Smokies to the rescue

Smokies Park come to the rescue of a charity event organised by Point and venue cancelled by Oldham Entertainements Centre(Latics) L to R Andrea Fitzgerald Conf' and Events Manager Smokies Park and Andrew Robonson CEO of Point

AN Oldham hotel has come to the rescue of parents and carers who say they were left high and dry by the delayed opening of the borough’s “premier” events venue.

POINT Forum - a lifeline for those caring for youngsters with additional needs and disabilities - were in the final throes of fine tuning their annual conference when Oldham Event Centre dropped a cancellation bombshell.

According to POINT CEO Andrew Robinson the charity was told by OEC bosses the venue - which is housed in Oldham Athletic’s new controversial North Stand, also dogged by delays - would not be ready in time for their November 20 booking.

Andrew says the panic then set in for the organisation which was staring at the prospect of having cancel their major event which is to welcome 200 guests.

But thankfully Hotel Smokies Park, in Bardsley, answered their SOS plight and hurriedly agreed to rearrange their festive schedule to accommodation the conference.

“Smokies have come to our rescue and bent over backwards to help us out and we’re very grateful,” said Andrew.

“They really have saved the day.

“We were in a real situation with the prospect of having no where to have what is our biggest event of the year where parents and carers come together to not only socialise but also access information and support.

“It is a vital lifeline for many of our parents and carers and it would have been devastating to let those 200 people down.

“Even though it’s meant Smokies will have to take all their Christmas function decorations down and rearrange things they have offered to do this for us so we have somewhere to go. They really have gone above and beyond.”

Andrew says they secured their OEC booking earlier in the year and paid a deposit with the promise the venue would be open.

But the whole North Stand project - which includes a supporters bar, 500-seat conference facility, offices, commercial suite, car park, gym and coffee shop - has been plagued by delays with the seating finally opening up to fans last month.

Andrew says the organisation was excited to be using and supporting such a dynamic Oldham project but now they feel let down.

“We were promised it would be ready so hear it wasn’t just a few weeks beforehand was very disappointing to say the least,” he said.

Oldham Athletic’s commercial director Mark Moisley said: “We are very disappointed that we are not able to accommodate POINT Oldham’s event at the Oldham Event Centre in November as originally planned.

“We were looking forward to welcoming them to our new facility and we appreciate how important this event is to all the children, parents and guests.

“We have offered our sincerest apologies, and managed to source two alternative venues for them who were happy to host the event on their planned date. We of course wish them the best for the event and hope it is still a great success.”