Covid-19
Monday 29th March 2021
We are pleased to announce that the club has reopened today for outdoor shooting, with indoor shooting returning on Monday 12th April.
Beginners courses will resume on Saturday 10th April. Anybody booked on a beginners course which has been postponed due to lockdown will be contacted to rearrange their booking.
Thursday 25th February 2021
Following the government announcement made on Monday 22nd February, we expect to be able to re-open the club for outdoor shooting on Monday 29th March, with indoor shooting returning from Monday 12th April. We do not have a date for beginners courses to resume yet, but further updates will be posted towards the end of March once we know more.
Monday 4th January 2021
Following the government announcement this evening about a further national lockdown, we regret that Southampton Archery Club is now closed until further notice. All outstanding bookings have been cancelled.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-lockdown-stay-at-home
Wednesday 23rd December 2020
The government has announced today that most of Hampshire, including Southampton, will now enter tier 4 restrictions from the start of Boxing Day. Under the tier 4 restrictions outdoor shooting is allowed to continue according to our current conditions of shooting, but all indoor shooting, beginner courses and competitions cannot continue.
Members in tier 4: The guidelines state that you should "stay local" and "avoid travelling outside of your village, town or the part of a city where you live" - this means you should NOT attend the club unless you live locally to the club.
Members in tiers 1/2/3: The guidelines state that you "should not travel into a Tier 4 area" - this means you should NOT attend the club.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tier-4-stay-at-home
Thursday 17th December 2020
Following the announcement today that Portsmouth, Havant and Gosport are now under tier 3 restrictions, members living in these three areas are asked to adhere to the government guidelines and therefore NOT attend the club - which remains under tier 2 restrictions.
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/review-of-local-restriction-tiers-17-december-2020
Monday 30th November 2020
Archery GB have now finalised their guidelines for re-opening archery clubs from Wednesday 2nd December and the club will re-open on Wednesday morning accordingly. The booking system is now available again and members can book both indoor and outdoor shooting as per before the November lockdown, subject to the Conditions of Shooting. We are also able to resume running beginner courses, but these must now be run outdoors as the club is under tier 2 restrictions.
Wednesday 4th November 2020
Following consultation with Archery GB, Southampton Archery Club will be closing on Thursday 5th November according to the requirements of the national lockdown announced by the government. The club will re-open at the end of lockdown.
https://www.archerygb.org/covid-19-update-closure-of-clubs-in-england/
Saturday 31st October 2020
Following the government announcement this evening about a national lockdown from Thursday 5th November to Wednesday 2nd December, it seems likely that the club will have to close during this period. If this happens then the November beginner course and the club target championships scheduled for Saturday 7th November will be postponed accordingly.
A further update will be posted after consultation with Archery GB on Monday 2nd November.
Monday 28th September 2020
Beginner courses are now available again although they are running with a reduced number of participants on each course.
Saturday 19th September 2020
The cricket season has now finished and the outdoor range layout has been modified accordingly for the winter months. New conditions of shooting apply from today and the indoor range is also now available for members to book indoor shooting.
A trial beginners course this month has been very successful, we will look to open up beginner courses to the general public in the coming months, subject to Archery GB and government guidelines around coaching ratios and group sizes.
Wednesday 15th July 2020
Archery GB released revised guidelines on 4th July which reduce the spacing required on the range layout for both target and clout archery. We have also now received notice that cricket will resume at Hardmoor Sports Ground from Saturday 18th July.
As a result the committee have met and taken the decision to modify the current range layout to increase the number of bosses on the bottom field and reduce the number of bosses on the top field, thereby keeping slots available for shooting which would otherwise have been lost to cricket.
The changes to the field layout will take place on the morning of Saturday 18th, the new conditions of shooting will then come into force and online booking of slots will be made available again.
Monday 29th June 2020
In accordance with Archery GB guidelines, we are currently operating outdoor shooting for existing members only. Our indoor facilities remain closed and we are not running any competitions or beginner courses at present.
As soon as we are able to safely offer beginner courses, we will do so.
Monday 25th May 2020
We are pleased to confirm that Southampton Archery Club has re-opened for outdoor shooting today. Since Archery GB announced the first phase guidance for returning to archery on the 13th May, the club committee have been working very hard to put all the necessary preparations into place to allow members to return to the club and shoot under socially distanced conditions.
Since our online booking system became available yesterday, over a quarter of our members have already booked slots for shooting, with more than 30 members taking the opportunity today to be the first to do so.
Initial feedback has been very positive and we'd like to thank all the members for being patient and for adhering to the new conditions of shooting which have been put in place.
Wednesday 20th May 2020
Since Archery GB announced the first phase guidance for returning to archery a week ago, the club committee have been working hard to implement all the steps necessary to re-open the club. We are required to satisfy the following eight steps:
- Committee approval to re-open the club, with necessary planning in place.
- Understanding the guidance from Archery GB and how it applies to our club.
- Appropriate permission from our land owner to re-open.
