Video - Peterborough Town Sports Club case study

The film starts with footage of a red and blue mat which reads ‘Welcome to the City of Peterborough Hockey Club’. The mat is at the entrance to the club’s floodlit hockey pitch which is surrounded by a fence. An indistinct backing track is playing in the background and continues throughout the video. Text appears at the bottom of the screen. It reads ‘COVID-19 Disclaimer - All filming took place under strict Government Media Guidelines whilst Peterborough was at the Medium Alert Level Tier 1’. 

The footage changes to show a hockey goalkeeper saving a shot on goal, before a group of several female hockey players from two teams are shown warming up and doing drills. The shot shows a group of female players running across the pitch, in front of a sign displaying the words ‘City of Peterborough Hockey Club’.

The footage onscreen changes to show one older male and one younger male playing squash on a glass-backed squash court which has ‘City of Peterborough Squash and Racketball Club’ written on it along with the club’s logo. The clip then changes to an outdoor tennis court where a female tennis player in a pink sports wheelchair serves a ball and rallies with her opponent. 

The footage changes to feature a man, sitting in a chair talking. A caption introduces him as ‘Martin Collcott, Chairman of Peterborough Town Sports Club’. As he starts talking, subtitles come up onscreen. Subtitles are used throughout the video to display all narration as text.

Martin’s voiceover: Peterborough Town Sports Club is the umbrella really for five individual sports which are cricket, hockey, squash and racketball, bowls and tennis.

The footage changes to show an external view of the clubhouse and a section of the cricket and hockey pitches. Several people can be seen walking around. Some people are sitting on benches outside. Text appears on screen which reads ‘Peterborough Town Sports Club Return to Play’. While this text is onscreen, the footage behind it transitions from the clubhouse to a group of females playing hockey, then males playing squash, followed by a static photograph of the bowls team where one person is holding a trophy, before showing the same female tennis player training in a pink sports wheelchair. The screen then returns to Martin talking. 

Martin: We are a members club built by the members for the members and what we found when we went into lockdown at the middle of March was that our income streams which was predominantly through match fees, through bar take, through subscriptions, took quite a big hit. 

The video shows male hockey players having a socially distanced team talk before returning to Martin speaking onscreen. A sign asking people to use hand sanitizer is then shown, followed by some Play Safe signage produced by England Squash. The video returns to show Martin speaking, then shows the same two male squash players shown earlier before Martin is shown talking again. 

Gareth Andrew: It’s been hard but just getting the message out there to say that we are a safe environment for you to come and enjoy your sports, but I think that’s been the biggest thing is getting the information out to the members and trying to get the members back to the facility.

Another man begins speaking as the video shows an empty hockey pitch with several goals and floodlighting columns. Behind the pitch, trees can be seen. The video then features another man talking. He is sitting in the same room that Martin was being interviewed in and a caption on screen introduces him as ‘Gareth Andrew, Sports Club Manager’. 

The screen then displays a written update from the club to its members regarding the Coronavirus. The update sets out the actions the club decided to take on 17th March 2020 and includes reference to monitoring advice from governing bodies of sport and ceasing activities at the club. The video then shows footage of signage alongside a sports pitch which reads ‘Supporters please go this way and please ensure you social distance yourself from another bubble’. Footage is then shown of a yellow circle painted on the floor showing the outlines of two people with an arrow between them to indicate 2 meters. 

The footage then features another man talking, again being interviewed in the same room with the trophy cabinet in the background. A caption introduces him as ‘Brian Howard, Chairman – Cricket’. 

Brian Howard: In terms of the cricket club, complete uncertainty on when our season would start made it very difficult to justify asking members for their full membership. We decided that the best way to approach it was to adopt a flexible approach. We collected essentially around about 70% of our 2019 cricket membership. It's something that I am very grateful to all of our members for what they have been able to contribute to continue and support the cash flow of not just the cricket but the sports club overall. 

The screen changes to show footage of a ‘Home’ sign with the club’s logo displayed along the top of a pitch side stand, before returning to Brian speaking. Footage is then shown of a blue sign saying ‘Peterborough Town Sports Club’ on the side of a fence, before the video returns to Brian talking. The footage changes again to show a few spectators watching a hockey game, followed by four still images of male cricket players in action, before returning to Brian speaking. People stood at the side of a hockey pitch are then shown, followed by Brian speaking before the screen displays two new still images of men playing cricket one after the other. 

The screen then shows footage of the Sports Club Manager, Gareth, sanitising his hands using an outdoor dispenser before entering the club through an open door. Above the door, the sign reads ‘Welcome to Peterborough Town Sports Club’. On the door into the clubhouse, there is signage telling people to keep 2 meters apart.  

Gareth’s voiceover: As you enter the club, the first thing you are greeted with is the signing in desk. You can sign in manually or using the NHS track and trace app. As you enter the club you will have to follow a one-way system which is indicated on the floor, and just follow the signs that are all on the walls. 

The footage changes to a blue background and shows an icon of two hands being rubbed together in white. The accompanying text reads ‘sanitise your hands as you enter the building’. Gareth is then shown standing inside the building addressing the camera. 

