Complain about venue with a kids party of 12 kids?

[selflove]

Would you? Am I just being a kill joy? I'm at a climbing wall place with my kids, there's a birthday party booking here with 12 kids (plus parents). The venue is still within its reduced "COVID" numbers for this time slot, but all 12 kids plus their parents have all finished the climbing and gone into the private "party" room for the food etc - there's over 20 people crammed in there together. It just feels insane?! Surely they should be only taking party bookings of less than 6?!

I can't believe how many would report this. So depressing reading through this thread. They could be a business that's hanging on by a thread, with a fine putting them out of business. Especially when you don't have all the facts. Do those that would report this not have anything better to do with their time? Jesus Christ

Who do you want to complain to? The party group, the venue, the police?

12 children - that’s allowed for a sport.

If the parents sit down with only one other household in the party room, they are not actually breaking the rule of six.

To add, it does depend on where you are- only in Scotland does the ‘ only mix with one one other household’ caveat go along with the rule of six.

@loops9

I can't believe how many would report this. So depressing reading through this thread. They could be a business that's hanging on by a thread, with a fine putting them out of business. Especially when you don't have all the facts. Do those that would report this not have anything better to do with their time? Jesus Christ

Can I ask you honestly how you would respond were there to be a Covid outbreak which led to several deaths due to these 24+ adults and children being crammed into the party room against the very clear national guidelines which are currently allowing them to operate? This has been the case already with illegal weddings in the US and parties elsewhere. Here is one such case. No one that died was actually at the wedding, they caught from people who had the choice to go or not.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/17/maine-wedding-superspreader-event

We can see from the non socially distanced event in the Rose Garden at the White House last week, which was held outdoors so even less risk than over two dozen plus staff crammed into a single party room, there is now a possible outbreak linked to that with multiple cases including Trump and his wife.

It’s really important that no one is above the guidance and the law when we have a pandemic going on. The Climbing Centre is open, they have chosen to ignore the guidelines which allow them to stay open. If further down the line one of these children’s teachers, vulnerable peers, parents or grandparents died or if one of the parents took covid into a workplace such as a nursing home or hospital and there were multiple fatalities as a result of this, people would, quite rightly, be baying for the business owner’s blood and demanding far more than the fine. The more feckless business owners there are flouting the rules and directly encouraging this virus to spread the higher the likelihood of more businesses having to close...if they can’t be open safely, they will be shutdown again and the ones who can’t be bothered to operate safely will ruin it for everyone else who owns similar businesses. I assume, seeing as they don’t give a rat’s arse about who sees them cramming people into a room, they aren’t bothered about being reported and can afford the fine, nor do they care about the health and lives of vulnerable members of their local community.

This statelet is on the website of our local climbing place regarding children:

The rule of 6 does not apply to instructed groups under the age of 18, but does apply to instructed sessions for over 18's.

So the part of the party which was instructed would appear to be fine.
The party room I would be less sure of. At the very least they'd need to be on tables of 6 with no moving around and socially distanced.

And on another one:

We maintain social distancing at party tables (max. group size at each table will be 6) in the same way as the rest of the hospitality industry. Food is supplied individually plated. Restrictions on numbers in party rooms apply.

Would I report them?
No

Isn’t a climbing place (even for a party) organised sports? So exempt?

I can't believe how many would report this. So depressing reading through this thread. They could be a business that's hanging on by a thread, with a fine putting them out of business.

Absolutely. Totally unfair to report a business that might be hanging by a thread.

Other things they should absolutely not be reported for

• not replacing worn harnesses as long as they still work ok as this will cost them money
• increasing the number of climbers supervised by an individual instructor so they can employ fewer people and save on costs

Or do we actually expect businesses to follow the law, especially when it's there for public health reasons?

@EvilPea

Isn’t a climbing place (even for a party) organised sports? So exempt?

The climbing bit is fine. It's the large number of people in a small party room that's not.

Party food is not a sport in my opinion. A pity you did not query it with the place at the time. I think you should raise the matter- you can always say you did not at the time because you wanted to check what the 'rule of six' included.

@EvilPea

Isn’t a climbing place (even for a party) organised sports? So exempt?

She acknowledged they were within the numbers for the organised activity

It was the fact that 12 children and their parents plus catering staff all then crammed into the separate party room afterwards to eat etc that she, correctly, took issue with. That isn’t allowed. They weren’t climbing at the point.

I’m pretty sure it would be illegal to hold a wedding reception or wake in there if it exceeded the numbers set out in the legislation, climbing venue or not.

Are you even in/at the party op?

Just mind your own business.

If they’re seated in groups of 6 in the party room, that’s OK isn’t it?

I wouldn’t report this though.

I can’t believe how many of you think a gathering of 24 people eating and drinking in a party room is ok.
This kind of idiot thinking is why we are in this state. The climbing with an instructor was fine but the parents should not have crammed into the room. If the company can’t under and this they should not be holding climbing ‘parties’.

24 people in a small space for 45 minutes with limited ventilation all laughing talking loudly is the perfect conditions for spread of covid- it’s the perfect superspreader event.

DOI - a Doctor with virology degree suffering long covid.