Update from the Board

Published 14:24 on 13 May 2020

Sadly we were not able to open our gates at the start of the season to help prevent the spread of coronavirus. We are very grateful to all our members for your support and kindness during our closure: from simply keeping up membership to virtual sailing and sending messages of goodwill. It is an excellent reminder of what a strong community we are together. We know you are as keen as us to get back sailing and to all the Club has to offer. We are busy working out how to make it as easy as possible for you to visit one of your favourite places but stay safe.

The Government announced some changes to the country's lockdown position on Sunday and we are working to see what this means for us. We wanted to write to members first to let you know what we are planning. Keeping members, visitors, employees, volunteers and local communities safe as lockdown restrictions ease means we need to maintain social distancing. We must avoid creating a hotspot and discourage gatherings - difficult we know as you will have missed your friends. This means that when we reopen we will need to carefully manage site numbers and members need to take responsibility for helping us to operate safely. We know the safest way to do this is through an online pre-booking system which we may introduce. This would be new for us and we have to work fast to get it in place. We will write to you as soon as we can to let you know how it will work and what to expect.

Our staff are furloughed and our site has been 'put to bed', so it will take us a little while to wake it up again. We are prioritising opening our gate and enjoying our beautiful outdoor space first, in line with Government guidance in England, so people can access their boats and carry out any work. We also need to undertake some work to the site to make some areas safe e.g. launching ramp and car parking area since the Birkett Field wall has been removed and general cleaning and tidying is required. We are aiming to open the gate by June 13th, 2020, subject to the safety guidance in effect at that time.

Our clubhouse, changing, rooms, bar, galley, members kitchen, toilets, camping, etc. will remain closed but will follow in time, but only where and when it is safe and restrictions are lifted. The safety of our members, employees, volunteers, visitors and local communities remains our top priority so any reopening will need to be phased and gradual. Our website will be kept up to date with crucial information and it will be really important that you check it before visiting. Things have changed for you and for us, and we want to work closely with you and ask for your support to help us stay open and following some simple safety guidelines. Further details to follow.

We will continue to update you via the weekly Newsletter/Facebook to share more news of our reopening plans and what they mean for you.

We, like you, have missed seeing all our friends and we cannot wait to welcome you back.

Your UYC Board
13.5.20

Last updated 19:16 on 15 April 2024