Hexham's Queen's Hall to close for Coronavirus threat

The committee met on Tuesday afternoon and released a statement on its website informing the public of its decision to close. 

People are being asked to continue to donate to the centre to secure the long term future of the organisation.

The statement read: "In light of the government's announcement about avoiding non-essential social contact, Queen’s Hall Arts Centre will be closed to the public until Tuesday 31 March.

"We will continue to review the situation and advise in due course if we will be closed beyond that date.

"The decision to close has been made with the best interests of our customers, audiences and visitors in mind, and while we sincerely regret any inconvenience and disappointment this may cause, our responsibility to play a part in delaying the spread of COVID-19 must come first.

"We will be looking to reschedule events wherever possible and transfer tickets. If you can longer make it, or if we are unable to reschedule, refunds will be issued. Box Office staff will be in touch shortly with further details.

"As you may know, we are a registered charity. We have long operated on the principle that we should keep ticket prices as low as possible, in order to make the highest quality arts and culture accessible to our entire community."

"We are asking you today to please consider donating all or a portion of the price of your booking back to Queen's Hall Arts. We recognise that this time of uncertainty affects everybody differently, but if you are in a position to help us remain a vital part of the community, we would be enormously grateful.

"We will not be opening the public Box Office in our foyer. Our team are exceedingly busy at present and please bear with us as we work through the refund process at this challenging time.

"We are initially focused on dealing with events, classes and activities scheduled in the next two weeks and will be issuing updates on a weekly basis after that."