The results of the survey and the decision on whether to reopen Tanglewood

Firstly I would like to thank everyone who took part in the survey which was designed to gauge the opinions of club members and their parents/carers. There were a total of 32 responses, which is roughly half of our total membership – a little disappointing considering it was such an important issue but it was a useful exercise and it did give the management committee an insight on the general feeling of club members and their carers.

The introduction to the survey stated that social distancing would not be possible when travelling in minibuses contracted to Tanglewood and that it would not be possible to maintain social distance whilst at club. Face coverings would not be enforced and we would require everyone who entered the club to have all the appropriate Covid vaccinations.

Q 1 asked under the above conditions would you feel safe returning to club?
YES = 71% NO = 29%

Q 2 asked would you be happy using the current transport arrangements?
YES = 64.5% NO = 35.5%

Q 3 Would you be happy to pay the proposed increase in weekly subs of £5?
YES = 87.1% NO = 12.9%

Q 4 = If you club was to reopen immediately would you attend?
YES = 77.4% NO – = 22.6%

Each survey form had the option of making personal comments. Here are some of them:-

“I miss Tanglewood. I miss my friends”
“I am looking forward to the reopening of Tanglewood”
“I just feel it is a little too early to go back”
“Always feel safe at Tanglewood”
“Looking forward to getting back to the routine. I miss seeing my friends”
“Opening Tanglewood is not advisable yet”
“Too risky as the numbers are still rising”

The Tanglewood management committee, which is basically all the volunteer helpers with myself as Chairman, met on Monday September 13th to discuss the possibility of reopening. I did read out the results of the survey and comments before asking the committee members for their own opinion.
The question of whether to reopen or not was entirely in their hands. For obvious reasons and regardless of my own views, I cannot even consider reopening without their support. It was a lengthy meeting and several points were raised both in favour and against. However the vast majority were of the opinion that it was too early to consider reopening at this moment in time.

The meeting ended with a unanimous vote NOT TO REOPEN. It was agreed however that we will monitor the general situation and if the is a vast improvement on the current infection rate, we would reconvene and discuss the subject again.

As things stand at the moment it would seem unlikely that the club will reopen before spring 2022 by which time the club would have been closed for two years.

As you know Tanglewood meets in the main hall at Harrow Borough F.C. and I would like to point out that they have been extremely cooperative and understanding of our position throughout. All of our club equipment is stored in their premises. It would be well within their rights to insist we remove our equipment and to cancel our block booking of the hall. They have been very supportive and have respected our decision for which we are extremely grateful.

Tanglewood has renewed its contract with Zoom and we will continue to hold fortnightly meetings using their technology. I have to say that using Zoom has been a lifeline for us and around 20 club members join us on a regular basis. I just wish we could attract more members to join in. We have had some brilliant presentations using this format. On Sept 20th for instance, we are having a presentation from a puppet theatre. Please join us. We can all see each other and chat. The other Zoom dates from now until Christmas are as follows:-

Oct 4th This will be the clubs 56th anniversary and I am planning a special evening. This will be followed by virtual club nights on Oct. 18th, Nov 1st, 15th & 29th, and Dec 13th. There will be an extra Zoom on December 20th for our virtual Christmas party.

It is vital that all of you keep in touch using this website. Our 100 club continues as usual with the monthly draws taking place “Live” on Zoom and the results posted on this website.
Thank you for your continued support in these unprecedented times.