Welcome 2021 is just around the corner and we’re super excited to see you all have fun and meet new people from around the world in our bars and venues! As your Union, we’re committed to ensuring the risk of COVID-19 transmission in our venues is minimised and any activity we organise is safe. We want you to socialise and have the best experience possible – but we want you to do this safely!
We’re delighted our venues can remain open and accessible for you, but also understand many of you won’t have had the opportunity to be fully vaccinated, are unable to get the vaccines for medical reason, or may have had a vaccine in your home country that isn’t currently recognised by the UK Government. We welcome the decision not to implement vaccine passports, so there are no barriers to admission at any of our venues.
With that being said, there is still a risk that when people gather in large groups the virus can be transmitted, and we want to minimise this risk – but we need your help with this too! We are therefore asking everyone who plans to visit our venues to:
- Get fully vaccinated. College have organised for pop-up vaccine clinics to take place on 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, and 21 October. Find out more information here and book your slot!
- Get tested regularly – at least twice a week if coming onto campus. Find out more about College’s asymptomatic PCR testing scheme here.
- If you’re attending any of our events, please take a lateral flow device (LFD) test at home 24 hours beforehand. If the test is positive, please do not attend. Refunds will be offered for any event(s) you can’t attend due to a positive result. For more information on how to get your free LFD test click here.
For everyone’s safety, you must not attend our venues if;
- You have been told to self-isolate by NHS Track and Trace or the College’s Coronavirus Contact Tracing Hub.
- You have tested positive using a LFD test and are awaiting a confirmatory PCR test.
- You are displaying any symptoms of COVID-19.
In the event that you are unable to attend an event that you have bought a ticket for, as a result of having (or potentially having) COVID-19, then you will be eligible for a refund. To find out how to claim your refund click [here].
You’re about to start an amazing journey at Imperial College – and we’re here to make sure you have the best experience possible. We also know some of you will be nervous about attending events with large numbers of students. Please be assured that we’re doing everything we can to make our spaces safe. We’re maximising airflow around our venues, our customer-facing staff will be required to wear face coverings indoors (unless exempt), increased sanitisation of all surfaces, and encourage all our students, guests, and staff to wear face coverings when moving around our building. It’s our expectation that everyone is considerate of others and respect the choices of others to maintain distance and wear face coverings when required to do so.
We hope you’re looking forward to all the amazing events we have lined up. If everyone follows the safety measures outlined, we guarantee Welcome 2021 will be one you won’t forget!
See you soon,
Sam, Deputy President (Finance & Services)
