Covid-19 and Protocols For the Writing Houses | Arvon
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Covid-19 and Protocols For the Writing Houses

Out of consideration for more vulnerable participants, tutors and staff, we ask that you exercise suitable Covid-19 precautions both before and during your time at an Arvon writing house.

If you begin to display possible symptoms of Covid-19 soon before your course starts, please take a lateral flow test. If the result is positive, you should not attend the course.

At all three houses, if you start to display symptoms of Covid-19 at any point during the week, we ask that you take a lateral flow test (please bring one with you just in case).

Should you test positive for Covid-19, we ask that you leave as soon as possible. If you are unable to leave immediately, you will need to self-isolate in your room, and you will be supported and provided with meals until you are able to depart. You will receive a pro-rated refund of the course fee for any portion of the course that you miss due to testing positive for COVID-19.

Bedrooms

All the bedrooms are single occupancy.

Bathrooms

  • The Hurst has all en-suite bathrooms, with no shared bathroom facilities.
  • Lumb Bank has 6 bathrooms – 2 in the barn shared by 4 writers, and 4 in the main house shared by up to 9 writers.
  • Totleigh Barton has 1 en-suite accessible bedroom and 4 additional bathrooms shared by up to 13 writers (max 4 per bathroom).
  • The Clockhouse consists of four self contained apartments with no shared bathroom facilities.

Catering Arrangements

Cooking and eating together is an essential and enjoyable part of an Arvon week.

You will help yourself to breakfast in the shared kitchen. Lunch will be prepared by Arvon staff, who will also cook an evening meal for the group on the Monday night.

You will cook one evening meal with a small group of fellow writers, and you will also be responsible for some clearing up after meals.

These duties are confined to a few hours in total, so the rest of the week is left free for writing. Please do not be nervous about cooking for the group. You will cook in a small team and receive lots of support from house staff. (And if you have any access issues that prevent you from taking part in the shared cooking, that is not a problem. Just let us know and we will leave you off the rota.)

Please note that at The Clockhouse there are slightly different catering arrangements which will be outlined in your joining instructions (usually sent out approximately three weeks in advance).

COVID-19 Precautions

We will continue to observe the following Covid-19 precautionary measures:

  • The houses will be thoroughly ventilated.
  • We will be making more use of our outdoor spaces as the weather allows.
  • We will ask you to continue to observe a high level of hand hygiene, with handwashing facilities and gels at each building entry point.
  • We will continue to carry out increased surface cleaning in the communal spaces.

Travel and incidental costs

Please note that we are not, under any circumstances, able to reimburse travel or other costs that you may have incurred in connection with your booking, and in the event of cancellation by you or by us, our liability to you will be limited to fees you have paid to Arvon.