COVID-19 information

This page will be kept up-to-date with the latest information on how our activities have been altered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last updated: Wednesday 16th February 2022

Up to 31st March 2022, our venue is the Holly Bush pub. From April 2022 onwards, we are moving to the Cumberland Lawn Tennis Club.

In both cases, access to our meeting room is via a public bar, which is an indoor environment not under our control. Please refer to the coronavirus statements from the Holly Bush and the Cumberland Club for more information on their COVID-safety policies.

Within our meeting room, the additional COVID-safety measures we have in place are as follows:

• We ask that anyone who has reason to believe they may have COVID-19 should not attend any of our in-person events – for example:
  • if they have recently tested positive
  • if they live with someone who has recently tested positive
  • if they have been instructed to self-isolate for some other reason
  • if they have symptoms of COVID-19 or flu or the common cold (which are now very hard to distinguish from symptoms alone)
  • if they have some other reason to think they may be infected.
• However, we do not require evidence of vaccination or a recent negative COVID-19 test result as a condition of attendance.
• We will ventilate the room to the maximum extent reasonably possible given the weather conditions.
• We will space out playing tables as much as possible. The attendance at an event is not always predictable to us, but we generally expect it to be possible for tables to be at least one metre apart. However, players facing each other in the traditional positions are likely to be in close contact for an extended period of time.
• The venue will provide hand-washing facilities including hand sanitiser.
• We ask all attendees to check the latest government guidance on situations where face coverings are legally required or recommended.
  • We will have a supply of disposable face masks available at our events (and encourage those who want to wear one to bring their own).
  • However, face coverings will not be mandatory at Hendon home events unless there are laws or other mandates from the government or our venue that make them so at the time. Past experience suggests that in the absence of such compulsion, some attendees will choose to wear one, while others will not.
  • At the time of writing, the legal requirements are different for hospitality venues, compared to other indoor venues. Please bear these potential differences in mind when attending events not in hospitality settings, such as away League matches hosted by other clubs.

We will obviously be following the requirements of the law, our venue and government guidance as they evolve over time. We will try to keep this page up-to-date, but the situation is subject to rapid and unexpected changes, and attendees should continue to monitor general government guidance and act accordingly.

We understand that some members will not yet want to attend in-person events under these conditions. Unfortunately, we currently see no policy we can set in regard to COVID-safety that will please everybody.

We expect that some members will want to continue the online activities they have experienced during the 2020–21 season (either alongside or instead of in-person events). We do hope and expect that online club chess will continue, and will have a permanent place alongside over-the-board-chess, but at this stage we do not know precisely what form it will take.

Please keep an eye on our calendar and news pages for information about both our in-person and online events.