Just to give you an update regarding the news that Community Centres will be opening soon.
I was very excited to hear this news last week, BUT I have been told by the committee at Manselton Community Centre (and assume it will apply to the Hafod as well, as both owned by Swansea Council) that this actually only applies to Summer Play Schemes and child care and therefore Manselton will not be opening yet.
There is no further information available at this time.
The line dance industry in England is gearing up to get going again, and looking at the guidelines there, it would seem that there are a lot of hoops we would have to jump through in order to get classes up and running safely. As well as additional Risk Assessments, there would be a great restriction on numbers allowed at each class to enable social distancing, which will have to be adhered to whilst dancing.
In addition, each dancer would need a designated area in which to dance (if you like to imagine a square marked out on the floor) and a designated chair which would also be 2m away from the other chairs.
There would also need to be additional cleaning having to take place between classes and restrictions on using the kitchen and limits on using the toilets (1 at a time). Doors and windows would need to be open to provide ventilation. (Imagine this in December!)
Payment may need to be made via bank transfer rather than cash and your place at class would have to be booked in advance to ensure that the restricted numbers were adhered to and I had as many in the class as I would be able to have. Therefore, if you had booked and paid for your space, that would mean that I would not be in a position to refund you if you were unable to attend.
As you can see, all of these new guidelines will make running a class a lot more complex than it was before lockdown.
Please be assured that I am monitoring the situation and thinking about how we will be able to get back to the pastime we love, but in view of all these measures it will not be an easy task for me to get the classes up and running any time soon. I am awaiting futher information from Manselton about the size of the hall so that I can work out how many I would be able to have in a class. This will determine whether it will be practical and financially viable to be able to run classes with the added workload involved.
I will continue to run the Facebook live classes twice a week for the rest of July and make a decision about August depending on what else is opened up and therefore how many are still coming to the classes (for example, with the opening of caravan sites, people may well be going away for holidays, and I know some people are going back to work etc.)
All I can say for now is, "watch this space" but also "don't hold your breath"!
Stay safe and keep smiling
Debz xx