#lightitinred
So, here we are …
It’s been almost 5 months since the UK government announced a nationwide lockdown and who could have predicted that it would take this long to reopen the country? Shockingly this also means that it has been nearly 5 months since our last event here at All Manor.
First of all we would like to take the time to apologise to those couples who have had to postpone their wedding day as a result of this pandemic. This is clearly not how anybody envisages the build up to their special day so we just want to say thank you for your amazing understanding and cooperation in these ‘unprecedented times’ (as the government like to say).
THANK YOU
This morning, as you may already know, the government announced that from this Saturday 15th August lockdown measures are to be eased further in England. This includes the reopening of bowling alleys, casinos and soft play centres, the recommencement of certain beauty treatments, and importantly the declaration that small wedding receptions can now go ahead – hooray!
Although this is obviously a massive step in the right direction for the events industry, there is still a long way to go. Furthermore, prior to this announcement, there has been a huge lack of attention paid to the industry. As a result, the #WeMakeEvents campaign has been launched in an attempt to raise awareness and yield further government support in an industry which has suffered huge losses over the past 5 months.
You may have seen that on Tuesday 11th August, the Orwell Bridge in Ipswich was illuminated in red. What you may not know is that over 700 other UK venues also joined in with this display of solidarity. But what are all of these venues campaigning for?
- #WeMakeEvents is raising awareness of all those individuals in the events industry who have been without any form of work for the last 5 months. Without government intervention it is estimated that 25% of companies will have served redundancy notices by the end of August with this number rising to 70% by December. Clearly there is a need for government support here.
- This impact goes even further than this though. The current lack of events disrupts the huge supply chain which could lead to further job losses across a range of industries.
What are we asking for?
We would like the government to provide the events industry with significant support until events are able to resume without the limitations imposed by social distancing policies. Such support includes:
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“Grants (not loans) made available to businesses in the events supply chain”
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“Furlough scheme extended until the industry is back to work”
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“Extension of the self-employment scheme, tailored towards the industry”
If you are interested in getting behind this campaign and supporting the events industry through these challenging times then please click the link and add your name to the campaign. Thank you in advance for your support!
ADD YOUR NAME TO THE CAMPAIGN HERE
