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Activity Wales Events, Coastal House, Narberth Road, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, Wales, SA61 2XG
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First of all, we would like to thank the many personal messages of support received in these horrifically testing times for all. It really does mean a lot that you have taken the time out of your day when you are facing so many personal difficulties.
We also totally understand the frustration out there and wanted to explain in some more detail. Whilst we are replying to our athletes enquiries via email we are also conscious that the wider community may seek some clarity.
Like you, we are heartbroken about Long Course Weekend.
Since the beginning, bringing Ironman to Wales and delivering our regional races we’ve grown together; watching athletes achieve some amazing personal goals, some of whom would never have considered participating in an event before, genuinely changing their lives. Seeing sporting clubs emerge all over the country and certainly here in Pembrokeshire. Being instrumental to bringing tourism to West Wales, with families falling in love with the area and coming back year on year to support local business, generating millions of pounds for the local economy. This is something we are exceptionally proud of.
We are devastated to the core and must reiterate we have not chosen to withdraw the event, this situation is totally out of our hands and something no one could have foreseen.
Event revenues come from 2 sources: primarily race entries from athletes and then sponsorship. The first is paid up front and the second after the event.
Whilst we build our events and experiences around athletes and their supporters, as a business it is vital that we pay our suppliers which have already worked on preparing for the event, many of them local. These businesses play a crucial part in delivering the LCW and will have limited or no more revenue during this period, therefore are at risk of not being here next year to support.
These partners are paid from the only revenue source available to us, entry fees. So, once we pay our providers, it’s impossible for us to provide a full refund. This is why our terms and conditions, like most event organisers, cover 100% of the funds in the result of war, pandemic etc. Whilst local press has mentioned a change in our terms, slightly misleading readers, no changes have been made to the refund element of the policy. The policy signed up for at time of entering is the one athletes are bound to, so any updates make no difference to you personally in retrospect.
Sponsorship – This will not be a source of revenue this year. We will be promoting our sponsors for free. Again, many of the businesses in the event industry are small family run firms like us and without us all supporting and working together the industry will collapse.
As you may already be aware through regular government updates there is no government support packages for major events and no insurance that covers a pandemic such at this.
We have been frequently asked by athletes why they cannot defer to 2021. The honest answer is we simply don’t have the funds to roll over. We have for some of our regional events as there are less upfront costs. For LCW it was simply not an option. Whilst we accept the compliment of being compared to the likes of Ironman, they are a huge billion dollar international company funded by investors, we are a small passionate team in Pembrokeshire, who manage the company like many, paying who needs to be paid, juggling here and there and trying to do the best by all.
When it was clear LCW could not go ahead, we were distraught as we have grown our business and investing in 2 new team members Charlotte and Nia, almost doubling the team! From being so excited to be working on their first event, the show for the start of the swim had been planned to the second, the new Expo in the Salterns car park had over 70 stand holders this year, our schools programme, our young entrepreneurs programme, the new start of the bike course from the Expo and our finish line shows; all gone. But it’s not the months of planning, it’s the reward when we see the reaction of athletes, the passion, the stories, the tears that LCW evokes year after year. However, they are now dealing with an unprecedented situation and working through how the company can survive, and as it stands this is still not guaranteed.
As a team we sat down with our key stakeholders, our accountancy teams, legal team and ambassadors. As previously advised our terms cover us to retain 100% of the funds to pay providers, rent, staff, marketing costs etc. But this decision was about doing what was right for everyone.
Thankfully many of our providers have allowed us to roll contracts forward a year and working through what was left after we paid the costs of which we could not rollover, there was an opportunity to provide you with a refund of 50%. This is purely because we are grateful of the support and the incredible growth of the Long Course Weekend family over the past 10 years.
