Welcome to Norton Sports Charity, one of the largest independent providers of sport, social and event facilities in the North East of England!
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IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Update 28th March 2020 on Norton Sports Charity’s response to Coronavirus (COVID-
19) from Peter Frost (Chairman)
The health and safety of people has always been our top priority and this has governed a wideranging set of actions which have been put in place in our response to the Coronavirus pandemic. As a policy we have been following Government, NHS and Public Health England advice and indeed have implemented various measures well before we were required to do so. We believe that this is in the best interest of everyone given the magnitude of the challenges facing us.
Since we took our first measures on 5th March 2020, we have been operating within a coherent plan aimed at addressing both immediate issues and also at helping ensure our long-term sustainability. In this, I would like to pay huge tribute to the monumental efforts made by employees, Directors and many members of our local community including our Hosted Clubs. Most particularly it is a tremendous achievement to have completely transformed our activities over the last ten days or so and I simply cannot thank people enough for their contribution to and understanding of the situation.
The following are the key elements of the plan we are working to – further updates will be provided at regular intervals.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
EMPLOYEES AND BOARD MEMBERS
IMPACT AND ACTIVITY PLAN
With all community activities including those generating income stopping for an indeterminate
period effectively overnight, there is clearly a huge impact on us. In addition to the various
immediate measures taken above we are active in the following areas:
To end on a positive note, over the coming weeks and once things have stabilised, we will be giving detailed consideration to our recovery plan. Together with our predecessors, we have been active at Station Road for over 140 years and have risen to meet many challenges during that time. Knowing as I do our local community including customers, employees, Directors, volunteers and Hosted Clubs, I am absolutely personally convinced that we will emerge from this. This will require our customary dedication and determination, much self-help and some assistance from outside thereby enabling us to continue to fulfil our charitable objective of significantly improving the quality of life for the people of Norton and the surrounding area through our fantastic facilities and people.
Finally, our heartfelt thanks go to the NHS and all those working in response to the Coronavirus pandemic.
And above all do take care of yourselves.
PETER FROST
28TH MARCH 2020
19) from Peter Frost (Chairman)
The health and safety of people has always been our top priority and this has governed a wideranging set of actions which have been put in place in our response to the Coronavirus pandemic. As a policy we have been following Government, NHS and Public Health England advice and indeed have implemented various measures well before we were required to do so. We believe that this is in the best interest of everyone given the magnitude of the challenges facing us.
Since we took our first measures on 5th March 2020, we have been operating within a coherent plan aimed at addressing both immediate issues and also at helping ensure our long-term sustainability. In this, I would like to pay huge tribute to the monumental efforts made by employees, Directors and many members of our local community including our Hosted Clubs. Most particularly it is a tremendous achievement to have completely transformed our activities over the last ten days or so and I simply cannot thank people enough for their contribution to and understanding of the situation.
The following are the key elements of the plan we are working to – further updates will be provided at regular intervals.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
- To date no Charity or CIC staff or Directors are believed to have contracted the virus but a number are directly or indirectly affected by requirements for self-isolation or shielding.
- The entire Norton Sports Charity site was closed to the public at 5 p.m. on 20th March 2020 and will remain so until further notice. This makes a significant contribution to health and safety and the ‘Stay Home – Protect the NHS – Save Lives’ instruction from the Government.
- Any work still being done on site is by a small number of nominated employees with all appropriate social distancing and hygiene measures being strictly adhered to.
- Specific new measures relating to Safety and Security have been introduced and include restricted site access, securing of buildings and isolation of gas, water and electrical supplies as appropriate.
EMPLOYEES AND BOARD MEMBERS
- We have assessed what work still needs to be carried out and as a result of this the majority of staff across our grounds and clubhouse activities have been given notice of ‘furlough’ (i.e. temporary lay-off) under the provisions of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. For a twelve week period prior to further review, the Charity / CIC will effectively contribute 20% of normal pay to staff in furlough with the other 80% ultimately coming from the Scheme.
- New working practices have been introduced for the staff still working including necessary safety procedures. These cover grounds, administration and clubhouse activities.
- New responsibilities have been assigned across Board members as follows:
- Continuity Plan Coordination – Peter Frost
- Grounds and Hosted Clubs – Dave McCullogh
- Emergency Finance Arrangements and General Administration – Bill Pickersgill
IMPACT AND ACTIVITY PLAN
With all community activities including those generating income stopping for an indeterminate
period effectively overnight, there is clearly a huge impact on us. In addition to the various
immediate measures taken above we are active in the following areas:
- The Board of Directors has met regularly including more latterly by telecon in order to take various key decisions
- A full plan is in place for appropriate maintenance of our assets including all buildings and playing surfaces
- We have developed a detailed cashflow model to assist us in managing our way forward
- We are seeking various sources of external grant and loan finance in addition to determining what funds might be available internally. Clearly it is difficult to determine the full financial impact on us of the Coronavirus pandemic when we do not know its’ full extent and duration but there is no doubt that this impact is very significant.
To end on a positive note, over the coming weeks and once things have stabilised, we will be giving detailed consideration to our recovery plan. Together with our predecessors, we have been active at Station Road for over 140 years and have risen to meet many challenges during that time. Knowing as I do our local community including customers, employees, Directors, volunteers and Hosted Clubs, I am absolutely personally convinced that we will emerge from this. This will require our customary dedication and determination, much self-help and some assistance from outside thereby enabling us to continue to fulfil our charitable objective of significantly improving the quality of life for the people of Norton and the surrounding area through our fantastic facilities and people.
Finally, our heartfelt thanks go to the NHS and all those working in response to the Coronavirus pandemic.
And above all do take care of yourselves.
PETER FROST
28TH MARCH 2020
Thank You
Thank you to everyone who donated to the Aviva Community Fund to support improved social/sports facilities for people with disabilities.
We are delighted to have raised £12,180! Click on the Aviva logo for more information, including details of our generous supporters.
Thank you to everyone who donated to the Aviva Community Fund to support improved social/sports facilities for people with disabilities.
We are delighted to have raised £12,180! Click on the Aviva logo for more information, including details of our generous supporters.
At our 55 acre site at Norton Sports Village on Teesside you can participate in archery, athletics, bowls, cricket, football, hockey, squash and tennis, together with many other recreational activities, as well as enjoying our excellent social, event and conferencing facilities at our bars in CiC@74. We even have our own Community Forest!
Whether you wish to join one of the many clubs that have their home at the Charity or prefer to play independently on a regular or occasional basis, we would be delighted to see you and help you enjoy everything we have to offer.
So just check out the links on the left and get yourself down to Norton!
Whether you wish to join one of the many clubs that have their home at the Charity or prefer to play independently on a regular or occasional basis, we would be delighted to see you and help you enjoy everything we have to offer.
So just check out the links on the left and get yourself down to Norton!
Amazon Smile
You can raise money for the Charity by shopping on Amazon via Amazon Smile using this link or click on the Amazon Smile logo.
You can raise money for the Charity by shopping on Amazon via Amazon Smile using this link or click on the Amazon Smile logo.