We’re a month into WTT’s plan for dealing with the Covid crisis. Here’s an update…
Seven WTT members of staff remain on furlough: Denise Ashton, Paul Gaskell, Jonny Grey, Nick Lawrence, Rob Mungovan, Gareth Pedley and Theo Pike. Five of us remain on the bridge steering WTT, some on reduced hours and/or salary (in one case, sacrificing salary entirely). Just to remind you, we’re furloughing this extraordinary group of people in line with Government’s Stay at Home message, meaning we are unable to get out to do our advisory and practical work, much of it requiring travel and close 1:1 work, certainly where we’re working in the river with groups of volunteers. Furloughing people gives us the opportunity to return to our funded projects when movement restrictions ease, though obviously the people we work with have to be keen too to restart those projects when the time is right.
We are cost saving wherever we reasonably can. For example, we’ve deferred a full print run of our annual journal, Salmo Trutta. We’d planned our annual Get Together on the Usk for September 12 & 13, but that is in abeyance for now. We’re investigating the practicalities of a remote Get Together, where you could still hear from some of our guest speakers, such as Paul Procter, Jon Beer and Tony Bostock.
WTT’s executive team, Finance Committee and trustees continue to monitor closely the crisis plan we have in place, tweaking it as more becomes known from Government. We’ve planned for 3 months of Government help for furloughed staff, with WTT reserves seeing us into late summer, by which time, hopefully, we can re-deploy all those staff. But, of course, we’re keeping a very close eye on how our world, and Government directive, shapes up.
Thank you for all the demonstrations of support for WTT we’ve received over these last few months: it’s humbling and inspiring. If you’ve any thoughts, suggestions or concerns, please do call WTT’s Director, Shaun Leonard on 07974 861908.
Take care and very best wishes from all at WTT.
Below: (most of) the WTT team. Left to Right: Tim Jacklin, Andy Thomas, Shaun Leonard, Rob Mungovan, Jonny Grey, Nick Lawrence, Paul Gaskell, Gareth Pedley, Theo Pike, Bruno Vincent.
