Magpies come out of hibernation in time for summer

Maidenhead United are slowly starting to come out of hibernation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and this month launched their summer holiday activity programme for juniors.

The club are starting to bring many of their Magpies in the Community coaching team off furlough and back into the fold as they prepare to put on adapted activities throughout the summer holidays.

The camps will run in two locations in Maidenhead and one each in Windsor and Ascot, starting from July 27 and running until August 28.

Club CEO Jon Adams admitted the sessions will be different from normal, due to social distancing restrictions, but he says there’s a demand for them from children and parents.

“When we went into this we spoke about the club going into hibernation,” said Adams.

“Slowly we’re starting to come out of it which is great news and exciting for us. We’ve now launched our summer holiday programme and we’ll have activities going on across the borough.

“The challenge for us is that obviously we’re going to have to ensure everything we do is within the current social distancing guidelines and there will be slightly smaller numbers in terms of the total number of participants we can accept.

“There’ll also be a slightly smaller coach to participant ratio with the kids working in specific bubbles with one coach. They won’t be able to mix during the day because we want to limit the contact between them.

“Whilst we can do some sports activities we can’t run competitive games or games where the kids are going to come into contact with each other. So it’s going to be different to normal but we’re pleased to be doing something.

He added: “We’re now open for bookings and there is certainly a demand. The kids want to get out and do something different and the parents are pleased for their children to go out and be with other children. There’s a demand out there which is fantastic. We expect to be fully subscribed over the summer which is great.”