Along with other Church of England churches, we are taking very seriously the guidance which has been given to us by the Church of England in order to protect all church attendees and our community as best we can. The actions listed here are all based on this guidance, which draws on advice about best practice from the NHS and Public Health England. We will update this page whenever the guidance changes.

If you would like to see the full information, which is updated whenever necessary, please go to https://www.churchofengland.org/more/media-centre/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-churches or https://www.winchester.anglican.org/coronavirus/

• Handwashing: when you arrive and before you undertake any duties involving close contact with other people (e.g. sides people, refreshments), please wash your hands thoroughly (for 20 secs with hot water and soap) or use sanitiser gel.

• Communion: for the time being we will receive communion in one kind (in this case, just the bread). By doing this, we are not missing out on anything. Church of England teaching says that this is to receive the sacrament in its entirety. Please do not kneel at the altar rail (so that you do not touch it and possibly spread the virus), but just stand.

• The Peace: do not shake hands or touch each other in any way. It makes sense to apply this to other parts of our service / welcome, too.

• Prayer Ministry: we are not to touch anyone (we don’t normally do this anyway without asking) and it would be good to keep a distance from each other.

• The Offering / Collection: the pouches will not be passed around during the service, but a plate will be left at the back of church for your donations before or after the service.

• Refreshments: these are suspended for the time being, but there may be limited ways in which we can offer them safely in coming weeks.

• Colds and sneezes: carry tissues and use them to catch coughs and sneezes, then bin the tissue and wash your hands if possible (catch it, bin it, kill it).

• Please take care of yourself. If you think you may have the virus, stay at home and contact the NHS (e.g. on NHS 111) for advice.

• If you are diagnosed or hear of anyone in our church or community actually being diagnosed with the virus, please let Richard know.

Our Life Matters talk planned for Monday 16 March and our next Cafe on Saturday 28 March have both been cancelled / postponed in the light of this.