Dear Variety Family,
In these rapidly changing times which are posing challenges for us all, we wish to reassure you that the Variety SA office team and the Board are keeping a close watch on all developments, with the safety of our staff and supporters forefront in our minds.
We are also acutely focused on the sustainability of our operations and ensuring that when the pandemic ends we can return to ‘business as usual’ as strongly and efficiently as possible.
We understand the need within the community will be even greater then and so we are continuing to work very hard behind the scenes to keep fundraising efforts going, wherever possible.
However, there are also some decisions that need to be made now and to that end, the Board of Variety SA held an extraordinary Board Meeting late last week, at which a decision was ratified to postpone the Ball, scheduled for July. At this stage, we are working towards a tentative new date in October in consultation with the Adelaide Convention Centre and will be doing everything we can to make this a successful event. We are committed to updating you as more information becomes available.
I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the Ball Committee, its Chair Lisa Hutton and our events team for their tremendous work to date under difficult circumstances.
As you’ll appreciate in such uncertain times, we are not yet in a position to make a decision on other events scheduled for early in the second half of the year, which includes the Bash, but at this stage we continue to plan for their successful staging and will do all we can in the interim to support our entrants in their efforts to fundraise. Rest assured we will be adhering to all advice from Government and health authorities in making any future decisions.
In relation to the office, some of our team are now taking annual leave and others will be working from home from tomorrow. While CEO Mark McGill will continue to hold the fort, we’d remind you to use email and phone for contact wherever possible.
I want to reassure you that Variety SA has a strong business continuity plan underpinned by a sustainable financial position, and we will continue to work hard throughout this unprecedented period to ensure we can bounce back strongly when this comes to an end.
We look forward to keeping you up to date.
Brenton Ramsey, Chair, Variety SA Board and Mark McGill, CEO Variety SA.
