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Information for Parents & Guardians

Beach Club 2019 runs from Monday 29th July to Friday 2nd August, with a special Beach Club service at West Mersea Free Church on Sunday 4th August. This page aims to provide all of the key information and details about Beach Club and the week. You can also download a copy of this guidance, and it will be available to you in paper form at the Beach Club Registration Desk when you arrive.

Coming to Beach Club

Before you arrive, you can download and complete the registration forms. On the first day you attend, you’ll need to hand these over at the Registration Desk, where your children will be given the 2019 Beach Club booklet.

Alternatively, you can register at the Registration Desk upon arrival, without completing the forms in advance.

Please register your children as present at the Registration Desk each day upon arrival at Beach Club.

All Beach Club staff members will be wearing a blue t-shirt and identification. If at any time during the event someone requires first aid, the point of contact is the Registration Desk.

Beach Club Registration

You can complete the Beach Club registration forms before you arrive, which will speed up your arrival at Beach Club.

During Beach Club

At the start of the Beach Club day (10:00am) everyone congregates on the mound. Our team will direct you to the correct venue, and we begin a short session introducing the topic for the day, alongside some singing, dancing and games.

After this, the children will go to their groups. Everyone in each group is of a similar age, and teaching, activities and games are directed more specifically at them.

Coffee and tea will be served to parents and guardians from the ‘tea hut’ after the children have gone to their groups. At the end of the event the children will be offered a drink and biscuit.

Should the weather be hot, water will be made available to children in their groups, and we’ll provide shade and shelter to help the children stay cool.

Beach Club Timings (approx)

10:00am – Beach Club starts on the mound
10:30am – Children go to their groups
11:00am – Craft activity
11:30am – Everyone returns to the mound
12:00pm – Beach Club ends

Times are approximate, but we’ll aim to roughly follow them. Each group has a different time slot for the craft activity, so this can be between coming from the mound and returning to it.

Safety at Beach Club

It must be understood that the beach can be a dangerous place and you, the parent/guardian, are expected to take responsibility along with the staff at Beach Club, for your own children.

We will do all we reasonably can to protect you and your children from harm, but you should realise that the risks covered in our risk assessments may not cover every possible situation that may occur.

Common sense and caution would be expected from every parent/guardian attending Beach Club.

If an event occurs to put anyone at risk, we will endeavour to find out how the event happened, and alter our risk assessments if necessary.

A copy of the daily risk assessment is available to read at the event through the registration desk.

Designated Place of Safety

In the event of an emergency, the Beach Club ‘Place of Safety’ is the breakwater to the west of the Beach Club site. If the risk means this is not the safest place to gather, the breakwater to the east will become the congregation point.

If an emergency should occur, you will be directed, with your children, by the Beach Club staff.

Wet Weather

If it rains in the early morning, at the start of Beach Club, or is forecast to be particularly rainy, we will move to West Mersea Free Church (32 Mill Road, West Mersea, CO5 8RJ), where we have indoor venue space.

This may mean starting slightly later than planned. If we do move indoors, we will post about this using our social media channels (FacebookTwitter), and on this website. If we know in advance that we’ll be indoors, we will also announce this during the day at Beach Club.

It it rains heavily whilst we are on the beach, for safety reasons Beach Club will end early, and children will need to be collected by parents/guardians immediately.

West Mersea Free Church

Child and Vulnerable Adult Protection

We have a Child and Vulnerable Adult Protection Policy to govern our work with children and vulnerable adults. Where possible, Beach Club staff have undergone a Disclosure & Barring Service check.

Should you have any concerns about child or vulnerable adult protection, you should contact our Child and Vulnerable Adult Advocates. The names and contact details of these advocates are displayed on the door of the refreshment hut, or you can speak to your child’s group leader.

Photography

You are given the option to consent to photography being taken of your children during their time at Beach Club. For parents or guardians who do not want their children photographed or videoed, the Beach Club Committee Members and leaders will ensure that no official photographs or videos are taken of them.

However, the event takes place on a public beach, and other parents and guardians have access to cameras and mobile phones, and we cannot be held responsible for their actions.

If you as parents or guardians take photos at Beach Club that include other peoples’ children, please do not upload these to social media sites.

You can read our Using Images of Children and Young People Online policy for more information about how we use official photography taken at Beach Club events.

Privacy & Data Protection

For data protection purposes, Mersea Beach Club has the following privacy statement which parents/guardians attending Beach Club events accept. The same statement is included in the ‘Information for Parents and Guardians’ leaflet given to parents/guardians upon arrival at Beach Club.

The data we hold includes names, addresses, ages, medical information and emergency contact information.

We hold this for the duration of Beach Club and to the December of the same year, if you consent to your child receiving a Christmas card from Beach Club. This information is stored as your registration form, which is kept in a locked cabinet and destroyed after the cards are sent, or immediately after Beach Club if you have chosen not to receive a card.

You can find the full Data Protection & Privacy Policy on our website.