Covid-19 - Stay safe during the coronavirus epidemic

29th March - Welcome back!

The latest easing of coronavirus-prevention measures sees the return of outdoor sporting facilities including tennis courts.

Looking forward to seeing you all again soon at WELTC

#tennis
#WelcomeBack
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4th January 2021 - Following today's latest Government announcement....

LTA Update (4th January 2021) New Nationwide Tier 4 Restrictions - The LTA has confirmed that all indoor and outdoor tennis facilities will need to close.
The government has advised that this guidance should be followed immediately, and will be updating the law to reflect the new rules.
[https://www.lta.org.uk/about-us/tennis-news/news-and-opinion/general-news/2020/march/coronavirus-covid-19---latest-advice/#england]

Members are asked to note the above. The WELTC courts and clubhouse will be closed with immediate effect until further notice.

Katherine Pinching
Chair, WELTC
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19th December 2020 -

The Government have announced the new Tier 4 Coronavirus restrictions today.

With regards as to how this affects tennis activities at WELTC, individual lessons and one-to-one adult play (singles) can continue:
- No doubles are allowed unless played as part of a family bubble.
- Under 18 groups can continue to play.
- Adult & Junior social sessions will not at present be allowed.

For further details please see the latest advice provided by the LTA
https://www.lta.org.uk/about-us/tennis-news/news-and-opinion/general-news/2020/march/coronavirus-covid-19---latest-advice/

We will continue to keep you updated with the latest announcements.
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28th November 2020 -

WELCOME BACK

Reopening of Courts
Following the announcement that lockdown will end next week, we will be able to reopen the tennis courts from Wednesday 2 December but we must stick to the rules set out below.

Permitted Play
The LTA guidance is clear that Outdoor Play is permitted for both singles and doubles. Please note that there should be no social mixing pre-, during and after play. A maximum of 6 players are allowed on each court.

The coaches will be organising sessions as before on Wednesday evenings, Friday mornings, and Saturday and Sunday afternoons. This will begin from Wednesday 2nd December.

We are not having any matches during the winter.

Coaching can restart. Please contact Bailie as Head Coach for details.

Fuller details:
LTA advice for outside play is on their website, and further details should be available soon in terms of how we may use the clubhouse. At present, the downstairs cloakrooms may be used again, and balls collected from inside the clubhouse.

Please do not come to the club if you are feeling even slightly unwell. Remember to wash your hands or use alcohol gel before and after playing. Maintain social distancing at all times, and let a member of one of the committees know immediately if you test positive for Covid-19 virus.

For the latest Coronavirus (Covid-19) update from the LTA - https://www.lta.org.uk/about-us/tennis-news/news-and-opinion/general-news/2020/march/coronavirus-covid-19---latest-advice/

Enjoy getting on the courts again,
Katherine Pinching, Chair WELTC.
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3rd November 2020 -

Please note that the WELTC clubhouse & courts will be closed to members from the morning of Thursday 5th November and throughout the forthcoming lockdown period. If anything changes we will let members know as soon as we have further information.

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20th October 2020 -

Following the introduction of the new tiered approach to restrictions in England, the LTA has clarified with the Government on how their new rules will impact tennis activity.

✔ Outdoor tennis activity can continue in Tier 2 (High) and Tier 3 (Very High) areas in line with current national guidelines
✔ Tennis for adults indoors for people in Tier 2 and 3 areas is limited by law to play between people in the same household/bubble or one to one coaching (with an exemption for tennis activity for disabled people and under 18s)
✔ Government’s guidance to avoid travel in or out of Tier 3 areas also applies to tennis activity

To help understand what these Government rules mean for tennis activity by tier, the LTA has produced a summary grid.
(http://click.lta-tennis.com/?qs=f072757a6a59b8c25848822ec683596d1f33f78282c2e479a64be0818af1d527d3726cf18ca9370746e447d23696514776b7ce90574d0168).

We also recommend you continue to check the latest advice on a regular basis, including for details around any additional local restrictions.
(http://click.lta-tennis.com/?qs=f072757a6a59b8c2db84d12427391e157aa879078a712b24f04dfa19c9be766f25d77a481670b231d763dabd7939cdbc5c7492c36c65c6ca)
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3rd July 2020 - Coronavirus update, Opening of the Clubhouse at WELTC

Dear members,

This is to let you know that the management committee has agreed the clubhouse can be opened from Saturday 4th July so that members can go inside upstairs as well as down, socially distancing, and that members may buy from the bar if it is open. Obviously people should wash their hands or use the alcohol gel regularly. We will not start teas/coffees/snacks during coach-organised sessions at present.

