Boys and Girls Club moves to offer childcare, summer camp

The Boys and Girls Club of Kawartha Lakes (BGCKL) is developing plans to offer licensed childcare and in-person summer camp programs in accordance with the government guidelines.

The club has not confirmed the starting dates for licensed childcare at the Lindsay site (Kids in Motion) or the Little Britain site (Dr. George Hall Child Care). Summer Camps are scheduled to begin on June 29. Both licensed child care and camp programs require public health approvals.

“Everyone at the club is eager to welcome children back to our facility,” says Amy Terrill, executive director.

“We have been working hard behind the scenes to clean and disinfect our facility and to develop procedures that meet health and safety guidelines so that we can offer a high-quality experience while keeping everyone safe.”

In keeping with government directives, BGCKL has adopted rules regarding:

• Groups― children and staff will be placed in groups of 10 or less day over day;
• COVID-19 response plan to be implemented if a child, parent or staff member/provider is exposed to COVID-19;
• Screening ― all staff and children will be screened prior to entry. Anyone feeling unwell must stay home;
• Daily attendance records are always part of the program and will be revised to support contact tracing by the Health Unit if needed;
• Cleaning ― the facility has been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected; cleaning protocols will meet or exceed provincial standards;
• Drop-off and pick-up of children will be designed to facilitate physical distancing.

In addition:

• Outdoor programming will be encouraged as much as possible;
• Groups will have specific room and equipment assignments with no crossover;
• Supplies and equipment that cannot be easily disinfected will be removed;
• Children will be encouraged to maintain social distance;
• Hand hygiene will be encouraged and additional hand washing stations provided;
• Supervisors will be in place to monitor social distancing, safety, quality of programming, hand hygiene, support staff and other related needs;
• For camps, face coverings (non-medical masks) will be used if physical distancing of at least  two metres cannot be maintained. Consideration will be given to participants when face coverings are not tolerated due to by underlying health, behaviour issues or beliefs.

Public use of the basketball courts has been discouraged throughout the pandemic. Camps will use the courts during the day, but after 5 pm they may be used by the public.

"Unfortunately, given public health protocols, BGCKL will not be able to open the splash pad for public use at this time."

“The capacity limits mandated by the province and health and safety requirements leave us no choice but to limit access to the splash pad to our summer camp groups and childcare programs,” adds Terrill.

“This is not an easy decision as we know how much our visitors enjoyed the splash pad last year, but we encourage the public to access other alternatives.”

Pending Public Heath approvals, BGCKL will offer one general summer camp supporting children 5-12 years of age broken into four groups at our Lindsay site.

Summer camp registration will be open June 17 at noon. Requests for spaces should be sent by email at info@bgckl.com or phone at 705-324-4493, ext 200.

Requests will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis. All registration will be week-long and the cost will be $147.50/week for members. BGCKL will also offer a virtual summer camp with the support of Jays Care Foundation.  Details will follow.

BGCKL also continues to provide nutrition support to their most vulnerable families and virtually deliver Infant and Child Development, and various support services.

Youth Leadership programs will also be offered through virtual means.  Rentals of Club facilities will still not be available until further notice.