- Undertaken a new risk assessment on operating the range under new conditions.
- Targets left out and not moved where possible.
- Hand sanitiser or other hand washing measures made available.
- Booking system used to minimise contact and ensure social distancing.
- The ability to mark out a shooting range compliant with the new guidelines.
The ground requires a lot of work to prepare it for usage again. The grass hasn't been cut since lockdown started, Eastleigh Borough Council are there today and tomorrow to get the fields back to an acceptable standard for shooting, with regular weekly cuts resuming at the start of June. There has also been a fair amount of trespass onto the field recently with groups coming in to use the football goals. As a result there is a lot of rubbish on the field and it has taken a while to clear this safely and to secure the boundaries again.
We have been working hard to source hand sanitiser and dispensers for the ground, as well as preparing packs of target faces and pins for members to use and take home instead of sharing equipment at the ground. The new range layout will be marked out on the field over the next few days, this will involve members shooting individually or in small family groups at a single boss in a numbered lane. Members will use an online booking system to reserve shooting slots and there will be provision for both target and clout. Our risk assessments are being updated at the moment and we are preparing more detailed “Conditions of Shooting” which will apply going forward. We are currently optimistic that the club will re-open on Monday 25th May, although it may take a little longer.
Wednesday 13th May 2020
The UK government announced the easing of some lockdown restrictions on Monday 11th May and Archery GB have been working with Sport England and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) since then to develop a phased plan for a return to archery activities in the UK. Archery GB have published the first phase of this guidance this evening:
https://www.archerygb.org/return-to-archery-phase-one
The club committee have held an online meeting this evening to discuss the guidance issued by Archery GB and to formulate a plan to re-open our facilities in accordance with phase one of this. There are a number of measures which will need to be put into place before we can resume shooting at the club, the committee will now work hard to achieve these as quickly and as safely as possible over the coming days or weeks. The guidelines may be unachievable for a number of clubs, who will therefore have to remain closed, but we feel confident that with the support of our members we will be able to open Southampton Archery Club again very soon.
Archery GB have released guidance not only for clubs and coaches, but also detailed information aimed at individual archers. It is imperative that you, as members of the club, should read this information and be aware of how shooting will resume and the ongoing conditions that will be in place during this phase. This guidance is available at:
https://www.archerygb.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Guidance-Notes-for-Archers-FINAL.pdf
We understand that many of you will be keen to resume shooting, but please bear with us whilst we put the necessary measures in place. Most of the club committee are still working full-time from home and also juggling new realities of lockdown such as home schooling!
Wednesday 18th March 2020
Archery GB announced late yesterday afternoon that all archery activities in the UK should be postponed for the foreseeable future. Archery GB have correspondingly withdrawn the insurance to shoot for all clubs and we therefore have no choice but to immediately close all shooting facilities until further notice.
In consultation with our landlords the decision has been taken to change the access codes to the ground and the indoor range, access to the site will therefore not be possible for any reason during the duration of the closure.
We have been in contact with Steve Hallard of Stylist Bows on behalf of members who are currently renting equipment. Once we have further clarification of their position we will update you with the details.
Following questions regarding beginner courses, we would like to confirm that once beginner courses resume we will initially offer places to all those who were booked on courses which have been cancelled, before opening up booking to the general public again.
This situation is unprecedented and extremely unfortunate, but we ask you to be patient with us as things progress. If you have any questions please do get in touch and we will do our best to answer them.
https://www.archerygb.org/all-grassroots-archery-should-be-postponed-for-the-forseeable-future/Tuesday 17th March 2020
Following government advice to minimise non-essential gatherings, the club committee are in agreement that the responsible decision for our members and the wider community is to close the indoor range and pavilion facilities until further notice.
Beginner courses and competitions scheduled for the remainder of 2020 will also be cancelled and refunds issued accordingly.
At this time we are not closing the club entirely and members may use the outdoor facilities at their own discretion. There are enough bosses outdoors that a fair number of archers will be able to shoot on their own boss to help minimise contact with others.
Saturday mornings are usually very busy as you know, so we would like to ask members to spread out your shooting time over the course of the week and avoid attending the club in large numbers on Saturday mornings for the coming months.
We are the largest archery club in the UK and we have a large number of retired members who fall into the more at-risk groups. We're therefore asking all members to take care of themselves and to be considerate towards others. Please follow the government advice to self-isolate if you have symptoms and please DO NOT visit the club if you feel unwell or have recently been in contact with anyone who is unwell.
If you do visit the club, please follow the NHS guidelines on hand hygiene and take sensible precautions with equipment to protect yourselves and others as much as possible. Scoresheets will be made available online and you can continue to submit your scores via our website for classifications and badge schemes.
Please be reassured that the club is in a financially strong position and that normal club activities will resume in due course when government advice indicates it is safe to do so.
As things progress in the coming weeks and months, we will post updates here as well as on Facebook and via email.
James Wilson
Club Chairman