The cleaners should be going in to clean 3 times weekly as they used to do.

Please let me know if you want to discuss details around the opening.
Best wishes,
Katherine
(Katherine Pinching, Chair WELTC)
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12th May, 2020 - Coronavirus update, Resumption of tennis at WELTC

Covid-19: Following government guidance issued yesterday and detailed advice from the LTA, I am pleased to advise you that we are actively working towards a safe and therefore limited resumption of tennis activities at the club, and expect tennis to begin again tomorrow, Wednesday 13th May 2020.

Play should be within LTA guidelines, which you should read and keep to when playing.
https://www.lta.org.uk/globalassets/news/2020/lta-guidance-for-tennis-venues---covid-19.pdf

All activity should be consistent with the government guidance regarding health, travel, social distancing and hygiene at all times.

The upstairs of the clubhouse will remain closed. The cloakrooms will be available after daily cleaning has begun tomorrow, and all players should wash their hands with soap and water (or alcohol gel) before playing, with only one person in the cloakroom at a time.

There will be no social sessions at present.

Court use: Please bring a small towel or cloth to use when opening gates onto the courts.
Only 2 people may play on a court at a time, except for families where 4 may play together.
Please bring your own marked balls. We will have some available for people who cannot easily obtain balls. You should only serve with your own ball, and equipment should not be shared.
We are investigating the feasibility of an online booking system. In the meantime, we suggest people arrange to start games on the hour, leaving the court after 50 minutes to limit social contact with others, and only continue if there is no one wanting to play.

Student and junior members aged under 16 years of age may only play if supervised throughout play by an adult.

Bailie as Head coach will arrange coaching for individuals - please contact him directly
(m: 07702 115672 or email "bailieharkness@aol.com")

The club will monitor all LTA and government advice and amend the club’s regulations, as necessary.

ENJOY YOUR TENNIS
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23rd March, 2020 - Coronavirus update, WELTC closed until further notice

You may have heard the latest news from the Prime Minister tonight, announcing strict new curbs on life in the UK to tackle the spread of coronavirus. From this evening people must stay at home except for shopping for basic necessities, daily exercise, any medical need and travelling to and from essential work.

We must, therefore, inform everyone that we are closing all access to the courts and the Clubhouse. No one may enter or use the courts for any purpose until further notice. We are very sorry to have to do this to comply fully with government restrictions.

We will continue to send out communications as soon as we have any further news to share.

Katherine Pinching (Chair) On behalf of the management committee.
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21st March, 2020 - Coronavirus update from WELTC
Chair: Katherine Pinching

Advice for Tennis Clubs during the Covid-19 outbreak.

We have closed the tennis clubhouse building in accordance with the latest (20/03/2020) advice from the government and the LTA (coronavirus-covid-19-advice for -venues )

Tennis can still be played on our outdoor courts. Social distancing should be carried out, with people spending no more than 15 minutes talking to someone, and not within a 2-metre distance. People are advised not to change ends during play. There should be no physical contact between players during games. If people cannot be sure to keep to the social distancing guideline during play (and coaching) they should play only 2 per court.

The coaches will organise play during our social sessions.
Bailie will leave a box of balls outside the upstairs door for use by club members.

Players should wash their hands before and after a tennis session or use an alcohol gel if that is not possible. Please enter the washrooms only one at a time.

Please continue to support our club at this difficult time. We hope you will be able to combine staying active with good health.

The management committee
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19th March, 2020 - Coronavirusupdate from WELTC

Dear all,

We will continue tennis at present at WELTC, however, we ask people to wash their hands or use alcohol gel sanitiser to clean their hands before and after going on court.
Please do not play if you are unwell in any way.

We also want people to avoid congregating together, so if waiting for a game please wait outside on the path near the courts, and only go into the clubhouse if you need to clean your hands, use the facilities in the changing rooms, or to collect or return balls after a game.

The coach will bring balls outside during sessions when they are present; please give them back to the coach to take inside when you finish playing at the end of a session.

We will update you all if and when we receive further advice re playing tennis at WELTC from the government or the LTC.

We hope you all stay well,
Best wishes from Katherine Pinching, Chair, on behalf of the committee.