Covid-19 (Coronavirus) Update – 23rd October 2020

Letter sent to Parents and Carers – Friday 23rd October 2020

We would like to thank everyone for their support over the last few months. We have loved having members back at clubs. Since September we have been able to re-open our Special Needs Nursery, Saturday Clubs, Performing Arts Club and Get Active Club. We are also back at the Thirst Café once a week.

As we said prior to opening, the evening and weekend sessions would be free of charge during the first half term whilst we adapted to operating with our new Covid secure system of controls. We would like to thank everyone for supporting us with these measures. We have been monitoring these closely and can confirm, as government guidelines currently stand, we will be continuing to run sessions with these measures and member bubbles in place throughout the winter. Club fees will be reintroduced after half term. Diane will be sending out invoices’ week commencing 2^nd November for all sessions between November 1^st and December 19^th.

• Performing Arts Club will be collecting cash payments of £5 per session or £20 for the half term. Please bring the money in a sealed envelope to each session. If you would prefer to be invoiced please let Lottie know.
• Get Active, Cottage Kids, Cottage Crew and Cottage Chill will be payable by invoice.
• GC @ Thirst Café incorporating Life Skills will also now be £5 per session. Fees can be cash payments or invoiced. Please let Freya know your preference when booking sessions. Please note, we will not be serving food or drinks in the cafe. Limited spaces available therefore booking is essential.

Our Saturday Clubs have been re-branded and we hope you like our new names and logos as below.

As I said in my email last week, we are also delighted to be introducing a new club on a Wednesday morning starting from 4^th November – The Music Man Project Hertfordshire. Trial sessions will be running throughout November and December, to book a free trial session email Lottie at mmpherts@mencapgrovecottage.org  From January fees will be £8 per session.

Finally, as you have all been aware our building is in desperate need of updating. Covid-19 has reinforced our Board of Trustees need to progress with the plan to redevelop our building as current restrictions are significantly hampering our ability to provide services within the space. As you would have seen in our newsletter we have secured planning permission from East Herts Council. We are now entering a consultation stage with all stakeholders to help fine tune our plans. Monica Baker our Volunteer Co-ordinator will be overseeing this stage and will be in contact with you all in due course as part of the process.

Mencap have produced an easy read guide to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) rues for each Tier. These are available to view HERE.

We wish you and your families well and we will continue to keep you up to date with government guidelines and how these affect our services.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Kindest regards,

Jocelin Warren (BA Hons, PGDip)
Operations Manager