Society of Genealogists in London closes

June Perron, CEO of the London based Society of Genealogists (www.sog.org.uk), has announced that its library has now closed because of the coronavirus outbreak:

Coronavirus and the Society of Genealogists

Further to last week's announcement we have had a visitor to the Society who now feels they may have the Coronavirus (they have not yet been tested). He had no personal contact with anyone and wasn’t doing research so no material should be contaminated. However, we regrettably feel the time has come to close the Society until further notice.

We will carry out a deep clean and then keep the situation monitored but we feel we cannot put you, our valued members and visitors, at risk until the escalation and spread of the virus is bought under control.

Anyone who does develop any of the symptoms are advised to follow NHS guidelines and if you are in the age group regarded as vulnerable (over 60s) and particularly if you have any other existing health conditions to ring 111 immediately.

All events attendees will be contacted and given the various options open to them. We will be hoping to reconvene events when we are able to re-open but refunds will also be offered if you do not wish to wait until that time.

We will continue to offer the web services and staff will work remotely to service members where possible. This has happened quicker than we expected but I am hoping tomorrow after I meet with staff to go through the logistics I may be in a position to see if volunteers can man the help line more frequently.

Anyone who misses this notice and arrives tomorrow will be offered external refreshments before having to return home but I will be unable to let anyone in the building.

We appreciate your understanding in these unprecedented times and hope you all stay safe.

Monitor our web page here and our blog to see when we will re-open. We intend to revisit the decision each fortnight, the first review will be on March 27th.

Kind Regards
June Perrin, Chief Executive

Keep an eye out for further updates on the Society's website at www.sog.org.uk/about/coronavirus.

(With thanks to @valmayuk via Twitter)

Chris

You can pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 (out April). Also available, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.