On Wednesday 30th September from 6.30pm-8.30pm Brighton’s iconic moving pier, the British Airways i360 Viewing Tower together with venues along the seafront including the Brighton Centre, Palace Pier, Warren Outdoors and Concorde2 will be lit up red in solidarity for everyone affected by Covid-19 who work in the events industry.
The #WeMakeEvents campaign is to highlight to the Government and the public that this sector needs further support following the ending of furlough at the beginning of October. The action will begin in New Zealand and travel around the world in local time.
The Brighton activity is spearheaded by a core group of event professionals all of whom live locally and work on Brighton’s biggest events such as The Great Escape and Pride which alone contributes £20.5 million to the local economy with the City hosting 450,000 people over the weekend. The team comprises founder of Partridge Events Jacqui Partridge and Ian Silcock, Ian Baird founder of EPIC and Whisky Bravo Productions and John Wallis from Reveries Events. Jacqui said “there are many people who have fallen through the cracks and not received any help, this is about them as well as securing more help from Government if there is no start date to get our businesses up and running again”.
A team of events volunteers have come together to light the buildings and landmarks along the seafront. Partridge continued “we’d like as many venues to light up red as possible, with LED lighting it’s easy to achieve and they can register to take part at www.lightitinred.co.uk. This can include bars, restaurants, hotels and shops that have been affected by the lack of visitor economy this year”.
Julia Gallagher, Head of Sales, Partnership & Marketing at Visit Brighton said “All events at the Brighton Centre have been cancelled due to restrictions. Meetings, incentives, conferences, and events are the lifeblood of the City as they fill hotel rooms during the off-peak season, creating economic benefit which sustains our workforce, 16% of whom are engaged in jobs supported by the visitor economy. It is crucial that the industry is supported to a full return as soon as it is safe to do so”.
Locals can also get involved from the comfort of their own homes next Wednesday by signing up to www.wemakeevents.com to receive information and ideas in support of the campaign. Jacqui concluded “it’s important to get our message to as many people as possible to affect change”.
Further information:
#WeMakeEvents is an international movement to highlight that the live events sector urgently needs support from local governments to survive the Covid-19 crisis.
#WeMakeEvents is the champion for all the individuals working in the events industry, creating awareness and understanding of their concerns and issues. As part of this, #WeMakeEvents raises money to give immediate support for our industry charities who in turn will be able to help and support individuals in need.
How people can get involved:
1. Sign up to be involved on 30th September for the Global Activation from 8-11pm: www.wemakeevents.com more information will follow on how people can do this at home.
2. Join the Facebook pages ‘We Make Events Brighton Seafront 30th September’ and ‘We Make Events Campaign’ and invite peers. Share what you miss about not having events, share pictures of your favourite events and what they mean to you use #WeMakeEvents #RedAlert #Lightitinred on social posts.
3. Follow @WeMakeEventsOfficial on Instagram and Twitter.
4. Venues and businesses, can download the #WeMakeEvents logo, print it out and place it in the business to highlight the cause.
5. Take a picture and post on personal social media channels using #WeMakeEvents #RedAlert #Lightitinred and on the Facebook page ‘We Make Events Campaign’
6. Facebookers can add the ‘We Make Events’ logo to their profile picture.
7. Make a donation or buy some We Make Events merchandise. 80% of profit goes to industry charities to support those suffering financial hardship. Go to: www.wemakeevents.com
