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  Welcome 2 Whitby

Covid Secure Whitby

Suggested action for: Hotels/Guest House/Self Catering accommodation and Cafes/Restaurants.

As we all know, most hospitality businesses can reopen on 4th July 2020 provided they have taken measures to be Covid Secure.

The minimum requirement is for businesses to conduct an individual risk assessment and then enact the action plan that stems from that.

However, we suggest that you not only do this but that you obtain a kite-mark to demonstrate that you have done it. That way, you can communicate the outside world that you have taken the necessary actions.

The Visit Britain 'Good to Go' scheme is simple to do and is free of charge and so it makes sense to at least go through that process. The AA 'Covid Confident' scheme, which is also free, requires that you upload your risk assessment, which we thought made the process a little more robust. With that in mind we suggest that you do both.

So, (if you haven't done so already) we suggest that you now:
  1. Download and read the guidance: UK Hospitality guidance document – includes sample risk assessment template. Self catering providers may also be interested in the Professional Association of Self-Caterers UK Cleaning Protocols which includes a sample risk assessment template and also a check list for self-catering units
  2. Conduct your own risk assessment (you must do this individually for you own business – you will find templates in the documents).
  3. Compile a method statement which shows how you will deal with/mitigate the risks highlighted in your risk assessment.
  4. Obtain the Visit Britain ‘Good to Go’ Kite-mark, a simple and free online process. 
  5. Obtain the AA 'Covid Confident', a simple and free online process
  6. Add the logo's to your web site and marketing materials.
You can also access the Scarborough Borough Council Covid page 
The Covid Secure Whitby scheme is a volunteer initiative by the businesses of Whitby aiming to exceed the required minimum social distancing and hygiene standards as set by Visit Britain.  The town is doing its best to make provide a wonderful stay despite the challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic. 
Of course there are no guarantees that the town or any of the individual businesses are free from the Covid-19 virus, that is simply not possible. However, we are collectively striving to do more to make the town as safe as we possibly can. 
What
The Covid Secure Whitby scheme plans to take the Visit Britain Kite-mark as a start point and then add a number of practises and measures to build up an even greater level of assurance.  
Why
The Covid-19 pandemic has ripped the heart out of the hospitality industry in the United Kingdom and as a beautiful tourist destination, Whitby has bee heavily impacted.  The businesses in the town joined together to help each other through the crisis and there is a strong belief that Whitby can and is doing more to make visitors even more comfortable than the basic minimum.  We wanted to do this for visitors, the community and the people who work in the town to make sure that we are doing everything we possibly can to help protect people.
How
We plan to take the Visit Britain Kite-mark and come up with a series of measures to exceed this basic minimum.  These would then be adopted by each participating business and once they have completed the assessment process and declared that they will work to achieve everything in their plan they are then entitled to display the Safe and Social Whitby emblem. 
Links
Initial ideas from the Covid Secure Whitby Team
Business offers (for Covid-19 compliance equipment & supplies)
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  • Home
  • About
  • News
  • Whitby Thank You Weekend
  • Whitby Winter Festival
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  • Contact
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