It's been a while...Lockdown2

No excuse really. 

Yes, it has been a few weeks since I last sat down at my laptop and wrote a post. So what have we been doing? Coming off the flexi-furlough scheme at the end of September meant the start of catch-up for the Museum team. Plenty to do whilst still meeting and greeting visitors and welcoming them to the Museum. It took a few days to slip back into some sort of normality, whatever that is nowadays. But we cracked on and kept everything moving until...

THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

Just as we seem to be making some sort of headway, the PM addressed the nation on a Saturday evening at 4pm/5pm/6.30pm (delete as appropriate). After a day in the Museum with plenty of speculation, a ten mile cycle ride home, I tuned into the news we were to shut from November 5th. 

We probably all saw it coming but there was still that flurry of activity to ensure we could initally work from home. We opened as normal on the Sunday but by Monday morning it was evident people had other things on their mind and by 3pm we decided enough was enough. We closed the doors once again. For a couple of days the staff came in to sort things out, do a bit of planning before we waved 'adieu' and decamped to our respective dining rooms.

After some discussions it was decided to furlough the staff from Monday 9 November. All except Nick, of course, who is maintaining the service during lockdown. Dealing with enquiries, sorting out online orders and despatching books to eager customers, posting social media and checking the Museum. Keeping us afloat during these difficult times, by doing a brilliant job.

With these short days and long nights, lockdown2 is not easy for anyone. We had already started plans for reorganising our website and looking at our digital offer, submitting a funding bid in October to help us bring these plans to fruition. We were starting to plan for welcoming back our volunteers, looking at how we could host a veterans get-together safely and even had two schools booked for a visit with all the relevant health and safety plans in place. But it wasn't to be.

Now as we head towards the festive season, we need to think about our situation, review our finances, evaluate how we operated over the summer period. With furlough in place, it is not easy but we will come through this and out the other side...again! Meanwhile, it is time to get back to posting my blog. Not sure it can be daily as the cat won't allow it, but probably a couple of times a week. To stay in contact with the wider world. Oh, and just a wee word of thanks to those that took the time to read my previous posts. It is good to know that they were being looked at!!

Stay safe and take care folks.

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