Harrogate Convention Centre is the latest event venue to be turned into an NHS Nightingale temporary hospital.
The Yorkshire and Humber based convention centre has been enlisted as a venue to treat coronavirus patients.
“As COVID-19 has spread around the world, the impact has been devastating and our hearts got out to those who have been and continue to be personally affected,” said Harrogate Convention Centre director, Paula Lorimer.
Harrogate Convention Centre will join ExCeL London, Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre and the Manchester Central Convention Complex as temporary hospitals. The SEC Centre in Glasgow is also set to become a temporary hospital with an additional 300 beds.
“The repurposing of the convention centre is something our industry and sector should be rightly proud of. In Harrogate, our team is doing all it can to support the NHS in its efforts,” Lorimer added.
Paula Lorimer.“Our priorities are clear, to assist the national efforts in supporting the NHS and frontline staff, to continue to protect the health and wellbeing of our employees, and to also support the needs of our customers, partners and suppliers as much as possible.
“We want to ensure the live events sector can weather this crisis and come out of this period of uncertainty in as strong a position as possible.”
Harrogate Convention Centre has rescheduled its summer events for later in the calendar year and said all of its clients have been “100 per cent understanding.”
The Harrogate Convention Centre director added: “Like the rest of the country, we want to do all we can and are ready to help during this unprecedented national and global crisis.
“My team have very much been hidden heroes working diligently behind the scenes. They willingly came into work at a moment’s notice and worked around the clock.”
Lorimer praised the centre’s contract catering team who came back as volunteers to feed the NHS teams and contractors.
Lorimer added that: “once this difficult crisis is over, we will all want to look back with pride in how we responded.”
A desire to travel led Holly Patrick to the business meetings and events world and she’s never looked back. Holly takes a particular interest in event sustainability and creating a diverse and inclusive industry. When she’s not working, she can be found rolling skating along Brighton seafront listening to an eclectic playlist, featuring the likes of Patti Smith, Sean Paul, and Arooj Aftab.
