As parents/carers may have seen from an earlier post I put on the club website, I raised concerns with Ralph Allen School last week about the gaps between the guard rails on the balcony in the sportshall, as it seemed to me that a young child could easily fall through them, causing serious injury.

The school’s initial reaction was that they would lock the door leading to the balcony to prevent access and so avoid the possible risks. I argued that it would be better to just make safe the guard rails as the balcony was a very useful facility and shutting it off would create other difficulties with more young children in the sportshall during training.

The school agreed to look into things and get back to me.They have now done that and have decided that, initially at least, the balcony will be closed off. They do intend to look further into making the guard rails safer for young children (they were apparently designed to be safe for children of 11+) , but this will have to be done in such a way that properly meets relevant health and safety regulations. Denial of access to the balcony and to the boys toilet there is a nuisance, but I really think it is a case of better safe than sorry. (There is still a toilet available for use in the Girls’ changing room downstairs. However, as this will now need to be used by males and females on training nights, would everyone please do so with discretion!)

If or when the school decides to reopen the balcony to us, parents/carers will be advised. In the meantime, if the siblings of U8s and U9s players are brought to the sportshall while training is going on, would parents/carers please ensure that they are closely supervised, so as to avoid any accidents and also avoid any disruption to training. Thank you for your assistance.

Best wishes, Tony Day Co-chairman LAYFC