Dear Members,

Following on from our guidance for England yesterday which confirmed the government’s rules on the closure of swimming pools during this circuit breaker, I just wanted to write and say thank you to all of our STA Family (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and internationally) for your continued support throughout these difficult times – and with today being the first day of the lockdown in England, I wanted to wish you all the very best for the next few weeks and to reiterate that we are always here to help if you need guidance.

The good news, at least, is that the government are mandating in this legislation by use of the ‘Sunset Clause’ that the lockdown in England will cease on 2nd December, so we can all hopefully resume lessons and welcome back our learners on Thursday 3rd December.

In the meantime, the team are organising a series of new webinars to keep us all motivated over the next few weeks. We will also be holding our first ever Virtual Build a Pool Conference on the 20th November.

To our colleagues in Wales too, who have to deal with a stringent ‘fire-break’ lockdown, we look forward to you re-opening pools from the 9^th November – to help we have published further guidance today.

Hopefully, by the sacrifices we are all making now, professionally and personally, the transmission of this awful virus will slow down. So please, continue to stay strong, stay safe, physically and mentally – we can get through the next few weeks and all being well, we can look forward to seeing friends and family at Christmas.

Take care,

Dave Candler, STA CEO