Children's football - staying safe outside of work

September 16th, 2020 Unipart Group

Wanda Elliot shares her experience of taking her son to football practice while observing Covid safety guidelines.

Wanda, HR Director for Unipart Manufacturing and Unipart Rail, talks about the safety measures introduced by the football club and how they have adapted to follow to them.

For more advice and government guidance visit the Roadmap to Return Staying Safe Outside of Work page.

Wanda Elliot said: “Like all of us, Covid-19 has affected our family routines.

“Before lockdown my son enjoyed and looked forward to playing football with his friends on a Sunday morning.

“Not playing football for months was very disappointing and frustrating for him, but we’re now back up and running on a Sunday morning playing football and I’m going to talk about how we are staying safe.

“The club’s put in a number of measures. The first one is we now have to book our place and pay using an app. The app also confirms we don’t have symptoms and we have not come into contact with anybody else who has symptoms.

“Before lockdown all ages used to play on one all-weather pitch, and used to start at the same time. Social distancing now means we have staggered start times. Different groups start at different times and they play on playing fields which allows more social distancing.

“I had to discuss with my son that there would be differences. We have to use hand sanitiser before and after playing football, and he also had to learn a new way of celebrating scoring a goal.

“Families have to maintain social distancing while watching the match, and also have to be seen as good role models for the children.

“Football training is definitely different, but we’re enjoying it and the key thing is we’re all staying safe, and we’re very pleased it’s started again.”