Having recently announced that its 2020 Annual Conference & AGM had sold out, the Lotteries Council has now revealed that the event has been postponed due to the rapidly developing COVID-19 pandemic.
The conference, which aims to ‘bring you up to date with Lottery legislation and regulations’ as well as to ‘share ideas for the growth and development of lottery’, was originally scheduled to take place at The Hilton Warwick Hotel in Warwickshire on 18 and 19 March.
As a result of the postponement, the event is now expected to be scheduled at a later date in the year, however, as of yet there has been no information regarding its rescheduling.
According to the Council, this year’s event was set to be its ‘biggest and best yet’. Those in attendance were set to benefit from topical and ‘very relevant’ programmes as well as guest appearances such as that of award-winning author and professional speaker David Hyner.
In addition to this, Interactive workshops aimed at individuals who work for charities, hospices, sporting bodies, air ambulance services and Local Authorities were also set to be included.
A statement released by the Lotteries Council read: “Since we reviewed the conference at the beginning of the week, matters have moved on. [The UK Government] are not, for the time being, announcing any school closures or bans on public gatherings as they want these measures to have the maximum effect at the right time.
“However, pressure appears to be growing to do more, and more organisations are advising their staff not to attend conferences. In the light of all this, the Board has come to the view that there remains no alternative other than to postpone the conference scheduled for next week.
“We will be in touch again once we have had an opportunity to explore options.”