Cumberland FA

CFA Update - Covid-19

CFA update 19 March

Cumberland FA Operations 

As you should already be aware The Cumberland FA offices are currently closed to all visitors with the majority of staff now working from home in line with government guidance for the foreseeable future. 

It is planned that the office will be completely closed from next Monday (23rd) March 2020.  

We have updated our phone system and details on the website as to how you can contact essential staff members

CONTACT DETAILS

We are currently sharing an office space with a number of other businesses who are planning on closing sometime soon.   This will mean that there will be no access to the CFA post box within the main entrance.  We have therefore made arrangements for this with the Royal Mail so that post can continued to be delivered to us during this time. 

Finance and Discipline Payments 

We are mindful that this is going to be a difficult time for all of us from not only a welfare position but perhaps also financially, as the impact of the government's guidance impacts a number of businesses and their employees. 

We are also well aware that football is a little irrelevant at this time as the game is suspended across the affiliated game within the county.  Therefore we appreciate that any invoices and/or discipline payments you may have from ourselves will be way down yours and your players list of importance.  

As a CFA we have therefore altered our payments terms for clubs on any new CFA invoices (Non Discipline e.g. coach ed, CRCs etc) to 4 months to allow an increased period of time for clubs to settle any outstanding statements and will not be chasing any previous invoices during this time. 

With regards to discipline payments, these are automated through the Whole Game System Nationally.  However we understand that again these won’t be a priority at this time and so have agreed as a business to remove any late fees accrued during this period of suspension and uncertainty.  

Please note that any discipline payments will need to be settled ahead of the resumption of football. 

Obviously if this is not a problem and you are happy to pay at this time, then is great.  

If any clubs or individuals wish to discuss any invoices then please do not hesitate to contact us at either FootballServices@CumberlandFA.com (Invoices) or Discipline@CumberlandFA.com (Discipline) 

Leagues 

At this stage it is far too early to be able to provide you with anything concrete with regards to what will happen with respective leagues and concluding the 2019-20 season.  This is mainly because we really don’t know how long this suspension will last for. 

We will however be working with leagues, facility providers, local authorities etc. with regards to any extension to the season once the picture becomes a lot clearer. 

In preparation for this we will be reviewing our systems and procedures to try and ensure they are as easy and quick as possible with regards to any potential affiliation and/or sanctioning required to allow this to occur.

We have already contacted our insurance partners Bluefin and have a discussion with them this week where we will discuss how an extension to current policies could look and will keep you posted around this in due course. 

Club Festivals

We also understand the potential financial risks of “no festivals” if this suspension continues or the league season has to eat into the traditional festival period, for clubs who depend on them.   

Again it is just too early to say what will happen in this respect – so it’s a watching brief for now.   

We will obviously try and keep you up to date with any developments around a start date and also, if necessary, any funding support that may be available to clubs in the future. 

Again, we will also look at our systems and procedures to try and ensure they are as easy and quick as possible with regards to any potential affiliation and/or sanctioning required to allow this to occur. 

Safeguarding Club Compliancy

For junior clubs we are aware that there maybe some coaches and officials whose qualifications may lapse within the current suspension period, which could potentially lead to the club being suspended when the grassroots game re-starts. 

This is being reviewed nationally by The FA and we will provide further guidance when we receive it from them.   

Courses and Education 

FA Education and Cumberland FA are currently looking at options that may allow virtual/online learning and personal development to take place.  This could be through a different way of delivering on courses that are already up and running (e.g. Level 2) or through a number of new bespoke online courses and virtual workshops. 

More details will follow in due course.

Keeping in Touch

During this unprecedented time, Cumberland FA are keen to continue to engage with Clubs, Coaches and Referees and more details of this will follow shortly. In the meantime if anyone has any ideas to bring the grassroots community together (online) or would like some (online) support please email us Development@CumberlandFA.com or RefSupport@CumberlandFA.com

 

Visit NHS.uk for up to date information on coronavirus

 

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