AT LAST
With the signs that we will be able to meet with up to 30 people outdoors for recreation on May17th your committee wish to encourage the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday walks to restart. It is not possible for the LFA to produce an instant programme but must rely on the initiative of the members themselves. You will see in the ‘Walks Programme’ that there are 4 Tuesday walks commencing on May18th and during those walks volunteers will no doubt offer to lead subsequent walks until a Winter programme can be produced in the usual way. This was the method used in the ‘Old Days’. If someone can volunteer to lead a walk on each of the other days then it can be publicised on the website by myself (cneil1482@gmail.com) or placed in the Walks Programme if you have access. Subsequent walks can be publicised in the same way and by word of mouth. These initial walks need not be organised with a lunch nor need they be of a particular length. This minimises the difficulty for volunteers who may well have a recently used route . It would be sensible to keep the start time as 10 am.
There is however the necessity for the leader to record each person on the walk with a contact number and keep the list for 3 weeks. This is a legal requirement. At the start of the walk the leader should remind people of the government advice to observe social distancing, especially at gates and stiles where static groups form, and to carry hand gel. You may have an opportunity for outdoor refreshment/lunch in which case it is likely you may sit in a max. group of 6.
If there should be more than 30 walkers it will be necessary to split into 2 groups and keep a sensible distance between them with a volunteer leader. There are no rules for this but in my opinion 50 yards should be enough.
We hope all goes well and this is the start of normality. Happy Walking.