Dear Club Members,
The current situation in which we all find ourselves is strange and unprecedented. Mass isolation and social distancing is taking its toll on everyone, so I would like to wish everyone well and I truly hope that everyone is keeping safe and in good health.
Businesses and organisations all over the country (and indeed the world) have had to implement many changes as a result of COVID-19. We have already seen an early close to the rugby season, the postponement of the minis festival and of course, something we are all missing, the temporary closure of our social outlet – the clubhouse bar. The impact on day-to-day life is huge.
Obviously in these challenging times, safety and prudence is critical. With that in mind, we have made the responsible decision to postpone the scheduled development activity at the club until April 2021. Several factors have informed this decision:
People onsite during development activity (contracted or staff) need to be reassured that their presence there won’t impact their health and livelihood against potential for virus transmission; which in turn will ensure that we do not present additional strain to the already stretched NHS.
The untimely close to the season will have obvious repercussions to the club’s revenue stream. As such, we need to ensure that our resources are protected during this period of uncertainty so that we can retain the full impact of the project when we go live.
We have a responsibility to help protect essential workers in the construction industry to ensure their resources are freed up to carry out critical infrastructure work that arises as a result of the current situation.
Despite us not being able to get together physically as a club, we feel confident that we will be able to maintain our club spirit and hopefully you are all getting involved in conversations through our social media channels. We’ll be posting some past-season highlights soon, we know there are many Whatsapp groups keeping their boots on; and I also hope that you’re following our wellbeing advice – do not feel isolated during isolation. Keep in touch!
One key thing that we really hope that you’ll do is keep our fundraising efforts front of mind. We still need you! We’ve already seen Callum Watson doing his epic dance routine so we’d be eternally grateful if anyone has any socially-distanced fundraising ideas. Let’s keep this going so that when April 2021 rolls around, we can push for the full development to even include enhanced drainage, parking and club internals. When all of this is over, we can get back to making sure our club is the best place to be for all things rugby AND social.
Please keep well and stay safe.
Shaun Hammond
Chairman, Dorking Rugby Club
