This guidance has been developed by WCVA in consultation with Welsh Government.
This guidance is for community centres based in Wales to provide you with a brief overview of how to prepare for restarting your services when it is permissible to do so.
At the time of writing, community centres must remain closed subject to certain exceptions. These exceptions include providing essential voluntary services to homeless or vulnerable people and, upon the request of the Welsh Ministers or a local authority, providing public services. See Regulation 7 here, updated on 3 July 2020.
On Friday, 10 July 2020 it was announced by Welsh Government that guidance will be published to support community centres to restart more public services at the discretion of local authorities.
The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (Wales) Regulations 2020, impose a number of restrictions on businesses and other services and you must operate your organisation in a way that is compliant with these regulations, as updated or amended.
This guide is correct at the time of publication and we recommend it is read in conjunction with government guidance which you need to regularly review for updates. In Wales you can refer to these sites for guidance: Welsh Government and Public Health Wales. You should also refer to guidance provided by the Health and Safety Executive. For the regulation itself and any updates or amendments please see here.
This guidance is not legal advice and WCVA accepts no liability arising from it and it does not constitute professional advice. WCVA recommends you perform your own research alongside this guidance to ensure you have taken all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of your premises, your staff, volunteers, customers and the community.
If you are permitted to open your venue, you should only do so when it is safe and when you feel confident in your ability to protect users of the building. Until then your venue should remain closed.
Please consider if local restrictions are in place and consider the potential for future local restrictions.
Remember that if someone becomes unwell in the workplace with a new, continuous cough; high temperature; the loss or a change in their normal sense of smell or taste they should be sent home and advised to follow the advice to stay at home.
Written by Emma Waldron, Risk Procurement & Governance Manager, – WCVA