Ewan Jackson

An update from our CEO

29 May 2020

We are delighted that the Scottish Government has announced an easing of the lockdown guidelines that have required us to keep all of our facilities and most of our services closed since March 2020.

The route map, published last week, sets out a direction of travel that will allow Live Borders to gradually restart providing community cultural and sporting services.

Over the past number of weeks, 91% of the Live Borders workforce have been placed on furlough leave. A small but essential core team has however, been working to prepare for welcoming you back to the activities and services that we provide across the region.

The vast majority of the services operated by Live Borders fall into phase 3 of the route map. We hope that, with the critical preparatory work currently being undertaken, no time will be lost in opening services when, and if we are able to do so, with the safety of our staff and you our members as a priority.

Clearly however, being closed for the length of time that we have been, has unfortunately and understandably had some negative consequences for the business. We anticipate it will take time to recover and return to delivering the range the services we were in January 2020. I can promise you nonetheless that we will do everything within our power to once again provide the first class cultural and sporting opportunities you have been used to, as quickly as we can.

I am extremely grateful for all of the very positive communications of support that we have had over the past few weeks. The response to our member’s survey has been very positive and well received, so much so the high volume of responses led to a few technical issues.  I have been advised this has now been resolved and if you haven’t yet completed it, we would still like to hear your views, please click here to complete the survey here, thank you.

The Lockdown period has been an extremely challenging time for businesses, organisations and of course people. Restarting is likely to be equally difficult, and we undoubtedly will need and welcome your continued support. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to those members who were in a position to maintain their fees, your contributions have been most gratefully received.

Live Borders is a charity that reinvests every penny it earns into supporting active, creative and healthy communities in the Scottish Borders. We recognise that we have a role to play in helping you and other customers get back to a way of life that makes you healthier, happier and stronger. Your continued support will allow us to achieve this more quickly.

Best wishes

Ewan Jackson

Chief Executive Officer

Live Borders