In-person Attendance

Venue

Yarnfield Park. A large complex surrounded by countryside.

The venue for the MathsJam UK Gathering is Yarnfield Park, which is a large conference centre in central England. Yarnfield has two floors, and the main room we use for MathsJam is on the first floor - the Knighton Suite, which is a large conference room filled with round tables, and a stage at the front with screens.

The Knighton Suite. A large room with round tables arranged in front of a stage, behind which are two projector screens.

This tour video shows various parts of the venue, and while it doesn't include the Knighton Suite, it's a larger version of the Howden Suite shown at 1:04. For a rough idea of the venue layout, our Virtual Yarnfield gather.town space mimics the arrangement of rooms.

A range of food is served in the restaurant downstairs, and there is also a bar, and a small onsite Costa coffee shop (open on Friday until 10pm but closed on the weekend).

The venue is fully wheelchair accessible, with lifts to the first floor and double doorways into all the main areas we will use.

Getting There

Full and up-to-date travel information for Yarnfield is available on the Yarnfield webite. Driving is the easiest way to arrive, and there is a large car park onsite.

The nearest train stations are Stoke-on-Trent (10 miles away), which is on some major train routes, and Stone (3 miles away), a smaller local station which is closer to the venue but less frequently served by trains, and will travelling here will likely involve changing at Stafford.

Attendees arriving by train to Stone or Stoke-on-Trent will need a way to get from there to Yarnfield (10/20 minutes drive respectively). MathsJam attendees organise a voluntary shuttle service for people arriving on trains into Stone, giving them lifts in private cars to and from the venue - information about this will be circulated to people who have booked closer to the event, so if you're coming by train, watch out for that and you can sign up for a lift to/from the station. Otherwise, taxis are usually available on the taxi rank at Stoke-on-Trent, but taxis from Stone will need to be pre-booked. There is also a bus number 102 which runs between Stone and Yarnfield Park (the bus stop at Hayeswater Grove is right outside).

If you have any questions about travel, or are unfamiliar with UK transport networks and would like some advice, email gathering@mathsjam.com and we can try to help. Information about train tickets can be found on the National Rail website.

Accommodation Info

Accommodation buildings at Yarnfield Park.

Accommodation is on site within the Yarnfield complex, on three wheelchair accessible floors in multiple blocks. Weekend bookings include accommodation for the Saturday night, and additional nights may be added (see the booking info page for prices).

A Yarnfield Park bedroom. A double bed with fresh sheets and towels on it. Next to the window are a desk and chair, and on the wall is a storage unit.

Rooms are all en-suite, and within a few minutes' walk of the main building, via a covered walkway.

COVID Policy

The event takes place in a large conference building, which may also have other events taking place at the same time. The rooms are reasonably large, and we will aim to keep windows and doors open where possible. We will, unavoidably, still be a large group of people mixing in an indoor space. To try to make the Gathering as safe as we can while still striking a balance with fun and convenience, we have the following policy:

We ask every attendee to have up-to-date COVID vaccinations to whatever extent is possible for them;
We also ask people to do a rapid lateral flow test (RLFT) before coming, and test during the event too if possible.

If a positive COVID test prevents you from attending some or all of the event, we will be happy to refund all or part of your ticket as needed, and Remote Attendance is available if you still want to join in from home. We will not require people to wear masks during the event, but invite people to wear masks if they are more comfortable doing so.

If you have any questions or concerns about any of this, contact us on gathering@mathsjam.com.

Accessibility

The venue and accommodation are all fully wheelchair accessible, with lifts to the first floor and double doors to all of the main areas we're using. The rooms for the MathsJam Jam (on Sunday evening) and Quiet Room have a single door, but it is wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair. Accessible accommodation is available on request - please indicate on your booking if you need this, and we can pass this on to the venue.

There will be a designated Quiet Room during the event, with armchairs and tables, for people to spend time away from the main event. There are unisex accessible toilets on both floors of the conference venue.

In the Knighton Suite, where we hold our main sessions, an induction loop system is available for hearing aids, and the contents of the main display screens (two large projectors at the front) are repeated on smaller screens further back in the room.

Assistance dogs are welcome at Yarnfield, and there are designated car parking spaces within the main car park for Blue Badge holders. For more information, see Yarnfield's accessibility information page