Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Reading Festival 2021 - Help

71 replies

Festival2021 · 23/08/2021 08:03

Posting here for traffic. Long time user, but NC for this.

Every year there are posts from parents whose children are at Reading Festival and there has been some kind of issue/situation and the parents are unsure as to what to do or how to help them.

I live 5 minutes from the Festival site, and this year I’m working there. Our Church has two large tents (one in Brown, and one in Orange) in the campsites, under the name of ‘Reading Street Pastors’. We offer tea/coffee along with a helping hand and conversation, and we are a safe space for anyone to come along to.

For those of you who have children attending this year and are worried/concerned for them, please let them know we are there. We are running 24 hours every single day from Wednesday to Monday.

Hope this helps some of you.

OP posts:
FinallyHere · 28/08/2021 11:25

As I think someone once said "by their acts shall you know them"

Thank you for your service @Festival2021

Blueskythinking123 · 28/08/2021 11:29

My two children could not be more different. My DS would identify as atheist. He is polite and will respect others faith, but would walk away if they were preaching etc. My DD would identify as Christian and attends church. This is her choice, we never attended as a family, but she has been part of Christian groups brownies etc.

It has been my DS who has visited the tent. He said they are all lovely. I can assure you he would not go near the tent if they were trying to convert him to Christian or encourage him to attend church.

My son is type one diabetic. I know they are not medically trained. But as a parent it does help knowing there are adults close by he could go to if he was experiencing any difficulties.

Thank you 😊

ididitsocanyou · 28/08/2021 11:35

I have now heard from my daughter! She is having a great time thankfully although said it was very cold last night. She says the campsite (orange) is a mess. Grin Funnily enough, she told me before she went that ‘there is a tent where they will give you hot water for your hot water bottles a as do it noodles if you need it’ so she and her friends already knew about this wonderful place of refuge! Well done and if you could pm me the name of your church I would like to make a donation please. Xxx

listsandbudgets · 28/08/2021 11:36

I dont think thos is about conversion, its about service which is a huge tenant of most faiths.

Take the Sikhs for example. Their gudwarahs are open to those of all faiths and none. If you show them the respect of covering your head then you will be fed and helped without questions being asked.

I'm not religious but I've met many Muslims, Sikhs and Christians who wish only to help their communities and not one jas tried to convert me.

Do we see people advising others not to go to a food bank because its run by a Mosque or a church? well OPs tent seems to be along similar lines

NautaOcts · 28/08/2021 11:37

Nice one 👌

RedRec · 28/08/2021 11:37

Don't think I have ever teared up over a Mumsnet post until today.
OP, your loving kindness is amazing. I have a 17 year old daughter, not at Reading or Leeds but I really appreciate what you are doing xx

Pebbledashery · 28/08/2021 12:34

Op is just doing a nice thing on behalf of her church. I can't imagine for one minute they are preaching.. This is one of the posts that's really made me feel warm inside.

CrumbsThatsQuick · 28/08/2021 16:41

Thank you OP. I have a child at Reading, camping in Orange, and just knowing you lot are there helping the young folk has made me very happy!

SpicyJalfrezi · 28/08/2021 16:51

Fair enough, @Festival2021 - I’m sorry if I sounded grumpy, the time stamp shows I was up early! I’m probably thinking back of being grabbed by the tea and toast people whenever I had a rare night out at university which is probably unfair of me! Flowers

ladygracie · 28/08/2021 16:53

That’s so kind, thank you. My son is there so I will let him know.

ididitsocanyou · 30/08/2021 13:48

DD is now home safe and sound. She went to your tent every night OP and had a cuppa tea and hot chocolate! She said it’s lovely and welcoming and there are these lovely ladies running it. Thank you again Flowers

Furries · 31/08/2021 01:38

@ididitsocanyou - that’s good to hear, hope she had a great time. Out of interest, did she say why she used the tent each night? Had she lost friends, felt out of depth, felt ill? Not trying to pry, am more trying to build up knowledge so that I’m vaguely prepared when godchildren start hitting the festivals.

@Festival2021 - hope you’ve got a bit of chilled time following your stint there. Sounds like your tent was a welcome haven.

Blueskythinking123 · 31/08/2021 02:21

@Furries my DS Aldo went to the tent every night. The reason being they did a lovely hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows. He also felt comfortable there.

They were also the cheapest place to buy bottled water (clearly no mark up, thank you). So he would but water during the day.

@Festival2021 a huge thank you to you and all the other volunteers who made Reading a memorable experience for our teens. My DD returned home saying it was her best weekend ever!!!

RedHelenB · 31/08/2021 07:03

My dds used to visit the one at Leeds fest for a cup of tea, they're a good idea.

ididitsocanyou · 31/08/2021 13:46

Yes it’s for the same reason as the others have mentioned, a secure place to go for a cuppa and hot chocolate. Apart from a traumatic crowd crush experience that left her and her friends in tears, she thankfully didn’t have any dramas and so visiting your tent was a nice routine at the end of the night!

Original poster
Festival2021 · 01/09/2021 09:07

It's so lovely hearing about your young people who came to visit us over the weekend.
I had countless conversations with many different people and I love speaking with them and hearing their stories.
Realising we made a difference to others makes it so completely worthwhile, and I can't wait to be there next year for them too Grin

OP posts:
Original poster
Festival2021 · 01/09/2021 09:10

@SpicyJalfrezi

Fair enough, *@Festival2021* - I’m sorry if I sounded grumpy, the time stamp shows I was up early! I’m probably thinking back of being grabbed by the tea and toast people whenever I had a rare night out at university which is probably unfair of me! Flowers
That's ok, I totally understand where the skepticism comes from. I'd probably feel the same if I was in your shoes Flowers
OP posts:
heinztomatosoup · 01/09/2021 09:11

Thank you so much for what you do. It means so much when your child is away from Home for the first time to know there are kind People there who will help if needed. Daughter home safe and rested now after epic 16 hour sleep!

Original poster
Festival2021 · 01/09/2021 09:29

heinztomatosoup Hope she had a good time?! I also had an epic sleep and I wasn't even there partying! My girls were there too, and pretty sure they're still catching up on their sleep now!

OP posts:
Mybalconyiscracking · 01/09/2021 10:13

One thing that you can always do when they are anywhere is make sure they have a written set of useful numbers about their person in case they lose their phone.

Original poster
Festival2021 · 01/09/2021 13:26

@Mybalconyiscracking

One thing that you can always do when they are anywhere is make sure they have a written set of useful numbers about their person in case they lose their phone.
This is actually really good advice. I had a lot of young people come to me who wanted to get hold of their parents but didn't know the number and their phone had died/been lost!
OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page