Terms and conditions

Our primary concern is the well-being of everyone who visits us - particularly children.

Click here for a copy of the Open Centre Child Protection Policy.

All our staff members are CRB checked.

Non-staff members who visit schools to speak on specialist subjects may not be CRB checked and schools should ensure that they remain with a qualified teacher at all times while they are on school premises.

• Teachers remain legally responsible for the children in their care at all times.
• Teachers remain responsible for discipline and the good behaviour of their pupils at all times.

  It is worth remembering that as well as pupils seeing part of Derby that they may not have seen before, the people of Derby are also seeing the pupils - and making judgements about young people based on what they see.

• The Open Centre has carried out a detailed Risk Assessment on its premises to ensure that all risks are removed or minimised.
• The Open Centre has full Public Liability insurance.
• We ask teachers to be aware of the fire notices and exits in the Open Centre.

  There is one exit at the front of the building and two within the Open Centre itself - one from each room. In the case of an automatic or verbal fire warning, everyone should exit the building immediately (without stopping to pick up any belongings) and assemble on the pavement in Rose Hill Street - in the direction of the Arboretum.

• As a charity we are always short of money! We therefore ask you to pay your invoices as quickly as possible - either by cheque or by direct bank transfer. Details for bank transfer are on all our invoices. Any additional contributions you can make to our work would be greatly appreciated.

Minimum group size

Our minimum group size (to make our work financially viable) is 25. Please contact us if your group will be smaller than this.

Cancellations

Many schools book well ahead and this allows us time to schedule visits and workshops - in some cases it allows us to bring in extra staff to meet demand.

Cancellations can be a real problem for us - especially if we are given very little notice when we have committed to take on extra staff or prepare special resources.

We therefore make a charge for group cancellations:

Items for sale

We have been asked to provide small items that visitors may wish to purchase as a reminder of their visit. We have no wish to exploit anyone who visits us so we have kept things to a minimum - each item costs £1. The items available are:

• All places of worship require modest dress.
• The Mosque and Sikh Gurdwara require that all visitors wear some form of hair covering (scarves are fine - no hoods or hats) and female visitors should wear trousers.

  We know that some parents (and pupils) object to these dress requirements but we ask them to think of it in the same way as visiting someone else's home - you respect the wishes of those whose home you are visiting. Wearing a scarf does not imply anything other than respected the wishes of those who have been kind enough to invite you in as a guest.

• If a ceremony or worship is taking place during a visit we ask everyone to respect the privacy of others and to remain as quiet as possible while moving about.
• The purpose of any visit is enquiry - not worship. We do not take part in any acts of worship.
• Our staff are always willing to answer questions that may arise during visits or workshops. However, you, or your group, may have specific questions you wish to discuss so it would be great help to us if you could note them down in writing and hand them to a member of staff at the start of your visit - this will help us to ensure that no questions go unanswered.
• We walk from one place of worship to another. The distances are not great, a few hundred yards in each case, but the streets are narrow, the pavements may not be perfect and cars can be parked haphazardly. We ask teachers to remind pupils to take care when walking - and to bring a raincoat in case it rains.
• Walks will enable visitors to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of our area. The area is very busy with a wide variety of shops selling all sorts of foods and material that visitors may not have seen before. We may be able to take small groups into shops but please let us know before-hand so that we can arrange this.

  (If you enjoy food from around the world there is no better place than Normanton Road for buying it - it makes supermarkets look poorly stocked - and overpriced! However, we recommend that you return another time to do your shopping!)

• Don't forget to bring along a donation for each place of worship visited. We recommend £5.00 for each group for each place of worship.
• During the Asian marriage ceremony workshop in the Open Centre hall it will be necessary to have the permission of parents/guardians because:
  • Mehndi (hand painting) involves an orange stain which may last for at least two days.
  • Foreheads may be decorated with a paint which can be washed off.

  Please ensure that no-one taking part in Mehndi or forehead decoration has any skin problems such as Eczema.

• Our cookery workshops may involve nuts. Please notify a member of the Open Centre staff at the beginning of the session if anyone in the group has any food allergies.
• Many groups take visits in the morning and a workshop in the afternoon. Everyone is welcome to bring drinks and a packed lunch and tables are provided in the Open Centre. Please ensure that all waste is packed and taken away and that the Centre is left in a suitable state for the next group.
• The Open Centre has toilets including one suitable for disabled visitors.

After your visit

Visits and workshops are necessarily short and a comment we frequently get is "we wish we had more time for questions and discussion."

Obviously your group can discuss things later as you wish but we can also provide well-informed disussion leaders to expand on issues that may have arisen during your visit. We are happy to lead a discussion on any matters - from the purely practical and informative to the highly controversial.

Important note: our discussion leaders will always try to lead a balanced discussion but they will have views of their own which they are free to express. Please note that any such personal views are their own - the Open Centre does not have specific views on any matters - other than promoting social harmony through understanding.

Please contact us if you would like to take advantage of this service.