Moulsecoomb campus prayer rooms re-opening

We are pleased to announce that the university’s prayer rooms at Watts (Room 408), Moulsecoomb, have now been re-opened in line with government guidance on social distancing measures.

Students and staff are encouraged to pray at home wherever possible. However, we recognise that students, staff and visitors may need to use the university’s prayer rooms when on campus for classes or work. With this in mind, we have introduced a number of measures to ensure that the prayer rooms are safe for use.

These include:

• bringing your own prayer mat, a bag for your shoes and your own copy of the Qur’an or any other items;
• Using the available hand sanitiser before you enter the wash room and, if you’ve used the available wash station, before you enter the prayer room as well
• carrying out ablution rituals at home prior to coming onto campus where possible;
• wearing face coverings, including on entering and exiting the prayer rooms and wash rooms and throughout the prayer, unless you are exempt;
• and following the guidelines on maximum capacity for each room and social distancing (one metre plus) at all times.

Please do not enter the prayer rooms if you have symptoms of COVID-19 or if you are self-isolating due to COVID-19 in your home environment / bubble.

The university has a legal obligation to facilitate test and trace in its prayer spaces. When visiting one of the prayer spaces, worshippers are asked to complete a webform developed by the university specifically for the purpose of test and trace. The form requests the following data: name, contact number, date of visit, arrival time and, where possible, departure time. Providing data is optional and is not a condition of attending the prayer spaces. Data will only be shared with NHS Test and Trace, Public Health England, or a local authority Health Protection Team at the request of a verified NHS test and trace request. The data will not be used for any other purpose and after 21 days, it will be deleted forever. Alternatively, worshippers can complete the NHS test and trace form via the NHS COVID-19 app.

Further information about the guidelines for safe use of the prayer rooms can be found on the university website and in this video.

Dallington House (Falmer campus) prayer rooms are still closed whilst we ensure the rooms and building are COVID secure. Please look out for further communications on the rooms re-opening.

If you have any questions or concerns about using the prayer rooms, please contact the Faith and Spirituality team at faithandspirituality@brighton.ac.uk or the Student Wellbeing team at studentservices@brighton.ac.uk