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This week will be our last rehearsal for a few weeks, sad to say. So let’s make the most of it.

Can we shoot for 7.30 arrival so that we can start singing at 7.45 please?

Music to bring:
Shenandoah;
Battle of Jericho – please take a look at this beforehand if you possibly can, it’s a tricky little number;
The little Amazing Grace we did in the summer which you can find here;
And the Chilcott Irish Blessing which you can find here.

Dave is away on a well earned break so you will have to put up with whatever amateur choirmaster or mistress we can find. Sorry in advance.

See you on Tuesday

Hello all, it seems Tier 2 rules have no impact our Covid secure rehearsal environment where we are already attending as individuals, not groups of 6, so the rehearsal this Tuesday October 20th is on. Thank you everyone for abiding strictly by the distancing, mask and sanitation requirements which make it possible for us to continue for the time being.

Please print Battle of Jericho from the list in the media tab of the website for Tuesday. We will not meet the following week 27th October (half term) and of course will keep the situation on the applicable rules under close scrutiny.

As always, any questions or concerns, please contact either of us or any of the committee.

Best wishes to everyone.

Lesley & Chris

Can you help by sewing scrubs at home?
Can you help, or if not, do you know someone who can help and may be glad to know about this?

Volunteers are needed to help The Scrubbery, a busy sewing centre ; dust off your sewing machine, you can sew in the comfort of your own home. If you can use a sewing machine – that’s all that’s needed. Currently scrubs etc are being made for a variety of healthcare locations and hospitals including Great Ormond Street and The Royal Brompton.

Scrubbery Location: the Bank of England Sports Centre, Bank Lane, Roehampton, SW15 5JT. 

Help for sewers: pre-cut kits, thread and detailed instructions are all provided to assist volunteers.

Anyone interested please visit the website address at www.thescrubbery.org for more information and contact details.

Yes we are rehearsing again Covid securely tonight. Tenors left front and basses right front. Sops behind bases and altos behind tenors. Tenors turn for swab down after.

Hello all, Lovely sound last week – and lovely to see so many of the team at a distance. Tonight we will look at some of what we have done already under masked conditions and also Ellan Vannin. So if you didn’t print a copy of that already please go to the music and media tab of the website, click on repertoire outline, scrοll down and click on the blue highlight name Ellan Vannin. You will also find learning tracks there (thanks Chris).

Sending best wishes to everyone. Lesley

Hi everyone, just to confirm the revised arts guidelines still allow us to rehearse on Tuesdays within the constraints and protections we have in place. Therefore we have decided for the time being to keep choir open for those who want to come. The key requirements of the guidelines are that i. We are an organised activity, ii. We are using a ‘Covid secure space’, iii. We will ensure no mingling; iv. We collect data for Test and Trace. As you will know from previous communications from us, we have put all of this in place but I have to remind you that all of us in attendance must be vigilant to make sure we keep to the rules. We understand there will be people who feel unable to join us for the time being eg. on the basis of personal or family risk profile and it is obviously up to you to assess your own situation. Your position on that might change as the current Covid levels vary and people are always welcome to come along or suspend attendance. However, to ensure an adequate core team we will be putting in place WhatsApp groups for each section so we can track attendance in advance. We will collect names for this on Tuesday. If you cannot make Tuesday but want to be included, please contact Lesley or Chris.

Attendees please refresh yourselves on the Covid risk assessment on the website and the detail in Chris’s post entitled 8th September on practicalities. Same pieces for rehearsal too! If anyone has concerns about any of this please address them to Chris or me. The committee has done a lot of work on ensuring that we are following the rules as they evolve and have the appropriate protocols in place.

Best wishes, Lesley

You may be wondering why you got a notice about the cancellation of rehearsal some while after the rehearsal was due to start.

Sorry for this, and particular apologies to those who went to church unaware of the cancellation.

WordPress, the system behind our website, chose Tuesday evening at around 6pm as a good time to go haywire. So when, at the last minute, we concluded that we didn’t have enough singers in all parts to make rehearsing worthwhile, we struggled to get the post up on the site. When it was finally posted, we discovered that the email system sending out the alerts was also kaput.

So you will probably be finding this apology in your inbox right next to the announcement of the cancellation.

Hoping that you understand and know that we did our best to minimise inconvenience.

We will be digging into the new rules in the next couple of days and will be back with conclusions as soon as we have them.

Sadly we do not have a quorum on some parts, so tonight’s rehearsal is cancelled.

We keep our fingers crossed that we may be able to meet again soon. We will, of course, keep you informed.

Well, it has been a hectic few days but the good news is – WE ARE BACK ON FOR NEXT WEEK!

I am happy to say that the choir member who has been diagnosed with Covid-19 is as well as can be expected.

We have taken the opportunity to amend our risk assessment in light of the ‘Rule of Six’ and the importance of this has also been underlined by our hosts, ChristChurch:

NO MINGLING. It is important that, even with masks on, we do not form clumps of chatting members before we start, nor do we congregate outside the church doors afterwards.

You can review the full Risk Assessment on the website, accessible here in the blue link and also from the main menu. Please be familiar with its expectations as well as our joint and individual responsibility for hygiene measures and the current general requirements for social distancing.

So, we hope to see everyone again on Tuesday ready for 7.45 start. If you are still unable to join us, we send you our best wishes and look forward to seeing you soon.

Music – the same four pieces as last week so nothing new to print off. Reminder that they were:
Shenandoah
Danny Boy
Linden Lea and
Swansea Town

Any questions or concerns, please drop us a line.

Lesley and Chris

Hello everyone, we are sorry to inform you that we have decided to cancel this evening’s session. One of our members has let us know that they have tested positive for coronavirus. Please be assured that if you were at last week’s rehearsal our Covid security measures mean you should not consider yourself at risk by reason of your attendance. We have cancelled because we know that some members will have been in contact with the affected person outside our Covid-secure space and, given the circumstances of this case, we consider it prudent to wait until NHS Test and Trace process has been effected so that it is clear before we meet again who will be required to self-isolate. Those who might be affected have been contacted by one of us today. If you have not been contacted, you are unaffected and should not be impacted by the Test and Trace process. However, this reminds us how important it is to ensure we all follow these measures absolutely. We wish the affected person a speedy recovery .

If you have any queries please contact me or Siobhan direct. Best wishes, Lesley