First things first, we had a great opening session last Thursday, it was fab to be back live with you lot! It’s obvious from feedback that we got that these live Thursday sessions are going to be a goer, so we will definitely be running two sessions next week. If you want to book for the 2nd session, it will definitely be on.
Clarification on the how the new Guidelines coming into force on 14 September affect us:
We are continuing to run under the new Covid Guidelines that come into force on Monday. How are we legally able to do this? Here are the couple of relevant parts from the new guidelines;
“Community facilities following COVID-19 secure guidelines can host more than 6 people in total, but no one should visit or socialise in a group of greater than 6.”
And that;
“Community Venues following COVID-19 secure guidelines will be able to continue to host more people in total”.
So in a nutshell, St Clement’s is a Community Facility that complies with Covid-19 secure guidelines, so we’ve still got the green light to hold Music Makers sessions. The only rider on this is that you can’t come along if you’re in a group of more than 6 people, but as long as your family group that’s attending has less than 6 people, we’re fine. Part of the Covid Secure status of St Clement’s relies on you maintaining social distancing from other family groups as far as is practicable.
(We all owe a big vote of thanks to Ken Flood – the Vicar at St Clement’s, for keeping abreast of the guidelines and enabling us to meet).
Please ensure that all adults wear facemasks when attending sessions.
Times of this week’s sessions:
Thursday 17th September 1st session 9.30 to 10.30, 2nd session 10.45 to 11.45, both sessions in the Lower Hall and main church, at St Clement’s, Edge Lane, Chorlton, M21 9AE (access via main church doors).
Car Parking behind main church, access from St Clement’s Rd.
Cost:
(Please note; the pricing structure has changed owing to social distancing requirements and subsequent space issues).
£5 for first child, £3.00 for each additional sibling.
1st Adult free. Each additional adult £3.00 (Additional adults; there is an upper limit of 30 adults at each session.
It is extremely unlikely that this upper limit will cause issues, but … If more than one adult is attending with your family group, there is a remote possibility that I may have to get back to you and ask that only one adult attends. There are 19 family group places per session and everything is done on a first come first served basis. As such, there are assumed to be 20 adults at each session, 19 you of lot and me. If extra adult places are requested, once we reach the upper limit of 30, I will be getting back to people in strict order to request that only one adult attends).
These Sessions are pre-booked and prepaid sessions:
We cannot offer a drop in, pay on the door option in the present circumstances. Please do not attend these sessions unless you have a confirmed, pre-booked and pre-paid space allocated.
We will be working on a strict week by week basis. Attendance at sessions in a previous week is not a guarantee of a place at future sessions, you must re-book each week as set out below.
Booking for each Thursdays’ sessions will open at 4.00pm on Saturday afternoons.
All bookings must be made via email, owenlittle9@gmail.com All requests will be dealt with on a strictly first come first served basis. (Please don’t email before 4pm on Saturdays, as we’ll be unable to accept your request).
Please wait for me to confirm your place before pre-paying for your session. Payment details at the end of this email/post.
(Sorry to have to be so regimented about this. We only have 38 places to offer each week – two sessions with 19 places up for grabs per session.
Given this, I’ve decided that the only fair and equitable way to run things is on a strictly first come first served basis, with no exceptions. I have explained to many people already, that whilst things are far from ideal, it’s better to have something going on than nothing at all, and this is the most equitable way of doing things).
Your email must contain all the following information:
• 1) The names of everyone attending in your party, including information regarding number of adults and children (so that the space can be set up for the sessions).
• 2) Full contact details for one adult from within your party. (These contact details will be for “the lead adult” of your party, to be passed on to Track and Trace, should the need arise).
• 3) Very important: Please be very clear about which session, either 1st session 9.30 to 10.30, or 2nd session 10.45 to 11.45, you wish to book for. (If you don’t include details of the session you want to attend, I will not be able to process your request until I’ve found the time to ask you for this information).
• 4) Important: Please make sure when you email to book, that you’re very clear about what the payment name/reference details are that go with your booking. I’ve got to keep track of all this! Thanks in advance.
• 5) When booking a place at a Music Makers session, you agree to notify me immediately if you, or anyone in your close family group tests positive for, or contracts Covid 19.
By emailing to book a place, you consent to me holding the information from your email and sharing it with the relevant authorities, as appropriate, in the event of us being notified of a confirmed Covid 19 case. (If the sessions are full when I receive your mail, I will let you know this, then delete your email).
Each set of two morning sessions will be taken as one “bubble”, i.e. if we are notified of an infectious source that occurred in the first session, the details of everyone who attended for the whole morning will be passed on. If we are notified of an infectious source that occurred in the second session, only details of people at the second session will be passed on.
Please note; emailing me to request a space is not a guarantee that you have been successful. Please wait for confirmation of your place from me before paying. (Please bear in mind that this is still just me running Music Makers, so you may not get an immediate response. Please be patient with this process. Thanks in advance). All bookings will be dealt with on a strict first come, first served basis, assuming that all details requested above have been given. When the sessions are full, they are full.
To pre-pay for your allocated place:
Please do not pay until you receive an email reply from me stating that you have got a place.
• Once I’ve confirmed your place, please pay in advance for your Music Makers session. (Payment methods detailed below).
• Following on from my confirmation of your place, you must please prepay for your session in good time before the session occurs. (As a very small business, we won’t be able to sustain these new sessions if we try to cope within a 25/30% “no show/no pay” scenario).
• Important: Please make sure when you email to book, that you’re very clear about what the payment name/reference details are that go with your booking. I’ve got to keep track of all this! Thanks in advance.
• If you have remaining Block Booked sessions, you can use these for payment. Please let me know clearly if this is what you are doing. (Once Block Bookings are used up, they will not be renewed under the present circumstances).
Cost:
(Please note; the pricing structure has changed owing to social distancing requirements and subsequent space issues).
£5 for first child, £3.00 for each additional sibling.
1st Adult free. Each additional adult £3.00
Payment Methods:
Paypal.me/OwenLittle
(N.B. if using Paypal, please DO NOT tick the box “paying for goods or a service”. This is in effect an insurance when you’re buying something to be delivered and PayPal take a cut of the money you pay me for this).
Alternatively please pay via Bacs into my account:
Mr O J Little
Sort Code 56 00 23
Account no. 46974156
Natwest
Account type: Personal
I’m sorry for the length of this communication. It’s necessary, given the present circumstances, to be clear of the terms on which these sessions are being offered. I’m sure this will all become familiar with time.
It felt great to be interacting with real people last week, rather than making videos! Live performance is the life blood of musicians and I’ve really missed it.
Yours
Owen Little