Firth Park singing group decided to keep meeting throughout much of the pandemic with a few breaks. We got awning installed on the outside of the pavilion we used to meet inside, which gave us a little shelter from light rain… and then kept going outside throughout the winter months, which meant cold hands for this community musician!
The official government guidelines were initially far more detailed for grouse shooting groups than for community music singing groups but eventually guidance was given that support groups of up to 15 people plus staff and carers were okay to meet up, so that is how we considered the legal side. We had an NHS doctor volunteer to come down and he gave both thumbs up for our risk assessment which was useful to avoid any doubt.
We made sure that everyone was suitably spaced out and that lots of hand sanitiser was available… We even christened the large dispenser as Dee, short for Dee-spenser or Dee-sanitsier! Track and trace was observed by taking a register and making sure we had everyone’s contact details.
Numbers flucuated between 9-15 singers and now lockdown is over, we are already back up to 19-22 each week. Just before the pandemic hit, we got up to 30 people per week, so there are still a few folks who need to grow in confidence before they rejoin the group. We seem to be seeing one or two new old faces a week at the moment which is just lovely.
