Guidance that allow us to operate
Bushcraft is not listed by the UK Government as a business that is prohibited from operating (i.e. music festivals, venues, libraries, indoor gyms, soft play areas, water parks etc.).
Furthermore, the UK Government has maintained that all businesses not prohibited should continue to operate wherever possible, but in line with the requirements of the PHE COVID-Secure guidance.
We interpret this to mean that Jack Raven Bushcraft is able to operate.
Guidance on re-opening
We have considered the UK Government guidance ‘Reopen your business safely during coronavirus (COVID‑19)’ which lists ‘tourism and leisure, including hotels, museums, cinemas, zoos and theme parks’. This provides guidance on social distancing measures and has informed Jack Raven Bushcraft’s Covid-19 Infection Control Guidelines.
This guidance tells us we must:
“work out the maximum number of customers that can reasonably follow social distancing guidelines (where they can stay 2 metres apart from other customers or 1 metre with risk mitigation where 2 metres is not viable)”.
We believe that our workplace (a 35 acre woodland) is able to accommodate our normal customer numbers plus staff and maintain social distancing.
This guidance also tells us that we must:
- “ensure that customers of the same households or support bubble can be seated or stood together outdoors
- ensure that customers of up to two households or support bubbles or a group of six people from any number of households can be seated or stood together outside with social distancing”.
From this we interpret that:
- People from the same household or support bubble, or
- People from 2 households or support bubbles, or
- 6 people from different households
can sit or stand together but any one group must socially distance from any other group.
Guidance once open
As a relatively niche industry, bushcraft is not mentioned in UK Government guidance. We believe the guidance that probably best fits our industry to be ‘The Visitor Economy’ which lists, amongst other things, campsites, walking tours, outdoor attractions and family entertainment centres.
This guidance tells us that we must:
“Assess the number of customers, or crowd density, that can reasonably enable social distancing within any space. This will vary depending on layout or usage.”
Again, we believe that our workplace (a 35 acre woodland) is able to accommodate our normal customer numbers plus staff and maintain social distancing.
This guidance also says:
“From 4 July, you should limit your social interactions to two households (your support bubble counts as one household) in any location; or, if outdoors, potentially up to six people from different households. It will be against the law for gatherings of more than 30 people to take place. Premises or locations which are COVID-19 Secure will be able to hold more than 30 people, subject to their own capacity limits, although any individual groups should not interact with anyone outside of the group they are attending the venue with – so in a group no larger than two households or six people if outdoors.”
We interpret the first 2 sentences as defining 2 types of group, members of which are are able to socially interact with each other:
- People from 2 households up to a maximum of 30 people either indoors or outdoors,
- Up to 6 people from different households if outdoors.
We interpret the 3rd sentence to mean that we are allowed to have over 30 people at our location as we are COVID-19 Secure. Note that the numbers we have attending are significantly less than 30 and we do not intend to change that. This sentence also tells us that individuals in any one group must socially distance from individuals in any other group whilst at our venue.
