Have You Been Trying to Reach Us?

27.05.20 – Darrell Priestley

Today, an apology. We appear to be having problems receiving some emails. This only came to light yesterday when someone we hadn’t heard from since shortly before lockdown began finally reached us by telephone at work. They had been visiting our website, and trying to get hold of us over a period of around 8 weeks. Rachael, you get ten out of ten for persistence! I can only apologise to anyone affected, and assure you that we will be working to resolve the problem as soon as possible. In the meantime, I will include telephone contact details below.

In order to set up the system for teaching online, it was necessary for us to make changes to the way we operate, which included porting our entire email system to a new provider. Since this point, we think it possible that some messages to the usual address may not have been received, though as yet we don’t know if this has been a problem for others. If you too have encountered problems reaching us by email at the usual , then for now, please use the following email address: [email protected]

In the first weeks of lockdown, we were handling emails at all times, but amidst everything else this became overwhelming, and so for the present we try to handle emails on business days; if your email comes in on a Sunday, for instance , there may be a delay before we see it and respond. For current business times, please see below.

During lockdown, we spent the first 8 weeks working from home, and had intended to use our business telephone from home to make communication easier. However, we hit technical problems, which meant that this has so far not been possible. During this time, we had an answerphone system operating on the business telephone line, and of course email. However, the email issue noted above may have made things a whole lot more difficult for some of you, and I am so sorry for this.

Currently, Eileen and I are back at our Ropergate address, and working in a closed building. In case you need us, official telephone hours are presently as follows:

Mon/Tues – 11.00am – 5.00pm
Wednesday – Closed
Thurs/Fri – 11.00am – 5.00pm
Sat/Sun – Closed

Tel. 01977 797422

These hours are fairly basic; it may be possible to reach us outside of the times shown, but it is much less likely; equally, since much of the time I am teaching online, and Eileen may be on the other line or simply away from her desk, you may not always reach us at first try. Please bear in mind, it is possible to leave a message.