CRICHTON BRIEFING 7 JULY UPDATE

THE CRICHTON BRIEFING, 7 JULY UPDATE

On Tuesday 7^th July, Gwilym Gibbons, Chief Executive of The Crichton Trust hosted the third Crichton Briefing on Zoom. The meeting was attended by 17 participants.

A brief summary of the meeting is noted below:

• While government advice continues to encourage everyone to work from home whenever possible, The Crichton Trust continues to support those businesses who are carrying out essential work from their base at The Crichton and supporting those tenants who are starting to prepare for a phased and safe return to work. We continue to promote home working, physical distancing and good hand hygiene and have already installed sanitising stations in some of our buildings, built a new outdoor meeting space and updated our signage on site to reflect current advice.

• As a Trust we continue to hold regular meetings to discuss our response to Covid-19 and have also established 7 Workstream Groups to help develop and reshape our strategy.

• The Crichton Trust has also recently signed the Build Back Better pledge and registered as a member of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance to support national and international efforts to build back better.

• Gwilym acknowledged and welcomed the increasing number of leisure visitors on site and is pleased to see people making safe use of the grounds for exercise, picnics and family walks.

• The second edition of The Crichton Magazine will be published later this week.

The main update for today relates to our venues:

• We have now made the difficult decision to cancel or postpone all of the events that were still in our diary at Easterbrook Hall until 21 March 2021. With the ongoing uncertainty around the future of large gatherings, we have already experienced a significant number of event cancellations for 2020. As a result, opening Easterbrook Hall for fewer, smaller gatherings is not financially viable. We will continue to accommodate the needs of local Third Sector organisations and the Council by providing them with access to Easterbrook Hall facilities to support the regional response to Covid-19.  This is disappointing, but all event organisers have now been informed and we will do our best to accommodate their needs in the future.  The good news is that we have a packed schedule of weddings and events from April 2021 onwards.
• A temporary Easterbrook Takeaway Service (Fresco-style) and Outdoor Bar (weather dependant) will be available outside Easterbrook Bistro from the 23^rd July to service those tenants, staff and members of the public who are working on site and/or enjoying their leisure time on the grounds. Weather permitting we may open the outdoor bar on the weekend of 17 July. Confirmation of services will be posted on social media.
• Fresco Café in Criffel View will remain closed for the rest of this year and will reopen early in 2021 as Crichton Central. Customers are invited to use the Easterbrook Takeaway Service in the meantime.
• The swimming pool and spa in Easterbrook Bistro will remain closed until it is safe and financially viable to open again.
• We are not currently permitted to hold services or events in the Crichton Memorial Church and although we may be able to accommodate small groups of people for short periods of time at some point soon, it is unlikely that any large gatherings or weddings will be held within the church until Spring 2021.

Crichton Central Update

• Work has now commenced on the redevelopment of Criffel View (home to Fresco Café), which is scheduled to open as Crichton Central early in 2021.
• Artist impressions show Crichton Central as a new, modern and inviting space for collaboration at The Crichton and will include a new café, small shop and takeaway service as well as indoor and outdoor meeting space and a radio station. Other services will include quiet areas for members, bookable meeting rooms and offices, showers, postal service, electric charging points and a small staged area for hosting and live-streaming talks, seminars and events.
• Crichton Central will be a shared space to connect businesses and academia and will create new opportunities for collaboration. As well as connecting members of The Crichton Community with each other, Crichton Central will digitally connect The Crichton Community to the wider world.

The meeting finished with a suggestion to hold more outdoor theatre events at The Crichton and a request for an update from academic partners regarding their plans.

These meetings will continue to take place on the first Tuesday of every month at 4pm. All welcome.  To join future meetings use the Meeting ID in the advert below or click here.

A meeting specifically for tenants will also take place on Zoom on Tuesday 14 July. All tenants should have received an invitation to attend.

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