Charity events and awards nights across the north and north-east have been cancelled in light of guidance against large-scale gatherings.
Earlier this week, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced that gatherings of more than 500 people should be cancelled to free up emergency services.
Last night, Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance announced it was cancelling all public engagements carried out for fundraising purposes – including the official launch of its new aircraft that will be based in Aberdeen.
Although the helicopter will go into service as planned on April 3, the launch celebrations have been postponed to allow crews to focus on responding to emergencies.
Sue Ryder has also cancelled its fundraising lunch in aid of its expansion project at Dee View Court in Aberdeen. The event, due to take place on Thursday, was to feature rugby legend Gavin Hastings and fellow Scotland internationalists Ryan Grant and Ruaridh Jackson.
The Scottish Conservatives announced its spring conference and upcoming party convention have been postponed until later in the year.
Sector favourite the Offshore Achievement Awards (OAA) which were due to take place at P&J Live in Aberdeen on Thursday, have also been postponed until September 10.
The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Aberdeen section, which organises the event, said: “Following a series of discussions in recent days, we regret to inform you that organisers have made the decision to postpone this year’s Offshore Achievement Awards due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“The ceremony was an evening we were all looking forward to, however we must ensure health and safety is our number one priority.”
The North East Scotland Food and Drink Awards dinner, due to also be held on Thursday, has been cancelled to ensure the “health and safety of everyone”.
Winners will instead be announced on the awards’ website and Twitter page.
The Scottish Rural Awards postpone its annual celebration for the first time in six years due to the outbreak.
It was meant to take place on April 2 at the Glasgow Hilton, however organisers made the “difficult decision to postpone” the event.
Brian Cameron, commercial director of Scottish Field said, they were “extremely sorry to be postponing”, but reassured it will go ahead on November 25, 2020.
Meanwhile, Aberdeen City Council has announced the lets at all of its pitches have been cancelled this weekend following the decision to suspend national football and rugby matches.
