CRICHTON BRIEFING 4 AUGUST UPDATE

On Tuesday 4 August, Gwilym Gibbons, Chief Executive of The Crichton Trust hosted the fourth Crichton Briefing on Zoom. The meeting was attended by 13 participants.

A brief summary of the meeting is noted below:

• While all plans are subject to change at this time, The Crichton Trust has outlined their plans for venues at The Crichton. All venues closed on or before 23 March 2020 including Fresco Café, Easterbrook Hall, Easterbrook Bistro, Bar & Spa and the Crichton Memorial Church. On 23 July, Easterbrook Takeaway and Outdoor Bar was launched offering a temporary menu while other facilities remain closed. Fresco Café will not reopen due to the planned redevelopment of Criffel View. The plan is to open Crichton Central early in 2021 and Easterbrook Bistro in March 2021. Easterbrook Hall is to reopen for events on 22 March 2021.
• Easterbrook Takeaway and Outdoor Bar is picking up and the launch of the new Eat Out to Help Out scheme for August will hopefully encourage others to feel more confident about eating out again.
• With things are never likely to return to the way they were, The Crichton Trust is continuing to review all of its operations, with the aim of building back better. 7 workstreams have been set up to help review operations and funding models and to address the challenges of an ageing society, the climate emergency and the future economy.
• The focus is very much on the future. The Crichton Trust is well placed to drive innovation, to create connections and to encourage collaboration. With changes in work practices due to Covid-19, it is key that The Trust continues to create opportunities and ‘chance encounters’ in order to form new relationships and to strengthen partnerships between business and academia.  The new Crichton Central development will play a significant role in providing these opportunities.
• Inside Criffel View is changing rapidly and you will soon be able to see physical changes on the outside too. Crichton Central will be a key asset for The Crichton as when it opens early in 2021. A new website for Crichton Central will be launched over the next few weeks.
• The Crichton is continuing to attract an increasing number of leisure visitors who are making safe use of the grounds for exercise, picnics and family walks. This is great to see and we want to see this continue.  The Crichton Trust is already looking at ways to retain and increase visitor numbers with outdoor walks, trails, talks, events and activities when it is safe to do so.
• The second edition of The Crichton Magazine is now out and it provides a great insight into the work of tenants and partners and how The Crichton Community has responded to Covid-19. The magazine is accessible on the website and through links on social media.
• These meetings will continue to take place on the first Tuesday of every month at 4pm. All welcome.  The next meeting will be on the 1^st September and by that time we hope to be able to share some photographs of the progress being made in Criffel View. To join the next meeting use this link or see details below: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83876523626
• A meeting specifically for tenants will also take place on Zoom at 11am on Tuesday 18 August. All tenants should have received an invitation to attend.

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