Some have asked about rescheduled dates to September or October. Long Course Weekend is not an easy event to pick up and drop into another weekend. We close a lot of roads and this takes a huge amount of community engagement and forward planning. As an example weddings plan with us 3 years in advance. We have been present in discussions with other sporting events moving and in forecasting when major events can take place. In our opinion we do not expect to see any major events happening until October. We hope that smaller scale events may be able to take place earlier in the year. With this being the case many athletes that have entered races will be forced to choose between 2 or even 3 events on a given weekend. Thus having no reimbursement of your entry fees on the races you are unable to attend. This would also put pressure on long standing community events, which could result in being a risk to their future.
The main success of Long Course is the support from the local communities, something that we believe is the best in the world. The communities will need time to rest and recover as life returns to normal and we are very conscious of that. Businesses that have been closed during the lock down will need time to rebuild and not have road restrictions to manage which they would under normal circumstances. The communities are at the heart of the LCW and we must protect and help them where we can.
Society is under exceptional pressure right now and sadly the sporting industry that we all love feels like it’s disappearing overnight. The events industry is a community and one we have always been proud to be a part of. We know that some of you are feeling frustrated and angry on the decision to give you 50% refund on your entry fee, but we hope the information we have detailed above will go some way to you understanding that this was made with our athletes and partners at the very core.
On behalf of the 5 of us here at Long Course Weekend please know that we will do all we can to deliver races in the future and will continue to work closely with the trade and partners to make sure as many of us as possible make it through this period.
It is an incredibly scary times and we hope you and your families stay safe.
Warm regards,
Scott, Matt, Oliver, Charlotte, Nia your LCW Team
LCW Wales XI 2020 – Force Majeure Cancellation due to the Coronavirus – COVID19 Epidemic/Pandemic
Regrettably that in view of the recent requirements and guidance issued by the government in respect of the Coronavirus pandemic, that we have no alternative other than to cancel the LCW Wales XI (“LCW”) this year.
Whilst we are mindful that a significant number of other sporting events have already been cancelled this year due to the Coronavirus pandemic, it has not made this decision any easier for us. We are devastated having invested a significant amount of time, money and resource into planning the LCW, and many of you will undoubtably have been training hard and, like us, were looking forward to the event.
However, we have liaised closely with key stakeholders and are mindful of the need to stringently follow the government’s advice when dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic. These are quite clearly unprecedented times for all of us, and our ultimate priority must always be to act in the best interests of the competitors, the local community and in particular the Local Health Board.
If you have entered the LCW and haven’t received an email from us then please check all your email folders. If you are still unable to find the email then please email info@longcourseweekend.com and request a copy.
LCW Wales 2021
LCW 2021 will inevitably now be a very big celebration, bringing together 2 years of planning!!
As a small, family company, we’ve all had many sleepless nights, as have many, which we are sure will continue for the foreseeable future. We understand that everyone is under a huge amount of pressure and stress and we sincerely hope and pray that life will return to normal as soon as possible for us all.
Finally, we’d like to thank you for your understanding and continued support. In the meantime, please stay safe and well and we look forward to seeing you on the start line again soon.
Yours sincerely,
Matt, Scott, Oliver, Charlotte, Nia.
Long Course Weekend Holland - BeeselYesterday, March 23, the government extended the ban on events from April 6 to June 1st. Unfortunately, we are forced to move Long Course Weekend Holland - Beesel to a later date this year, namely September 18 to 20.
We regret this decision and understand that it is a huge setback for all participants and stakeholders. However, everyone's health is of paramoun importance. We have a huge responsibility towards each other.
In agreement with local authorities and health authorities, we have found a date that we can already pencil into our agenda: September 18 to 20, 2020. Your current registration will remain valid until this new date. Given the circumstances and associated uncertainty, we cannot eliminate the possibility of the government announcing new measures again. However, we are aware of this, and we are doing everything we can to have Long Course Weekend Holland - Beesel take place this year and to offer the best possible solution to participants and partners. We will continue to communicate with you and you will hear from us as soon as possible whether this date is final.
We hope for your understanding and first of all hope that you stay healthy.
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