Message from the Chairman

Dear AOBA Members,

I am writing to inform you of the sad news that the Isle of Wight tours, the organiser of our reunion, went into Administration yesterday.  They had been trading for 31 years but through no fault of their own they simply could not continue to operate during these demanding covid restricted times.  Despite a huge personal cash injection from Shirley, the company simply could not continue.  I have spoken to Shirley this morning and she is devastated.  She was clinging on for months, and even managed to re-open in September for a brief period, but the ongoing restrictions meant this was never going to be profitable and unfortunately, she was forced to call in the Administrators.   We are all sad for her and wish her and her team well.

I am aware that many of you have paid deposits and indeed, some will have paid the full amount.  Isle of Wight tours had bonded protection in place and your money is therefor protected.  To ensure you get a full refund, please visit their site at http://iowtours.com/ and you will find a full statement with a link to their Administrators.  Please file your claim through them.

Turning to our reunion planned for next year.  Well, firstly we will have to see what covid has to offer!  When this kicked off in March, I think we all thought this would be over by October, but here we are facing a second wave and ever tightening social restrictions.  In my view we need to hold fire for a bit and see how this will pan out.  The Committee will be discussing the topic when it meets next week and when we know more, we’ll let you know.

In the mean time stay safe and remember… Hands, Face, Space.      

Regards

Mike Tizard