Today some of the team were delighted to be back at our office at Carlow Gateway Business Centre after 147 days away. Missing from the picture are our colleagues Caroline, Martina, Paddy, Mary-Clare and Sharon.

Over the past few months all nine of us have all been working tirelessly from home to develop new programmes, invest in new technologies, upskill and become fully Fáilte Ireland COVID-19 Safety Charter compliant, including adopting strict sanitation, social distancing measures and protocols in our own office and when liaising with people outside.

Although the road ahead is still somewhat uncertain for us all individually and for the business, the team at Equinox nevertheless are determined to move forward with renewed positivity and vigor in delivering the very best that we can for our students, host families and partner agents and schools.

In spite of the challenging landscape for our industry of late, it was really gratifying to see renewed confidence among our host families recently about receiving students into the future. This is borne out by  survey which we carried out last month, from which, subject to the proper safety measures, 89.2% of respondents (from a total of 74 host families) confirmed that they would be happy to welcome International students into their home in COVID-19 risk-free environment. Of course, we all accept that this scenario can change at any time, but it is nevertheless a step in the right direction for all concerned.

Now and into 2021 and beyond

So, what lies ahead for Equinox? Well, the future starts right now. From next week we will be delighted to welcome of the first of our International academic students coming to study in Ireland from Europe and Asia. These are tentative, but important first steps, that should see us ramp up our operations to quickly include academic year foundation and Cambridge English preparation courses both on site at our Carlow premises and on-line.  We are also extending our services to include French classes (including virtual) for local students, to help put us on a sound footing for the remainder of 2020.

At the end of September 2020, we will launch a new and vastly improved version of the ‘2020/21 Equinox Study Abroad and Ireland Directory’, with study and cultural options for both Irish students wishing to study abroad and overseas students, considering Ireland for academic, tailor-made or summer programmes.  By investing in technology, we are looking forward to shortly implementing a state-of-the-art student and host family booking system and to overhauling our website to incorporate many new features.

The outlook for 2021 is extremely positive, with many groups and individuals that missed coming to join us this year, committing to fulfill their booking with us when it’s safe to do so. All of these plans, along with a new series of adult programmes and partnerships in many new territories should, finger-crossed, put us back on track towards our longer-term expansion goals.

If you would like further information about Equinox and our services, please visit us at www.equinox4study.com or why not schedule a telephone or Zoom call via +353 87 9975625 / + 353 85 7254280 or [email protected] / [email protected] 

We look forward to hearing from you.