Essex RFU

ECRFU’s Facilities and Funding Chair, Alan Brooking, has spent a great deal of time and consideration working on the advice of HM Government and UK Hospitality, to better understand the practicalities of implementing their guidance. In doing so, he has come up with a template operational plan that we would recommend for any club.

You will have noticed that guidance from government, UK Hospitality, Sport England and so on, is not concise or clear cut and the RFU and Essex Rugby have worked hard to try and give a clearer picture of what you should do to reopen your clubs.

Alan recommends:

1. Create a “Covid Response Team”, with a representative from facilities, rugby, and business, e.g. Facilities Manager, Director of Rugby, and Treasurer.

2. Create your own Club Road Map. Using the RFU guides, set out the lock down phases, budgets, actual and projected revenue, and the actions required at each phase. This will help you plan budgets and actions, giving clear milestones for your progression.

3. Assess what and when you need to restart each element of the club. Do you need to reopen the clubhouse completely? Do you need to reopen your facility at all? This will complement your Club Roadmap and help you organise your action plan and finances.

4. Contact your breweries and drinks suppliers. Have they any practical advice, incentives, financial assistance, or general support?

5. Contact your local Council or Licencing Authority. Your licensing officer will need to ensure that your facilities are suitable to reopen in line with your licence. They will be able to advise what you can do depending on the type of licence you hold and they may have local advice and support they can offer you.

6. If you have any staff, review the furlough position. How will the next phase of furlough affect you and your furloughed staff? When furloughing staff, they must be informed in writing that they have been furloughed and they must be informed in writing should the terms of their furlough change, e.g. from 1st August 2020. If making Staff redundant, please use the ACAS advice line for assistance.

7. Complete a risk assessment for both reopening your facility and returning to rugby activity. The RFU have provided both facilities guidance and templates and a coaching risk assessment template but there are plenty of example and template risk assessments online. England Rugby’s Insurance Centre provides a risk assessment tool to help you develop your own risk assessment and Sport England Club Matters have produced a reopening toolkit which includes advice on creating a risk assessment.

8. Use the Government's advice on Hospitality, to benchmark your Staff and Facilities risk assessment, and Sport England's and RFU advice to benchmark your Rugby Assessment.

9. Create an Action Plan for everything! However minor the action, assess the costs and ensure financially you can afford it, assign one of the team to action.

10. Agree and communicate new rules around social distancing to all members and potential customers. You can download guidance on the new social distancing rules, which come in to effect on 4th July 2020, here.

12. All Staff are required by law to be trained on all new processes, systems, Health and Safety, and Covid Secure safety PRIOR to returning to Work. This includes volunteers working within the club’s hospitality sector.

13. Run a Test event to ensure everything works.

Key tips

One of the requirements is a "cashless table service” wherever possible. Please be very careful to assess transaction cost, as some Companies are giving service free but charging 10-12% on transactions. Talk to your Beer Supplier first, they may well have entered into an agreement which can save you a lot of money. If you are with Greene King, they have agreed a deal with www.round.com, at a very attractive rate.

Another slight caution is that for clubs breaking the social distancing rules, each member involved in the group can receive an on the spot fine of £60.00. The Club can also be summoned for a licence review, which can close the bar down and even issue fines against the club or its members, depending on their constitution.

I am still trying to get clarification on whether volunteers in a sports setting, for e.g. coaches, are to be considered as staff as stipulated in the government's recent hospitality guidance, and one I know, the ECRFU Management Committee will circulate that information.

Of course every Club is different, but I believe ALL can stay safe using this process. Every day new advice and clarification of rules are coming out so each club needs a centre of focus who can stay on top of this.