May / June Newsletter

MEMBERSHIP

As you will all be aware, membership fees were due as of 1^st May 2020. We decided prior to lock down that we would not enforce membership being paid by 1^st May as many riders would not be able to have lessons due to lock down, however we would like to thank those members who responded to the offer to purchase membership at a discounted price prior to 1^st May as obviously running a small business, particularly a not-for-profit during this time requires careful cash flow management. Riders who have not renewed their membership yet will need to do so at the time of booking private lessons on Sunday 31^st May – we will take payment for membership over the phone and email out membership forms for you to complete which you can either scan or post back to us, or drop in at the time of your lesson.

Single membership for 2020 (1^st May – 31^st April) is £130 and Family membership is £240. Having discussed membership, we have decided to discount membership by the cost of one month as members couldn’t access the club in May – therefore membership for regular riders will be £120 for a single and £220 for a family. Please note that this is the charge for all regular riders which will not change during June/July or be discounted further as we are a member’s club. As per our articles of association, those who ride with us have to be fully paid up members, so we absolutely have to ensure that everyone who is a member is paid and signed up before returning. If you have any questions about membership, please send them by email to lessons@aberdeenridingclub.com or you can catch Sally or Ali on the yard to discuss it. As you will be aware, ARC has offered since the start of this period to refund any private lessons/stable management sessions e.t.c. that were prepaid, to

honour all lessons that were prepaid and to extend the time limit on block booking cards. We would ask for ease of booking that those with private lessons credits advise us when booking and we will use those for your private lesson and those who have block booking cards pay for the private lesson and keep the block booking card for group lessons (when we can provide them in near future) to make the transactions on the phone easier on the Sunday.

NEW PROTOCOLS

So, as you would expect, we now have new protocols in place at ARC for your arrival and departure and to ensure good biosecurity throughout your visit. Please see the points below which detail the major changes.

• If you display any of the covid symptoms, then you should cancel your lesson and self-isolate for 7 – 14 days depending on medical advice.
• We will only be offering private lessons for the majority of June but are hoping to start semi-private and small group lessons once the Scottish government guidelines allow.
• We are only offering private lessons to riders of orange standard and above at the moment. If you are unsure of your standard, please just email us to check and we can advise you. The reason we have to set a minimum standard is that riders need to be capable of mounting with minimal help.
• Unfortunately, at this stage we cannot take complete beginner riders, therapy riders or riders who require physical assistance to mount, however we are working very hard to ensure we can get you guys back as quickly as permitted!