We are acutely aware of concerns amongst some of the participants of our weekends as to the risks involved in meeting in groups such as at our forthcoming weekend. We are therefore putting in place precautions over and above those required or recommended by the government. Our aim is to protect those present without unduly impacting on those aspects of the Missenden Railway Modelling Weekends that are enjoyed by those present.
The extra precautions are aimed to ensure, as far as possible, that we minimise the risk of infection spreading amongst the people present; hence we are insisting on double vaccination for everybody and for those attending to take and record a negative lateral flow test before arrival. Although these measure do not guarantee immunity and freedom from infection they do greatly reduce the risk of contracting Covid-19 or suffering serious outcome if contracted.
We are also asking for attendees to take precautions once at Missenden Abbey. Whenever people are moving around the building we ask that they wear a face covering or visor as a protection for themselves and for others. This includes when in proximity to the tutors, for example when requesting advice or assistance. We are not however asking people to wear face coverings when seated at your workplace.
Supplies of sanitising gel will be available and we ask that people make regular use of this. The sharing of tools and supplies is a regular feature of the weekends. Whilst we do not wish to restrict this we do suggest that you consider cleaning tools etc when they have been used by others.
We also intend to take measures to increase the ventilation in rooms, which will mean that when occupied we will have doors and windows open within the modelling rooms. We suggest that you come prepared as this may result in colder temperatures than you may be used to within the modelling rooms. As always, when rooms are unoccupied the windows and doors will be shut and locked as a security measure.
In order to reduce the risks of moving between groups, we ask that when you visit other modelling rooms you wear a face covering and maintain a reasonable distance from people who may be seated and working without face coverings. To further reducing mixing and crowding together we will not be having the traditional briefing and debriefing sessions at the beginning and end of the weekend. We will instead offer an alternative either in smaller groups or outdoors.
We will be working with the Missenden Abbey staff to ensure that mealtimes are as safe as possible, details of exactly what measures will be in place will be updated as they become available. The current Missenden Abbey statement regarding Covid-19 can be found on their website.
If you are unable to comply with the measures described above but wish to attend then please contact us via the contact form on the website.
The safety and wellbeing of all in attendance is of paramount importance to us, which is why in part we have cancelled previous weekends throughout the pandemic. It is our sincere hope that this Autumn weekend will be able to take place without being too great a risk to us all. We are also aware that we do not want to impose onerous conditions that will ruin the atmosphere and enjoyment of the weekend. We believe that the precautions that we have outlined above strike a reasonable balance between caution and protection whilst still allowing the main features of the weekend to be enjoyed by all. We therefore ask for your co-operation in these measures and wish everybody a safe and enjoyable weekend.
