Tue 23 March 2021 – Latest Update
It hardly seems possible that ArtisOn has been “dark” now for over 12 months. We closed 10 days before the first lockdown last year in the expectation that we’d be back to it after Easter… A misconception that now seems quite ridiculous!
Since then, wave after wave of bad news has meant we’ve been unable to reopen and have just completed our third round of rescheduling – over 200 workshops with over 1,000 people have been rescheduled … some of them now twice! This is the reason why there seems to be so little workshop availability…most of the places for the workshops you see were originally booked in 2019 to run in 2020 – hey ho!
We can’t wait to get back to enabling people to do what they love rather than all this rescheduling, chopping and changing. Roll on 17 May – we’ll be there with the door open and the coffee pot on all being well!
Until then, you are probably even more confused than we are..so here’s a summary of where we are at…….
We have now completed the rescheduling of workshops that were due to take place before 17 May – mostly to next Spring.
There are a handful of workshops what will not be rescheduled due to the tutor’s circumstances. These have been cancelled and individuals notified.
Everyone affected has now been contacted with new dates – look out for a separate email for each workshop. If you have not received anything, it may be that you were not the booker, so please check with the person who booked. Or, please check your SPAM. Contact us if you draw a blank with these.
If a rescheduled date has been offered and you can’t make it, you have various options. Please click here to view your options. You have a limited period to request a refund before acceptance of the new date is assumed.
If you’ve lost track of your rescheduled bookings or whether you have any outstanding balances, don’t worry. We plan to email everyone with multiple workshop bookings with a statement summarising everything. We’ll start sending these soon once all the cancellations and transfers have been done.
For all who have bookings after the 17 May and before the summer break, we will review the position once we know if 12 April next step goes to plan. The 12 April is the first milestone date in the government’s roadmap for release. If this date slips we may need to think again about workshops post 17 May. Watch this space….
For everyone who has a workshop booked this year, we want you to feel as secure as possible. Click here to find out about the Covid safety measures we have put in place.
Workshop bookings are changing all the time. this means it is well worth checking availability regularly.
We have made some decisions about when it is sensible to plan new workshops for next year. You can find out more about our future diary plans here.
Gift Vouchers with expiry dates will all be honoured for an additional 12 months and any new vouchers purchased will also be valid for 24 months from purchase. You may need to phone to complete your booking.
That’s all for now – give us a call or email if you have any other queries.
Best wishes, Gaynor & Sue
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…the story so far…
Sadly, due to the pandemic, all ArtisOn’s 2020 workshops have been rescheduled to 2021. All bookings have been transferred and new 2021 dates have been communicated to all involved. The rescheduled dates are all now listed on the Workshops page and there are some places still available.
Gift Vouchers with expiry dates will all be honoured for an additional 12 months and any new vouchers purchased will also be valid for 24 months from purchase.
Months in the planning, our 2020 programme was our biggest ever. With so many of you setting your alarm clocks back in October in order to grab your places, we also had our highest ever level of advanced bookings. Only 5 weeks into the 2020 programme and lockdown meant we were forced to stop 94 events going ahead before the summer. In July, following consultation with all 48 tutors participating in the autumn, we took the very difficult decision to postpone all dates scheduled for the rest of the year.
If you wish to understand more about our situation and the reasons for this decision, read on. If you you have bookings, look out for email updates in case of any changes. If not, you can join our email list at the bottom of the contact page here.
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WHY POSTPONE?
Though we had plans in place for general operational and building changes that would allow us to be Covid Secure from September. When we consulted with all the tutors due to teach, the specific detailed issues relating to individual tutor’s workshops emerged and some we could not overcome. In addition, some tutors were unable to return to a teaching environment, due to shielding themselves or loved ones. The result was that less than 60% of the 100 planned workshops could go ahead, leaving gaping, unmanageable, holes in the autumn schedule. Combined with this, we predicted significant further impact from Test and Trace and disruption from local lockdowns as the winter progressed.
Our primary concern has always been the safety, confidence and comfort of tutors and customers. A very close second, is that we are able to provide the pleasure, relaxation and enjoyment which everyone wants when they book a day at ArtisOn. Some of the measures needed now will simply undermine this enjoyment.
All in all, the risks and unknowns that could further derail what is a quite carefully calibrated and intense schedule of events, combined with the reduced overall enjoyment of the experience, meant we decided it was best to postpone the autumn as we had done for the spring.
Thank you again for bearing with us. Hopefully this at least provides some certainty about your bookings for the rest if the year and gives everyone something to look forward to in 2021.
Just to confirm, any gift vouchers issued now, will not expire until the end of 2022. Existing gift vouchers due for expiry will all also be honoured until the end of 2022.
Please stay safe and well.
Best wishes, Gaynor & Sue
