Covid-19

Re-opening Whiddon Valley Evangelical Church to public services – July 2020

The following is a summary of the changes in practice that are necessary to reduce as much as possible the risk of spreading the Coronavirus during service to be held at Whiddon Valley Evangelical Church. These changes in practice have been identified following a risk assessment which is available separately.

  • People should not attend the services if they are suffering from raised temperature, new persistent cough, loss of taste or smell or other respiratory infection or if they are contacts of anybody with Coronavirus. The services will be livestreamed via YouTube for those unable to attend.
  • Congestion will be avoided when entering and exiting the building.
  • Entrance to the meeting hall will be via one set of doors and exit via the other.
  • Some chairs will be removed from the meeting hall in order to allow a 2–metre social distancing rule to be observed as much as possible.
  • The resultant maximum capacity of the main hall is estimated to be 30 – 40 (though this is dependent on the overall number of households present, with larger households expanding the estimated capacity).
  • Hand sanitiser will be provided by the entrance door to be used be people entering and leaving the building.
  • Church Bibles will no longer be available for use. Hymnbooks are now in use BUT NOT SHARED OUTSIDE OF HOUSEHOLDS. Hymnbooks are available at the entrance to the main hall on both a Sunday and for the mid-week prayer meeting. After use the Hymnbooks are placed by the user into a box where they then remain un-used for the following 7 days. There is one box used on a Sunday and a separate box used mid-week. Worshippers are welcome to bring their own Bibles, taking them home after each service.
  • Recordings of hymns will be played through the PA system. Worshippers will be asked to remain seating during this time and can read through the words quietly themselves.
  • The kitchen will not be used except for the fetching of a cup of water if needed and it will be individual’s responsibility to dispose of the cup.
  • Only two people can use the toilet facilities at any one time. Cleaning materials will be made available after use.
  • The end room will remain in use with the services relayed to it. A maximum of 6 people can use this room at any one time and priority should be given to parents with small children.

This is not an exhaustive list of the changes to practice that are necessary and they will be kept under review, especially if UK Government guidance and regulation changes.

The full risk assessment is available here in PDF format.

Date Subject Download good quality Download smaller file
15-03-2020 am A warning
mp3
mp3

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