Behind the Scenes: May ‘20
The past 10 weeks have been completely new for all of us at Atlantis. There’s been a whole new vocabulary brought into our daily conversation. Words like ‘unprecedented’, ‘furlough’ and ‘quarantine’ have gone from rare to common place. The truth is these have been unprecedented times, with historic firsts happening on an almost daily basis. But in the midst of so much change, it’s encouraging to note what remains unchanged and to be struck by what’s actually been enhanced by Coronavirus and Lockdown. For the Atlantis family, we’re seeing that in the overwhelming demonstration of Oban’s community spirit.
Staff Team – ‘in lockdown‘
We’ve seen our extended staff team coming together in a bumper WhatsApp group, sharing notes of encouragement to help each other through a situation that can seem pretty alien. Most of the team remain on furlough but throughout lockdown they’ve been willingly volunteering their time and collective resources in all sorts of freshly imagined creative ways to help the community.
Tennis – ‘serving up a bit of familiarity‘
We know life’s going to carry on being very different for some time to come, but small signs of familiarity make a very welcome return: tennis is back! It was a big day last Wednesday when the courts were allowed to reopen. There are very strict guidelines from the government regarding how tennis should operate and we’re following them closely. All courts are only available via pre-booking online - our website explains the process and also sets out the guidance that players need to follow. It’s great to have activity buzzing around the Centre again!
Active Lockdown – ‘Wee Walk Oban keeps us moving‘
One of the benefits of lockdown has been the way it’s given us all a bit more time to get out and enjoy our exercise. Atlantis Operations Manager Iwan Roberts and his wife Lindsay are really excited about how we might maintain this active lifestyle as a community. They’ve set up a community project called ‘Wee Walk Oban’ which brings the community together through encouragement and resources for walking routes and sights around our town.
Centre Life – ‘keeping things ticking in the background‘
Day to day life at Atlantis may have become much quieter but the Centre still requires as much care and attention as ever. We’ve been making sure all the systems that keep everything working safely are maintained and working as they should.
Government restrictions mean our return from lockdown will require us to rethink how we operate. As a start to this, we’re working hard to complete the necessary adaptations and changes that are needed to ensure everyone’s safety once we’re able to reopen. Initial changes will be seen around our reception area along with differences in the Gym and Sports Hall.
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Oban is community embodied, at Atlantis we’re privileged to see that every day. But Lockdown has given us the opportunity to see it even clearer and learn to listen to its reassuring message: there’s something on the other side of all this. There’s a return to a new kind of normal, it’ll be different and some things will have to change for the long-term. But there’s something that doesn’t change that’s taking us all there together - our community spirit. Maybe because of just that places like Oban will come out of this even stronger than before.