John Godber Centre overcoming difficult Covid challenges

After a turbulent year for the hospitality and events industry, The John Godber Centre is beginning to welcome back a steady flow of clients.

The Community Centre on Ogle Street opened its doors again on the 12th April following the easing of lockdown restrictions.

It has been a trying time for all involved with the centre as well as those wanting to use it. Manager Kim Pears, said: "We saw the beginnings of the impact of Covid last February. We noticed the difference with the beer festival; the numbers were a bit lower than previous years. Then obviously as the weeks went on after that a lot of bookings were enquiring about if they should cancel and we were trying to work out the best thing to do.

"We didn't want to stay open if it was putting staff or customers at risk so we decided to cancel four weeks of bookings at that time not knowing if that was too extreme or not. Then by the Friday all of our bookings had cancelled and then that night he (Prime Minister Boris Johnson) made the announcement that pubs and everything had to close anyway.

"I don't think any of us expected it to go on as long as it has. It was just a continuous thing of waiting for every announcement and then going ok how many more bookings should we cancel?"

The staff have had to be flexible in their approach and react instantly to the ever-changing government guidance.

Mrs Pears continued: "I think it's been a long process. We were allowed to open in June last year for the pre-school and then we opened for slimming groups and things and a few of our community groups came back in the summer.

"And then from September we were getting the kids groups back but then we got the blow of the rule of six which then meant that all of our community groups which had been running had to stop. So knitting groups and flower clubs and things like that that had run Covid secure over the summer were then told they had to stop because of the rule of six."

Despite the adversity, Mrs Pears is pleased with how the centre has responded to the challenging climate.

"It has been quite hard but we're proud of what we've done. I think our risk assessment is on version 21 at the minute. Every time there's a piece of guidance that comes out or an update we have to put that into place. Every time that we've reopened or had to close, the risk assessment's been updated.

"We've spent money on things like hand sanitiser stations so they're all round the building now. We've got a lovely white building that we'd painted and it's just covered in Covid signage.

"We have helped other church halls it's not just been us. The two local ones to us are St Peter's and St John's, we've helped out their church wardens with advice and how we've read it and we're just soundboards for each other."

The resumption of some groups has had a positive impact on the mental health of a number of members of the local community and this has been evident to all involved with The John Godber Centre.

"Everybody's been so happy to be back and see people and kind of get that sense of normality. We're quite lucky in how we're organised and how our reserves are that we've been financially able to open and we've got the staff and the skills to actually plan this and open. I know that some places in the UK haven't been able to and they've made the decision to stay closed and that's quite hard."

There have been unexpected increases in certain sectors of business for the Centre. This has been a much needed boost as it is roughly only operating around 25% of the number of groups, activities and functions that it would have done pre-Covid.

"One of the biggest areas of growth for us has been the babies and children's market. When we closed in March last year I had one under-fives group. When we reopened this time round, I think with our timetable now there are 12 baby and children's classes. Some mums I've spoken to have only had a few weeks where they can come out and do these baby groups because they're going back (to work) so they've missed out on that experience of meeting new mums, of bonding with baby, I think that's the one that's had the biggest impact.

"It's the friendships that are forming in those groups as well. We had a new class start last week and they all went out for a coffee and a walk after, it's so lovely that it's bringing people together in that sense."

Everything now hinges on the next government announcement about whether all social restrictions will be lifted on June 21st. If this does happen, there are tentative plans for some community events to take place in the late summer and into autumn.

For the latest information about the John Godber Centre, you can visit their website by clicking here .