The countdown is on!

It is now 11th May 2021. Last night Boris announced that we will be moving into Step 3 from next Monday. After Lockdown#2 in November last year we managed two rehearsals during December but as we watched the infection figures for the Maldon area start to climb, it became clear that we would have to close again to protect our members ... and so began Lockdown #3.

We continued with our monthly virtual videos and these have been a lifeline to keep everyone connected whether they submitted performances or just took the time to watch. Thank you to everyone.

So what is happening now?

I am happy to report that the vast majority of our members have received one if not two doses of the vaccine, infection rates in the Maldon district are very low and the whole country is now looking forward to greater freedoms from next week. We still have to be cautious because our membership includes young adults who have yet to receive any vaccine and with international travel opening up as well, we have to be aware of variants of the virus that might side-step the vaccine. But if the recovery continues as planned, it is hoped that we should be back to a new 'normal' five weeks later when we will all be able to rehearse together again.

It will be hard to play with everyone smiling all the time but it has been a long and sometimes painful journey. It will be good to be back.