Disability Ageing and Lifestyle Expo 2020 Update
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A message from our Chief Executive
2020 has been a challenging year for us all. We understand and appreciate the importance of health and wellbeing and the many uncertainties that COVID-19 brings, on both individuals and community gatherings. We are particularly mindful of our more vulnerable community members, many of whom are ageing and/or living with disability. We have decided to cancel the scheduled 2020 Disability, Ageing and Lifestyle Expo to be held on the 15 October 2020 at the Adelaide Showgrounds as we are concerned about ongoing health and safety issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is not a decision we have taken lightly and there are two overriding concerns that have caused us to make this decision at this time. First is the uncertainty caused by holding events with over 3,500 people attending and the way we can create a safe environment for everyone with many factors outside our control. Second, our primary concern is always the responsibility we feel towards our sponsors, exhibitors and participants, who support and attend the Expo. Whilst only a short time ago we felt optimistic that October 2020 was far enough away to confidently proceed with our plans, as it stands today, we cannot guarantee the one thing that our sponsors, exhibitors and participants trust us above all else to deliver – namely a large-scale, high quality and safe Expo. In an ideal world we would wait and see. However we do not feel this is appropriate and we cannot, in all good conscience, ask our Sponsors and exhibitors to continue to invest time and support for an event that may not occur due to COVID-19 circumstances. Both of these factors – uncertainty around whether the 2020 Disability, Ageing and Lifestyle Expo will be allowed to proceed, as well as doubts as to the people who will be able to attend - have led us to the conclusion that we should cancel the 2020 Expo. We are devastated to share this news with you, and this is the first time in many years that the Expo event will not take place. We are now working through the ramifications of this unprecedented situation and decision. We are exploring options to reschedule the event and are working to provide a virtual online Expo experience in early 2021. For our Expo sponsors, exhibitors, clients, and participants we will be in touch as soon as possible. We understand the gravity of cancelling the Expo for over 3,500 people who attend and receive timely and relevant information and for our many Exhibitors who use the Expo to introduce their services. We will continue to work hard to bring you the unique events you love. Though it’s true that our October 2020 event will no longer take place in the way that we intended, we continue to strive toward our purpose – helping people to connect, to be informed and to achieve their goals. We would like to thank everyone for your patience, understanding and support under these circumstances. We appreciate that this highly successful Expo has attracted exhibitors from the wider ageing, disability and lifestyle sector and visitors to the Expo have been pleased with the availability of exhibitors that led to a greater understanding of products and services. For this reason, Catalyst Foundation is continuing to evaluate our offerings and find solutions to help our Exhibitors connect with clients and other services during this difficult time. The Disability Ageing and Lifestyle Expo is going virtual. This is a time of great transition and change in the world. This year has certainly taught us all about resilience, adaptability and the need to stay connected. We invite you to watch this space as we are exploring the most innovative methods to provide you with the best possible interactive online event, currently planned for early 2021. This online event will enable participants to get connected to services quickly and easily, all through an enjoyable and engaging online experience. We will be offering accessible tools for participants to search and get in touch with service providers and organisations in the ageing, disability and lifestyle sector. We also look forward to offering and hosting the 2021 Disability Ageing and Lifestyle Expo in late 2021. Once again, we thank the whole sector for the support you have given to us and we are here to support you and other organisations in the sector as we all work through these difficult times. We will continue to do everything we can to help our communities stay safe, informed, and connected. Jenny Hughes Chief Executive Catalyst Foundation 17 September 2020 |
