It is with a heavy heart that we write this post today.
After a long deliberation last night reviewing various possible scenarios regarding the possibility of continuing with the Christmas performance in light of the new Omicron variant and ongoing COVID19 pandemic, we both feel that we have no choice but to cancel the Christmas Concert on the 22nd December. Our main priority in these times is to ensure the safety of our choir and their families as well as for the public that would be attending.
With the new addition of the current restrictions on care homes, it would also mean that some of our members may not even be allowed to attend. There is also some noise coming from high profile politicians to reduce contact as much as possible, review get togethers and, with all of our choir members being extremely vulnerable, and a lot of the audience that may be too, we do not feel that the risks can be fully controlled and mitigated with the high transmission rate that we are currently seeing across the country with this new variant.
Ultimately our main priority is the safety of everyone and we feel we have no other choice but to cancel under the current circumstances.
Over the next couple of hours we will be notifying everyone involved, so there will be a lot of disappointed people out there. I hope you all understand and support the choice we have made. If you could inform everyone you know who have purchased tickets, or you have purchased tickets for, that would be appreciated. Notices will also be posted on our Social Media sites.
We want to thank you for supporting the choir during these very difficult times - the event was a priority in our fundraising strategy and we thank you all for supporting us. We have amended our refund policy so you can ask for a refund on the tickets you have purchased via Eventbrite up to the 21st December - any monies not refunded will go back into the ongoing running costs of the choir and hopefully preparing for a new performance for you in the New Year. We thank you in advance again for your understanding on this.
I am sure all of you would have also supported the choir by purchasing our merchandise at the Concert - especially for Christmas presents - the good news is you can still do this by visiting our new online shop on the following link https://ourdementiachoirshop.com/ We hope that you can support us in this way - all orders before the 15 December should get to you before Christmas.
The Big Christmas raffle will still be going ahead and we will deliver/post winning prizes to everyone after it is drawn in the run up to Christmas. More details on this will be posted on our social media sites and website.
Take care and stay safe all of you - We know how disappointed you all will be - but we hope you understand the decision we have made.
We love you all and we will be keeping in touch with you over the Christmas period.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at secretary@ourdementiachoir.com
Vicky and Karen x
