About Us

The committee have discussed the concerns that our members may have about meeting in person again, and have come up with a number of suggestions that we feel should address these issues and hopefully provide reassurance that the meetings will be as safe as possible.

Firstly, following current advice, we believe that the room we use should be well ventilated whilst we are using it and to that end we believe that we should open all the windows and keep the door (at least) ajar to allow through air movement. As we are now entering the winter season, we will therefore suggest that everyone should wrap up warm with extra layers to keep the cold at bay.

Secondly, we have looked at the seating and are suggesting that we stagger the seating positions across the tables so that no-one is immediately opposite another member (of course, people may sit close to a partner or other close friend if they so wish - this is an individual choice).

The third question is the use of the glasses, and we are proposing that members choose (individually) one of these three options:

1. We will continue to use the Society's glasses as before - they are always washed in a dishwasher at a minimum temperature of 45C so this should be sufficient for hygiene requirements.

2. If you would prefer, you may take 2 of the society's glasses and be responsible for the cleaning and bringing to meetings for yourself (in that event we would charge a £5 deposit for the two glasses - we do want to get them back eventually).

3. As the third alternative, you could source and provide glasses for yourself which you will be responsible for cleaning and bringing to the meeting . If you choose this route, we would suggest that you obtain 2 (or 3 to allow for breakages), ISO tasting glasses which should be readily available and they would match the ones that the society currently uses.

Next is the question of food/nibbles, and we are proposing that we will discontinue the mid-evening cheese and pate as this will be very difficult to keep as safe as most would wish. We are proposing that we will set out individual paper plates with baguette slices, biscuits and cubed cheese and provide one for each participant. We will be diligent in using plastic gloves to put this out and hope that this will be sufficient for you all.

Finally,we would suggest that everyone should provide some hand-sanitiser for the evening, and if you wish to wear a face covering whilst moving about that is a very sensible option and we would encourage this. We also intend to use hygienic wipes on the tables after we have put them out and set up the chairs.

In addition, here is a photo of the Church Cottage.

and a couple of us in the Chapter Room at the Church Cottage Rooms.