Club Meetings

Introduction

There is no doubt that the inspired idea of John-Paul to set up online meetings at the start of the Covid pandemic enabled the Club to survive and at the same time provided much needed interaction.

We have been able to continue with a rich and varied programme and indeed, arguably, Zoom has enabled us to broaden horizons with quality speakers from far afield who would have been unavailable to speak to in person.

However, over recent years one of the main attributes of the Club, which is mentioned time and time again, is the friendship and camaraderie which exists when we meet in person. The country is now learning to live with Corona virus, and by and large life is back to pre-Covid normality, with individuals are making their own precautionary choices. With all the above in mind, the Committee believe that the time has come for the Club to “get back to normal”.

Whilst I appreciate that having meetings on Zoom enables members to join in from places other than home, some types of meeting (e.g. practical sessions) are just not suitable for Zoom. Added to this, the time and effort required to set up and stream meetings from Millbrook Village Hall is too reliant on one or two people who themselves cannot always guarantee to be there for every meeting.

Action

The committee has decided that with effect from our return in September, the norm will be for all weekly meetings to take place on a face to face basis at Millbrook. We will respect the wishes of any individual who may want to wear a face covering and/or take any other personal Covid related precautions. Within reason we will have windows (but not doors) open to allow a flow of air.

We will of course still keep a watching brief on infection rates as we move into the winter months and if necessary (either by Committee decision or government enforced measures) modify our stance with the option to again move to Zoom meetings. On the odd occasion, where winter weather makes it sensible to cancel a Millbrook meeting we will of course fall back on Zoom if the type of meeting lends itself to the medium.

We also do not want to preclude quality guest speakers and to this end there may be occasions where an external speaker uses Zoom. However, this will be streamed to Millbrook and presented on “The Big Screen”. We have already done this and proved that the audio visual is very good. There may also be the odd occasion where we use Zoom – as above – for a Digital format competition, when a quality judge is unable (for whatever reason) to attend in person.

I am conscious that some of our more senior members may not be able to attend meetings at the Hall. This situation is of course no different to that which was in existence pre-Covid. It will seem a backward step to those affected so in order to be as inclusive as possible, we will certainly try to stream external speakers/judges who are presenting via Zoom. However, the expectation will be that the vast majority attend in person and the Zoom details of any such streamed meetings will not be published but provided to individuals on a case by case basis.

Conclusion

I appreciate that the measures above may not suit everyone, but the Committee feels strongly that we must take steps to “get back to normal” so we can all enjoy the friendship and camaraderie which face to face contact brings.