Edinburgh community centre can't get Scottish Government advice on whether to open

The independent Oxgangs neighbourhood centre reopened in September and has been operating with Covid restrictions in place since then, but closed over Christmas. And now, with the move to Level Four, manager Dom Heslop says he wants to know whether the centre is allowed to open again in the new year.

But emailing the Scottish Government’s Covid exit strategy team only produced a holding reply: “Thank you for your message. We appreciate you taking the time to contact us. Please note we are currently receiving a high volume of messages at the moment so would appreciate if you could please bear with us while we get back to you.”

Mr Heslop said he got exactly the same reply when he made a previous attempt to get guidance on the rules in October and was never contacted.

He said: “We were intending to reopen next Monday, but I’d like some information.”

Some of the groups who use the centre cater for vulnerable members of the community, including disabled people, who value their time there, and they need to know whether they can still meet.

Mr Heslop said: “I just want to check we’re not breaking the rules. But there is no clear guidance so we could end up being fined, which obviously isn’t great since we’re a charity run by volunteers. What’s the point in having a special Covid team if they cannot respond to an organisation like ours?”

Volunteers at the centre used the original Covid lockdown to to give the premises a facelift before reopening in September.

Jason Rust, Tory councillor for Colinton/Fairmilehead and chair of the neighbourhood centre board, said community centres were never listed in any of the categories when government rules on Covid were announced. "It makes it tricky, because people want to do the right thing but there is no official guidance. When the place reopened in September there was a full risk assessment carried out, but when it’s run by volunteers, they don’t want to find themselves in the wrong.”

A government spokeswoman said community centres needed to take their own decision whether to reopen, based on local priorities, need, and the safety of workers, volunteers and members of the public. “If in doubt they should seek advice from local health or council officials to confirm if their service is essential and cannot be delivered through some other means.”

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