PGL Boreatton Hall - anyone with experience? Coronavirus related

[BoreattonQueries]

Hi, my dc is due to go on a residential trip next week. They have asthma and I'm worried about coronavirus. Does anyone know how many visitors it holds? Do children and families come from quite a distance away? Dc is 1.5 hours away but schools here usually go to Lancashire for their trips. I'm worried it's going to be germ soup as it is without coronavirus in the mix. We have family with chronic health conditions who could be very ill if dc brings it back and dc could also be very ill due to asthma. The thought of quarantine is worrying too as they'd be miles away from me. They are not allowed to take mobile phones so it would be up to staff to contact parents to keep in touch. I feel a bit powerless I guess and not sure if I'm overreacting or justifiably concerned due to asthma and other chronic illness in the family.

I would say overreacting, though with the health conditions your family have I understand why.

But they are as likely to contract at school or in Tesco.

DS has been to this place twice, once for a 3 day school trip with 100 of his year group where they stayed in the outdoor tents and once on a private 3-day stay with 2 mates where they stayed in indoor rooms (4-6 to a room).

It is quite a big place, no bigger than a hotel though.

It's in the middle of nowhere so I'm not sure why kids would travel too far to get there- they'd probably go to their nearest pgl?

The staff were great and if on a school trip teachers will also be supervising- they can call you if there are any issues. Mobile phones are banned for the kids (good thing too, they should be interacting with each other not pouting on social media or playing games).

I would have no hesitation in sending DS back there, I don't think there's any more risk of him getting corona virus there than at his school, his sport club or in Tesco for example!

When I saw my nurse this week she said the best defensive against corona virus (or any other) is good hygiene practices eg following the nhs advice on hand washing so maybe you could remind your DC about these when he goes?

Between my dc they've been on around 30 residential trips, with school, with other groups, to PGL, to all sorts of places.

Only once has the group come back with a bug rife between them, and it was a small place with the group was on its own. The issue was a child from their own school party, so they'd have been in contact anyway as he went down with it with no warning in the middle of the day.
I suspect if they get ill then you'll get a call to pick them up, so they won't be quarantined in the middle of nowhere.

But covid-19 wasn't an issue then. We aren't talking normal bugs that do the rounds and cause unpleasant symptoms but rather a virus which is spreading rapidly around the world and has killed thousands.

Are you normally so anxious?

I mean this kindly but I do think you’re overreacting. Unless things dramatically change in that a huge number of UK people get diagnosed in the next few days, I would send as normal and encourage excellent hygiene.

No, I'm level headed and logical but due to family circumstances we would be hard hit if any of us bar the youngest caught it. We live in a small town out in the countryside but not far from Greater Manchester. We tend to feel quite isolated up here in the hills but the reality is that we are not. It's natural to worry. I also don't drive so it wouldn't be easily possible for me to collect dc if there were any issues seeing as its in the middle of nowhere.

No more risk of catching corona virus at boreatton than at school, the shops, at work. Infact maybe even less as the kids are outside all day running round.

So are you going to keep everyone at home inside for the next few months to avoid school, work, trips, people etc?

And the most likely reason you would have to go and collect your DC is not coronavirus it's something like a sick bug or a broken arm.

Far, far higher chance of that happening than corona virus, just think of the number of corona virus cases in the UK (20 something?) vs the number of people with a vomiting bug or a broken bone (probably hundreds of thousands!)

It’s natural to worry but currently, the risks are relatively low if your child catching it at all.

I live round the corner from Borreaton, my son goes to cubs there. I can honestly say that corono virus isn't on anyone's worry list in this part of the world.
But if you are going to spend the whole time worrying then maybe just go with your gut feeling and do what you feel is right.

I have worked at Boreatton when I was younger and have taken school trips there. Yes it holds a decent amount of pupils. We could have 6 or so different school groups each 30/40 pupils in a group at any one time however it is still early on in the season. They will be taking extra precautions with cleaning but the place is usually spotless. Remind your child about hygiene especially consistent hand washing and I’m sure they will have a great time.