CIRC 078: ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2022 16TH - 20TH MAY 2022 - WELCOME BUILDING, EASTBOURNE

As you know due to Covid-19 the National Executive Committee have had to postpone annual conference. This has not been ideal as our annual conference is part of our democratic process for making policy of the trade union going forward.

 

In previous updates that I have given our normal venue at the Floral Hall, Southport is unavailable as the theatre has gone into liquidation which again is something outside our control. Sefton Council tried to obtain other venues for the POA in that area but unfortunately this was not possible and therefore we have had to source alternative venues which has not been easy due to the pandemic and some venues not being available until 2024 at the earliest.

I am pleased to announce after discussions and negotiations with the providers for the Welcome Building which is a brand new facility in Eastbourne it has been agreed by the NEC that the Annual Conference for the POA will be held at this venue in 2022.

I wanted to get this information out as quickly as possible so that branches were kept fully informed at the first available opportunity.

By clicking on the following link, you will be able to see what the venue looks like.

https://www.visiteastbourne.com/conferences/venues/welcome-building 

This has been a difficult time in trying to get a venue which was affordable and suitable for the needs of the POA. Going forward for future years conference will be updated accordingly to secure suitable venues going forward and it may well be that we go back to having our annual conference at venues alternating between the North and South so that travel is balanced out between branches, but those negotiations have not commenced but as soon as they are completed then the options will be placed before conference in 2022. 

I thank you for your patience on this important issue.

Yours sincerely

 

STEVE GILLAN
General Secretary