DECEMBER
2020
Hello
Everyone,
With the County of Staffordshire coming out of the second period
of national lockdown into a higher restriction tier than when
it entered, it unfortunately means that Coton and Hopwas Social
Club will have to remain closed.
There will be a review on movement of tiers on the 16th December
and again on the 30th, however Staffordshire will have to drop
from tier 3 to tier 1 for the club to re-open, but this seems
extremely unlikely to happen within the review periods, and
that means the club will have to remain closed up to and into
the New Year.
We can all hope that the figures will reduce drastically enough
for things to change sooner, but the reality is your Steward
and the Committee are prepared for this length of closure and
have contingency plans in place.
Apart from the serious disappointment of not being able to socialise
with each other over the festive period, the closure unfortunately
coincides with the time of year that includes the re-election
of Committee members, renewal of membership fees and the AGM,
all of which are heavily dependent on attendance at the club.
To avoid the logistical nightmare of trying to conduct any of
these events remotely, for example via social media or virtual
chatrooms, the Committee requests the following:-
1. Defer the election of the current Committee until such time
as things settle down and the club re-opens. I feel very strongly
that we must maintain stability and continuity throughout these
times, for the benefit and security of both our membership and
staff. I would also point out that due to Covid closures this
current Committee haven't had a full 12 months of tenure. Despite
this they have still managed to achieve so much for the club
and have the knowledge and enthusiasm for future plans and projects
going forward.
2. Defer the payment of membership renewals. We cannot obtain
membership renewals whilst the club is closed and also members
haven't been able to have full access to the club over these
last 12 months and have had to put up with a lot of rules and
regulations.
3. Defer announcement of AGM date. We can conduct an AGM remotely
by social media but our preference is for members to be able
to attend the meeting. We request that the time and date of
the AGM be sent out pending more information on re-opening.
We have sought clarification from CIU and have recently had
confirmation that we are allowed to request the above.
This has been an unprecedented year and at a club level we have
had to endure months of closure, cancelled events, and many
rules and regulations.
Your Committee would like to take this opportunity to thank
you for your patience and understanding during all of this,
and to wish all of you a very Happy Christmas, and hopefully……..
a more social New Year !!
~ Look forward to seeing you soon Phil Robins
