Temporary restricted access and use of the Society’s Pelham-Clinton Building
When the pandemic struck, BENHS Council took the difficult decision to initially close access to the site for members and more recently to only allow visits of one or two people by appointment.
It is the desire of Council to return to the pre-pandemic availability and use of the Pelham-Clinton building as soon as possible, as we recognise how valued the open days and workshops are by the membership. However, we have to take into consideration our duty to ensure we are keeping our members and building volunteers, as safe as we can. Clearly the implications of the detection of the new omicron variant of Covid19 in the UK are not yet fully understood. Therefore, we have decided to maintain the current situation for the immediate future. This means anyone wishing to make an appointment to view the library and collections on an ad hoc basis may potentially do so by contacting the Society’s Building Manager Martin Albertini.
In addition, we hope to return to the pre-pandemic programme of Open Days (specified Sundays throughout the year) and Workshops (selected Saturdays again throughout the year) from April 2022 onwards. By this time we hope that the Covid19 situation will have stabilised so that further constraints will no longer be necessary although it would seem likely at this stage that some controls (e.g. prior booking and number limits) may be necessary. Council are intending to draft a programme of such activity early in the New Year.
It would greatly assist our planning if any members who have an interest in the Open Days and Workshops could let us know what they would most like to see in a future programme, whether that be just the opportunity to consult the library and collections again or whether particular topics for workshops. Please do send any comments to indoormeetings@benhs.org.uk.
Thank you for your understanding and patience over access to the Pelham-Clinton Building.