‘Alderney Week off, but we are open for business’

The week’s events were due to start today and culminate next weekend.

Some events are still going ahead, but all independent of the Alderney Week organising committee.

Many in the island are still keen to reinforce that the island is still encouraging visitors, despite a rash of cancellations after the announcement of the island’s first case of community seeding some two weeks ago.

‘By coming to Alderney still people would be supporting retail, hotels and restaurants, which are all very good, we certainly still want people to come,’ said Alderney Week chief organiser Ronnie Cairnduff.

‘I don’t think we’ll be able to completely compensate for the week being cancelled but it would definitely help.’

One of the island’s most popular hotels, The Blonde Hedgehog, was fully booked for Alderney Week, but that quickly dropped to 50% occupancy after the Covid cases were announced.

‘We are operating as normal at the hotel and always encourage guests to book. We are trying to promote a positive vibe now and give guests the confidence to rebook,’ said Tracey Farquhar-Beck, general business manager at The Blonde Hedgehog.

Alderney States President William Tate said that ‘after a bad run a week or so ago’ islanders, with the help of Public Health, were helping Alderney to recover.

‘With so many young people affected we took the painful decision to cancel Alderney Week which is a very important event in our summer for everyone,’ he said.

‘But the Alderney spirit is alive and well and we are very definitely open for business and we encourage all our Guernsey supporters to come and visit, and those from the UK and further afield.

‘It is always a pleasure to see our Guernsey people and we are taking our responsibilities to keep everyone safe very seriously. We are confident we remain safe.

‘We abide by the same rules as Guernsey, so we are expecting Guernsey people and those from the CTA to see Alderney as a wonderful destination as they always have.’

Many established Alderney Week events are still running this week as ‘unofficial’ and independent occasions.

‘Although the big events have had to be cancelled, we still have a number of smaller events going ahead, so we’re going to have a fun week still,’ said Mr Cairnduff.