Albion partner charity suspends all community activities amid coronavirus measures

Albion in the Community, which runs outreach and sports groups in the city, has suspended all community activity amid the coronavirus pandemic to protect its volunteers, staff, and service users.

Martin Perry, chairman of trustees, and Matt Dorn, chief executive officer, released a statement to the charity’s supporters.

“At Albion in the Community we are implementing a number of measures and precautions to minimise the risk of our participants, their families, our staff, and the wider community being impacted by Covid-19/Coronavirus,” the statement says.

“Unfortunately, this means we are suspending all of our activities in the community until further notice.”

The charity said it did not make the decision lightly but it suspended activities following consultations with partner organisations, including Brighton & Hove Albion FC and the Premier League.

This comes following the recommendation by the English Football Association (FA) that all grassroots football be cancelled in line with government social distancing recommendations.

“We appreciate the cancellation of our delivery will be frustrating for many of the thousands of people the charity supports on a regular basis,” Albion in the Community said, “but we hope people appreciate why we have taken this decision.

“The health and well-being of our participants has always been, and will remain, our main consideration.

“Our teams will also be looking to identify other ways we can continue to support some of the most vulnerable people we work with during this challenging time.”

The charity asked service users and supporters to email any urgent questions to: [email protected]