News
COVID update: 05 January 2020
- Written By:
- Published: Tue, 05 Jan 2021 14:45 GMT
The UK and Scottish governments issued ‘stay at home’ orders yesterday, putting both countries into national lockdown, in line with tightened restrictions already in place for Wales. This means that all British Dressage training and competition activity is once again suspended across all three nations.
Enhanced level four restrictions are mandated by law across mainland Scotland and come into force from today, Tuesday 5 January, while in England the national lockdown requirements will become law on Wednesday 6 January, although these restrictions should be followed with immediate effect.
In order to minimise the risk of spreading the virus, everyone should minimise the time spent outside of home, only leaving for essential reasons such as work (if it cannot be done from home), exercise, education, healthcare or shopping for food and other necessary items.
You may still leave your house to visit and provide care for your horse, which includes where animals are kept in livery or reside elsewhere, with the permission of the owner of the premises, providing all social distancing and hygiene measures are followed. You can also continue to ride your horse in order to maintain their health and welfare, as part of your own daily exercise.
The BD team is working on contingency plans for major fixtures and competition dates in the next two to three month period to ensure qualification efforts are not lost, wherever possible. Further details will follow in due course, although it may take some time to put alternative plans in place, depending on the duration of the current suspension of activity and how quickly restrictions can be eased when lockdown ends.
In the meantime, while the British Dressage offices in Meriden are closed, we will continue to provide a full service to members remotely. Reduced staffing arrangements will again apply during the suspension period, so we are grateful for your patience if it takes slightly longer to respond to your calls and emails.
As during the last lockdown in November, there will still be plenty of interesting and informative content available for members online, as part of our BD At Home initiative. Please continue to check the BD website, social media and You Tube channel for regular updates.
Chief Executive Jason Brautigam commented; “It is incredibly disappointing to be entering a third lockdown and certainly not the start to the New Year that anyone wanted. Once again we find ourselves in the unwelcome position of having to suspend the sport for what is likely to be at least a two month hiatus while we all work together to help get the virus under control.
“We know that you’ll be concerned about the impact this will have on the competition schedule and what this means for your hard earned qualifications, but rest assured we are continuing to work on a number of options as part of our contingency plans. It’s quite a complex logistical puzzle, so please do bear with us and we’ll announce alternative plans as soon as they’re finalised.
“We really do appreciate the patience, understanding and support of our members during these difficult times, but as we proved in 2020 we have the resilience as a community to rise to these challenges and emerge even stronger.”
The time frames indicated by each government for the review of lockdown restrictions are currently as follows:
Wales: 18 January
Scotland: 31 January
England: 15 February
For further information on government advice and guidelines, please visit the following sites:
England
Scotland
Wales
