COVID-19 Causes Closures, Cancellations and Innovations!

It could never have been anticipated that a new, potentially deadly strain of Coronavirus – which was first identified in China in December 2019 – would have such a life changing impact on people right around our fragile planet.

The way human beings now freely travel the globe – often at great speed – means that, only three months after the outbreak was detected at Wuhan, the extremely contagious COVID-19 virus could already be among us in Ruddington. As thousands of residents, workers and visitors have continued their usual comings and goings each week, some might still be unaware they have caught it and pass it on. The current lack of general testing, other than for more serious cases and hospital admissions, means many carriers lucky enough to have milder symptoms, might never know for sure. As of today (Saturday March 21st 2020) the number of people who have died in the UK with Coronavirus stands at 233 with diagnosed cases now topping 5,000.

A mere two weeks’ ago life was almost normal, although any villagers experiencing flu symptoms were being told to self-isolate. Following the UK Government’s ‘social distancing’ advice last week, some older and more vulnerable residents put themselves on lockdown to be safe. People started panic buying food in our supermarkets and other village food shops as if the world is about to end! Workers who are able to do their jobs from home, rather than an office, were asked to do so – meaning many Ruddington offices, including both our High Street Estate agents, are now limiting face to face contact and/or getting staff to work from home.

Yesterday St Peter’s Junior School and James Peacock Infant and Nursery School were closed to most children for an indefinite period. Also yesterday, Ruddington’s cafés, pubs, restaurants, gyms were suddenly told by the Government it would be their last opening day for many months. This leaves only some village centre shops and takeaways open this weekend and other traders wondering what on earth to do next?!

Meantime the cancellation or postponement of major events at all four corners of the earth to try to slow the spread of the disease has now come to pass here in Ruddington. Those who can remember back that far are saying our village has seen nothing like this since World War Two. Some reckon the fight this time is even worse because it’s against an invisible invader. Even the ravages of conflict didn’t shut everything down here like this potentially lethal virus has.

Ruddington Library – closed until further notice

Indoor tourist attractions and ‘non-essential’ facilities such as Ruddington Library have now been closed, and a previously thriving calendar of meetings, classes, public gatherings, church services and other special events has been reduced to virtually nothing during the past week.

The list of 2020 Ruddington events cancelled or postponed so far includes…
(Click on the hyperlinks for further information.)

(This list is still being updated as news comes in)

The Friends of James Peacock School – who organise the ‘Annual Food Fair’, which was to have been held on Sunday 29th March, are still hoping the fundraising raffle associated with it can be a success – with many great prizes donated by local businesses up for grabs*. The tickets cost 50p each and have now been made available to buy from The Bottle Top on High Street. The latest available list is below…

* Obviously many of these prizes will now need to be redeemed after COVID-19 restrictions are lifted

…though may be subject to a couple of prize additions or removals, given the current situation. Meanwhile trustees have sent all the chocolate which was donated for their tombola to be given to medics and other staff at the QMC and City Hospitals instead – as a ‘thank you’ from Ruddington for all their hard work at this unprecedented time.

One thing we do have in the 21st Century – which was a very long way off being invented during World War Two – is the internet. It’s a virtual world through which we can interact with others from the safety of our homes – as isolated from catching or spreading COVID-19 as is realistically possible. Some cancelled Ruddington event organisers plan to use the worldwide web – and today’s social media channels – to engage with villagers who otherwise would have been flocking to various village centre venues over the coming months.

These include Ruddington Village Centre Partnership which has just launched ‘Ruddington Village Virtual Market’ – described as a “showcase of some of the great independent traders at the market and around Ruddington, still open for business in-store, online or by phone”. Look out for more details >>HERE<<.

The cancelled Rushcliffe 10K & Running Festival at Ruddington’s Country Park is also moving partially online by offering all those who signed up this year the chance to run the race at your leisure and submit your time to enter the contests. Organisers say: “Participants can record their 10K, 5K or 2.5K time independently when running on the treadmill at home or in the great outdoors in line with central government’s current advice on social distancing.” There’s more information >>HERE<<.

Because Ruddington Baptist Church has been forced to suspend its usual Sunday services in St Peter’s Rooms during the COVID-19 Coronovirus outbreak, its weekly worship has been moved to YouTube! Minister Sam Hackett explains: “This can be watched at anytime. However, we are encouraging people to join all together in watching at 10:30am on Sunday morning. ”

You can watch Sam’s very first online service (22nd March) >>HERE<<. He adds: “We are in the process of working out various ways to continue meeting, worshipping, praying and supporting each other. We will endeavour to put a weekly Sunday service up on this page.”

Howard and friend at his usual workplace!

During the pandemic we may also soon be able to participate in the famous ‘White Horse Quiz’ on a Thursday night from the comfort of our living rooms, too. Quizmaster Howard ‘Gees’ told RUDDINGTON.info: “I’m looking into the possibility of running the #WhiteHorseQuiz online so teams can still see each other whilst remaining in quarantine.” Watch this space!

Meantime, if you’ve also come up with an inventive way of keeping YOUR event going whilst stringent COVID-19 Coronavirus restrictions are in place, please let RUDDINGTON.info know – so we can share this news with others soon! You can contact us >>HERE<< or via our various social media channels.

There’s even more news about how the COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak is changing life in Ruddington >>HERE<<.