Pete on furlough and received a £2,000 government grant. We therefore expect to be able to issue full pro-rata subscription refunds for the 4 weeks we were closed.

For the forthcoming period where activity will be severely restricted, we again hope to be able to offer refunds to members who cannot make use of their membership. We believe we are eligible for further support grants which will help support our income sufficiently to offer this, however are seeking confirmation from Boston Borough Council. We will confirm details as soon as we are able to fully assess the financial implications for the club.

We would just like to ask that members are as patient as possible with us over this, as issuing mass refunds is of course a logistical challenge. We are very grateful for the many members who committed to the club during recent subscription renewals, despite all the uncertainty ahead.

New court heaters

During lockdown, we have confirmed an order for brand new space heaters for Courts 4 & 5 (the glassbacks). This is an investment of approximately £5,500, and we expect to imminently confirm installation dates during December. The new heaters are Smiths Caspian UV150 models, and will be highly efficient whilst also significantly boosting the heat output on the courts.

Help wanted: member with a van to collect tables!

We have also procured a number of tables and chairs for the function room, which will be extremely useful once we are able to host large events in the club again.

If any member has access to a van, and would be willing to help us with collecting 10x tables from the new Boston United development in Wyberton, we would be grateful if you could get in touch!

AGM

The AGM is currently scheduled for Thursday 10th December, however clearly we may need to alter this given current circumstances. We will confirm arrangements ASAP.

Table tennis

We are still looking into what the implications of reopening are for table tennis activity at the club, and will update on this in due course.

Finally

Thank you for your support during these times, and we hope everyone continues to keep safe and well.

Kind regards.

The Committee

PS: we are e-mailing these updates to all members for whom we hold e-mail addresses. If you wish to receive these updates via e-mail, please sign up on the 'Newsletter' page.