July Opening Update
Right, all, sorry about the delay. As Bedford’s leading combat gym, we feel a great responsibility to ensure that we lead by example, maintaining our high standards and going above and beyond in our measures to ensure the safety of all of our members. We wanted to ensure that we have all of our risk assessments, protective measures and systems in place before we confirmed 100% that the 25th is a go. This hasn’t been the easiest process due to the government’s vague guidance and the crazy demand for a lot of items, from bulk hand sanitiser and protective screens to kettlebells and ground bags.
The good news is that we can confirm that we are in place to open from this Saturday! We have had to implement many changes to do so. We are aware that there is a lot of mixed views and information regarding the COVID-19 but please bear with us. We’ve had to jump through all of the hoops and go above and beyond with all preventative measures to ensure that we can safely open and most importantly – stay open! As frustrating as this is for many of us, please ensure that you adhere to all rules.
We plan to keep our ear to the ground and week by week continue to implement improvements and changes to gradually get back to normality. However, this is a team effort! Please bear with us and help us to see the back of this.
We have recruited an independent health & safety specialist to conduct a detailed risk assessment for us. Following this and the detailed advice given, the following changes have been implemented:
- We have had to change the timetable to allow for thorough sanitation after each and every class. There is a minimum of an hours gap between classes providing 15mins for the class to exit out of the back door, 30+ minutes for staff to sanitise all mats and equipment and 15 minutes for those waiting to make their way upstairs in time for the start of the next class.
- We have purchased a disinfectant fogging machine to add to our already thorough sanitisation process. Once the room is emptied, this fog will help sanitise even the hard to reach areas.
- Classes will be across the full mate to allow for ample social distancing and will be limited to a maximum of 14 people.
- Classes will need to be booked into online to prevent any inconvenience of members having any wasted journeys. This will be setup by end of day Friday and the details posted to our channel immediately.
- Face masks will be mandatory for all classes for the time being. We will have some basic masks available for a couple of quid but we recommend that you bring your own if possible. For our junior Fundamentals MMA class, masks may not be appropriate so we are implementing extra measures to keep the children socially distanced.
- A parent/legal guardian must be present for the duration of their child(ren)’s class. Any children that are not able to follow our instructions and breach the safety measures in place will understandably have to leave the class.
- During this period, parents of the younger children (only) are welcome to go upstairs with them if deemed necessary to ensure that measures are adhered to.
- There will be tape marking 2m divisions on the gym laminate flooring. Please ensure that all children understand their need to maintain this distance. There will be ample space for them all to keep apart, along with their bag/bottle.
- We have have a hand sanitising station upon entering through the front door and another upstairs within the upstairs gym area.
- The main front door will be used as an entrance only to implement a one way system. The back door at the bottom of the stairs will be the exit.
- We have 1 meter wide screens/dividers being placed between each table. Please ensure that social distancing is adhered to and that you only share tables with those from your ‘bubble’. Any children will also need to be kept at that table. If this proves difficult then you will have to wait outside.
- This divided table system will also form booths for those waiting to attend the next class.
- The cafe will be open but again following all H&S measures.
- Hand dryers are being fitted to both toilets allowing people to dry there hands without using the same towel.
- For the first phase, we will be focusing on striking for many of the classes. Having some of the best striking coaches within the UK, it seems silly not to utilise this strange time to improve this area of our game. During phase one, there will be no grappling classes. However, we are very eager to introduce these back within the next couple of weeks and eventually get back to normality! We are confident in our plans and measures to allow us to get this done.
We have a brand new set of cast iron kettlebells on pre-order, but given the current demand, we are still awaiting delivery. This seems to be the case country-wide. This will be a nice improvement to the gym having a great selection of weights and quantities. We also received some feedback regarding our previous set, suggesting those with smaller hands found some of the grips very uncomfortable. These new kettlebells should eliminate that.
Lastly, we again would like to show our appreciation for all of those that have stuck by us through these times. This was absolutely the worst thing that could ever happen to such a young gym without anything that we could have done to prevent it. We’ve heard the phrase “challenging times” thrown around a fair bit but this is an understatement as far as we are concerned. I think that it is safe to say that without you, there would be no gym left to open. We have been absolutely humbled by the sheer number of you that have stuck with us side by side despite the difficult times that every one of us have faced! We have said this before, but Kraken is only the gym it is now due to the entire family! We feel very lucky. Other than a big thank you, we give you our word that we will continue to pour our life and soul into Kraken to ensure that we remain the gym that you all deserve!
Memberships & Direct Debits
We are opening the gym up this Friday 24th July from 12pm – 7pm. We ask that all of you that do not have a direct debit setup to please come in within this time to sort out all paperwork as there will be so much going on during these first few weeks.
