It is lovely to have workshops up and running again here At Birkhill House. We thought it would be useful to provide some information on what our safe workshop spaces are like in order to enable you to make an informed decision about whether you are ready to join us.
We want to offer a welcoming social space that encourages you to be both creative and safe. This means limited workshop places and socially distanced, outdoors and/or screened indoor workspaces. This will vary depending on the type of workshop being run - and the weather - but could include screened seating inside our workshop spaces or working outdoors under our sun shades or in the open barn.
The workshop spaces are cleaned in between each workshop session. Surfaces, floors and contact points - like door handles and light switches - are all cleaned with antibacterial wash.
The artist or maker running the workshop will wear a mask indoors whenever they are within two metres of participants or when they are moving around the work stations. You will not be required to wear a mask while at your work station but you will need to put a mask on before leaving your station and moving around or through the workshop spaces.
You can find a more exhaustive list of our COVID precautions below. These guidelines will be updated to take account of the latest guidance from the Scottish Government, so please be aware they may change at short notice.
Keeping our space safe - At Birkhill House will:
• Limit the number attending our workshops to no more than 8, with possible exceptions for workshops that are entirely outdoors.
• Create 8 individual workstations using tall perspex screen in-between (except for children under 12 or partners living in same or separate home as per current government guidance on allowable coronavirus groupings/‘bubbles’).
• Use face coverings - the artists and makers running our workshops will wear a mask; participants will be asked to wear a face covering when not sitting at their work station.
• Encourage frequent hand washing and provide soap, disposable paper towels and anti-bacterial wipes.
• Invest in additional equipment and materials to limit the need for sharing - any shared equipment or materials will be managed by the artist or maker running the workshop and will be wiped down after each use.
• Either refund money or allow it to be used to pay for, or towards, the cost of any other workshop in case of cancellation due to Covid.
• Offer our artists and participants the opportunity to postpone workshops or workshop bookings until a future date if they are unable to meet our guidelines, or prefer to wait due to their own own personal health situation.