The screen shows a table that contains hand sanitiser, a book and pen, and a blackboard that instructs people to sign in via the NHS App or the book provided. The camera switches to someone signing in the book then changes to a blue screen which contains an icon of a hand holding a mobile phone with the words ‘sign in using the NHS Track and Trace App or sign in the book provided’. Gareth signals the one-way system that has been developed around the clubhouse. A blue background shows an arrow pointing upwards and reads ‘follow the one-way system’. 

Gareth’s voiceover: We’ve also put in a new cleaning regime. This consists of a spray that doesn’t need to be wiped.

The camera shows a man wearing a mask spraying over the sink area and then the changing rooms. The screen returns to show Gareth in the clubhouse corridor pointing to the way to the squash courts and talking. 

Gareth’s voiceover: As you can see, as you go through to the squash corridor you have to follow the one-way system. We also have cleaning facilities provided outside of each court. 

The screen changes to show the one-way signage on the floor leading up to the squash courts and the cleaning materials in place outside. A blue background appears with an icon of two hands being rubbed together, the text ‘Use the cleaning facilities’ appear. The footage returns to show Gareth in the clubhouse corridor talking. 

Gareth’s voiceover: We’ve also been able to re-open the bar and lounge area. We do ask for all members, volunteers and staff to wear a mask when entering the bar and lounge area.

The screen changes to show Gareth putting on a face mask outside the door to the bar area. A blue background appears and shows an icon of a mask, the text ‘Wear a mask in the Bar & Lounge area’ appears. The footage returns to show another man talking in front of the club trophy cabinet. A caption introduces him as ‘Neil Hoskin, Squash & Racketball, Chairperson’.

Neil’s voiceover: It put us out of action for a few months, but we took that time to get two of the courts refurbished, so all four courts are all done to the same standard now. 

The screen shows two men playing squash and then features two men sitting outside around a white table. In the background a sign saying ‘Peterborough Town Cricket Club' can be seen. The man nearest the camera starts talking. A caption introduces him as ‘Yas Ganeshan, Parent & U11’s Cricket Manager’.

Yas’s Voiceover: I think as a parent, the first thing was the safety element. So the club did that and addressed that extremely well. They put all the measures that the government had recommended, and they put their own measures in place. 

The screen changes to show a female in a wheelchair playing tennis. She is then featured on screen in front of the court talking. A caption introduces her as ‘Gemma Stevenson, tennis player’. Behind her, another person in a wheelchair can be seen playing tennis. 

Gemma’s voiceover: As soon as they said tennis had opened up again, I came back. I think what was really good is Max, the tennis coach here, as soon as the LTA put something out, he was probably one of the first in this whole area to get something out to the members. So it was never like I was sat for days wondering what the next step was. Sport for me has been the best medicine for my mental health.  

As she talks the screen shows clips of her playing and then returns to her talking. The footage then features a man talking outside a bowls clubhouse and green. A caption introduces him as ‘Peter Leaton, Joint Club President – bowls’ 

Peter’s voiceover: In the bowls club we set off on a season knowing that all the league fixtures had been cancelled. So we were in a position where to enable bowlers to get some value for money from their subscription and most importantly get on the bowls green and play bowls, we knew we had to do everything internally. Make sure that as far as possible the green and clubhouse facility was as safe as possible, and I think we achieved that very well.  

While Peter is talking the camera shows aerial shots of bowls clubhouse and green, returns to Peter talking and then shows some pictures of men bowling. A caption at the top of the screen reads ‘Picture taken pre-COVID-19’. The footage returns to show Martin talking.

Martin says: I think the key thing for me is that you have got to take that leap of faith because we are in a situation at the moment where should we do this, should we do that, we’re not quite sure if we will get members back, can we do this? You’ve got to be brave enough to make that decision and if it doesn’t work, be brave enough to come back and say it hasn’t worked, let’s try something else otherwise we are going to get into this sort of ferris-wheel type scenario where you don’t get off, it just keeps going around and you don’t change. You’ve got to be prepared to adapt and adapt quickly. 

While Martin is talking, the screen shows someone entering a fenced area and using a hand sanitiser dispenser attached to the fence. Notices on the fence can also be seen. The shot changes to show a clip of a male hockey game and then returns to Martin talking. The screen changes to show a yellow circle painted on the ground containing two figures with arrows and the text ‘2m’ between them. It then shows a close up of part of a hockey goal and the pitch before returning again to Martin talking.  

The video then changes to show a white background showing the text ‘Thank you to Peterborough Town Sports Club for being involved’. At the bottom of the screen, the club logo and Club Matters logo is displayed. After a short while, further text appears under this ‘COVID-19 Disclaimer – All filming took place under strict Government Media Guidelines whilst Peterborough was at the Medium Alert Level (Tier 1).’ The screen clears and the Club Matters logo appears in the middle of the screen with the National Lottery and Sport England logos underneath. At the bottom of the screen, the website address www.sportenglandclubmatters.com is displayed. The video ends.