Another industry event disrupted as Disability Awareness Day 2020 rescheduled
Warrington Disability Partnership, the organiser of the annual Disability Awareness Day, has confirmed the event has been moved from July to September amid coronavirus concerns.
Described as the world’s largest ‘not for profit’, voluntary-led disability exhibition, the Disability Awareness Day is held each year in an extensive tented village within the grounds of Warrington’s Walton Hall Gardens.
Welcoming thousands of end-users throughout the day, the event was originally scheduled to take place on Sunday 12th July but has now been moved to Sunday 27th September.
A statement released by Dave Thompson MBE DL, Chief Executive of Warrington Disability Partnership, emphasised that the decision had been reached after carefully monitoring the unfurling COVID-19 situation.
“The health and safety of our visitors, exhibitors and our team is always our number one priority. This is particularly important given the communities that Disability Awareness Day involves,” said Dave.
“Many of our visitors are themselves some of the most vulnerable in society. This combined with the fact that health, social care and third sector workers, who make up a significant number of our exhibitors, will be crucial to ongoing containment and management of the pandemic, means that we have taken the decision to postpone our 29th-anniversary event till Sunday 27th September.”
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus and the increasingly stringent measures introduced by the government to reduce its spread, a deluge of shows in the sector have been postponed, including Naidex, Motability’s The Big Event, Med-Tech Innovation Expo and multiple OTAC conferences.
Dave pointed out that the new date will be dependent on the government lifting the ban on large social gatherings by September, alongside other measures that may affect the holding of the exhibition.
“We feel that it is the right decision given the impending position,” he continued.
“We are in ongoing communication with our sponsors, suppliers, exhibitors and partners. Everyone we have spoken so far have been very understanding and support our decision. All bookings made for our original date of the 12th July will be automatically transferred.
“The most significant change will see this year’s DAD shortened by one hour (10am till 4pm) to provide Disability Awareness Day’s army of volunteers the opportunity to clean up the site at Walton Gardens before it goes dark.”
With various reports suggesting that social distancing and lockdown measures may be implemented on and off over the next 12 months whilst a vaccine is developed for COVID-19, however, there is a chance that event organisers may face further disruption later in the year.
https://thiis.co.uk/another-industry-event-disrupted-as-disability-awareness-day-2020-rescheduled/https://thiis.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Disability-Awarness-Day-2020-postponed.jpghttps://thiis.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Disability-Awarness-Day-2020-postponed-150x150.jpgCoronavirus NewsEvent DisruptionEvents & ExhibitionsNewsroomTrade Newscoronavirus,COVID-19,Dave Thompson,Disability Awareness Day,exhibition,industry event,Med-Tech Innovation Expo,Motability’s The Big Event,Naidex,OTAC,trade event,Walton Hall Gardens,Warrington Disability Partnership,WDPWarrington Disability Partnership, the organiser of the annual Disability Awareness Day, has confirmed the event has been moved from July to September amid coronavirus concerns. Described as the world’s largest ‘not for profit’, voluntary-led disability exhibition, the Disability Awareness Day is held each year in an extensive tented village within...Calvin BarnettCalvin Barnettcalvin.barnett@bhta.comAuthorTHIIS Magazine