FRIDAY, 13 MARCH 2020
THIS IS SENT TO ALL AREA AND SOCIETY COMMITTEE MEMBERS
CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: CANCELLATION ANNOUNCEMENT
Dear Colleagues
As the Government has announced additional steps to delay the spread of Coronavirus, it has become clear that further measures will be taken in a phased approach to protect the vulnerable and elderly.
Whilst we recognise the Government's plan to delay the epidemic peak, it is our assessment that the well-being and safety of our Members, Volunteers and Lecturers, many of whom fall within the high-risk category, is likely to benefit from The Arts Society taking active measures to reduce non-essential Arts Society activity before the pandemic reaches its peak in the UK and Europe.
We therefore regret to inform you that the following Arts Society events and meetings for the period 16 March to 30 April will be cancelled:
Area Meetings
Hub Meetings
Directory Day
Area Study Days and Trips
Training events
All those who have organised and / or purchased tickets to any of the above events or activities will need to make the appropriate arrangements not to hold / travel to / attend these meetings and to advise Members, non-Members and Lecturers who are booked onto these days that they have been cancelled.
We are working on alternative plans to make the content of the Hub Meetings and Directory Day available to Societies through digital channels. It is unlikely that Directory Day will now be held in 2020, due to the logistics of moving such a complex event, the availability of suitable venues and potential clashes with other events.
Guidance on claiming expenses and other costs will be published early next week.
No final decision has been made about the 2020 AGM; however, we currently do not take any further bookings and advise delegates to prepare for the likely event that the AGM will be cancelled. We are exploring options to hold the Annual General Meeting - the only statutory meeting we are legally required to hold within a given time scale - as a virtual meeting, accessible to all voting members.
Societies are encouraged to assess independently if their meetings, lectures, study days and tours should be held in the coming months.
The UK Government has not yet announced measures to restrict holding, travelling to or attending public meetings. It is likely that such measures will be implemented at a later stage.
However, individual Societies and/or Lecturers might choose to cancel existing bookings; in this case we advise following The Arts Society's cancellation guidelines, which can be found in the Resources Area at theartssociety.org/resource/lecture-cancellation-advice.
We ask that Societies and Lecturers approach negotiating any cancellations due to this unprecedented situation with flexibility, amenability and understanding of the other's position.
If you are continuing with meetings please follow the Government guidance:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public
We regret that there will be negative financial implications for local Societies, Areas and the central organisation: that is what reserves are there for. If you feel that current events may impact on the viability of your Society please contact Tim Nicholls (tim@theartssociety.org). We are confident that The Arts Society remains in a robust position; however, we will reforecast our financial position for 2020 and 2021 as we expect to experience losses in commercial and investment income. We recommend Society Treasurers reforecast for the coming year using the best information available.
The office will remain open for the time being; contingency and business continuity plans are in place and we are committed to offering most of our support and advisory services without interruption. We anticipate that many of you will contact the team at Guilford Street (enquiries@theartssociety.org) in the coming days and weeks: please bear with us as we try to deal with your enquiries as quickly as we can: the team is small.
We regret that these steps will inconvenience many, and are likely to add to the workload of everyone who has taken great care to plan events and activities. These are extraordinary circumstances, and we thank you for your support and understanding in taking extraordinary measures as we play our part in prioritising the well-being of Members, Volunteers, Lecturers and staff.
Our thoughts are with everyone during these challenging times.
Florian Schweizer
Chief Executive, The Arts Society
If you have any questions please email: enquiries@theartssociety.org
Tel: 020 7430 0730
Switchboard hours: Monday - Friday, 10am - 4pm