Two of the high-points in the glazing industry year have fallen victim to lockdown doldrums with the announcements this week that both Glasstec and the GM Fundraising Peak, Paddle, Pedal marathon will be postponed for a second time and will now not take place until 2022.
Glasstec, originally planned for October 2020 then put back until the coming June, will now take place in September 2022, organisers announced, adding that plans are underway to create a hybrid experience with some remote online participation alongside the live event.
Erhard Wienkamp, MD of Messe Düsseldorf, said: “Especially as a result of the travel restrictions, glasstec with its high percentage of international exhibitors and visitors would not be able to live up to its standing as the world’s leading trade fair for the glass industry. We have re-assessed the situation with our partners and jointly opted in favour of cancelling glasstec in June early on. All activities will now centre on the successful holding of glasstec 2022.”
Organisers are also working on a hybrid trade fair experience with a view to also allowing digital participation in conferences and special shows such as glass technology live.
Also this week, Gary Morton, founder of GM Fundraising, announced that 2021 Peak, Paddle, Pedal charity event to raise money for Hope House Children’s Hospices has been further postponed until 2022.
“Having already postponed our scheduled 2020 event back to 2021 due to the pandemic, we are disappointed to reschedule again.” he said.
“With pandemic restrictions still in place, this has prohibited the ability to undertake the team’s extensive one to one training programme that is needed for such an event. In light of this situation and the short timeframe to raise funds, we feel it was the sensible and responsible thing to do.”
The 12 members of the Peak, Paddle, Pedal team will now climb Snowdon, canoe 150 miles down the length of the River Severn and cycle 150 miles back to Hope House in Oswestry from 30th July, 2022.
With several large-scale fundraising events being postponed or cancelled over the last twelve months, support for Hope House has never been so vital, he added. “Like a lot of charities, the pandemic has hit Hope House Children’s Hospices hard, and this was further exacerbated with the rise in PPE costs needed for face-to-face nursing. We are more determined than ever to help support them going forward and look forward to the various planned events we still have this year.”
www.glasstec-online.com
www.gmfundraising.co.uk
