Behind the Scenes: Oct/Nov ‘20
When lockdown was introduced in March, we always knew that the biggest difficulty facing Atlantis would come with reopening. This has proved to be true, with significant difficulties concerning restricted capacity, Covid-secure measures and encouraging the return of our customers. Atlantis remains committed to its purpose of serving and supporting the community, read on to find out how we’ve continued to pursue this in the current circumstances:
Reopening Atlantis
Atlantis is determined to have as safe an environment as possible for the community. However, all activities at Atlantis are considerably challenged by the implications of social- distancing measures. The main consequence is that capacity has been reduced across all activities at the Centre. Like all community-run projects, Atlantis works when it is busy.
In spite of this, we are doing all we can to reopen as many activities as possible. The Pool was the latest core facility to reopen this month, offering a limited number of swimmers ‘beach ready’ lane swimming as well as Sea Survival courses and the return of Otters and the Canoe Club. We had hoped for a better uptake in swimming than we have seen and are hopeful that this will improve in coming weeks.
Alongside the reopening of the Pool, we’ve been carrying out urgent remedial works to our wet-side changing area. This has been a significant project for Atlantis and we’re nearing the point where sections of the changing area can be reopened as they complete. This will allow family bubble sessions to make use of our Small Pool – with hour or half hourly bookable slots.
Restricted Opening
As each phase of our reopening plan progresses, we continue to look at times when the Centre is underused. It has become clear that we cannot sustain Sunday opening. Atlantis will therefore be closed on Sundays for the foreseeable future. It is very frustrating for us to have to do this - Atlantis is nothing without the people who come through our doors every day. However, the realities of running the centre cannot be ignored if we are to be there for our community in the future.
Atlantis normally closes for a spell over Christmas and New Year each year. This year we’ll close on the evening of the 23rd of December and reopen on the morning of the 4th of January.
There are also many activities and clubs that haven’t yet been able to return after lockdown. Two key Atlantis facilities amongst these are the Soft Play and Café – both of which remain closed for the time being.
Staff Team
With the extension of the Job Retention Scheme until March, some staff have returned to flexible-furlough. Without furlough, Atlantis would not have been able to survive this year. The extension of the scheme allows us to further protect the business well into next year.
For the staff that continue working, there remains a lot to do – including keeping up to date with all training. Throughout the coming month, the staff team will complete the upskill in lifeguard training started during October. This will help ease some of the pressure that the Pools are currently placing on staff resources.