Reading Festival

[RJSsafety]

I was hoping to gauge some opinion from anyone with kids planning, or asking for consent, to attend The Reading Festival - or other similar sized music/festival events.

It's well known that for the vast majority of folk the festivals are safe, and most come away with very happy memories, but for others there can be a different experience. I've attended previously in a professional capacity, and have seen a few kids that have found themselves upset, distressed, and shocked at the reality of being surrounded by how it actually can be. Last year 3 girls approached me and asked for my help in finding them somewhere safe..

The event is well policed, there is ample medical support and fire cover but my question is - as a parent of a child attending, would you feel more comfortable with a contact at the festival that your teen could contact if they just needed some help. It's a service I'm thinking of providing to give:

• You the peace of mind that a responsible adult, fire service and medically trained, is available should a need arise. Not to replace any statutory provision on site, but to give you the reassurance that there is an extra layer that has capacity for some of the smaller issues, and can facilitate further support where that might be needed.
• A person there that has your details and can further reassure and update you should anything happen.
• A person that's the help on-site to rescue from instances of lost phones and lost wallets.

Essentially, I see a place for a private provision that I know would give me a better sleep if my girls were there - and I'd love to hear your thoughts and your sense of what you would happily pay. This on the basis of a limited number of contacts per night/day....

Thanks in advance

Yes I can definitely see the appeal of this.

Questions-

-how do they contact you (given how dodgy phone signal can be at festivals)?
-your potential liability in negligence is huge if you’re charging people for access to a trained medic- presumably you’ll be insured?
-what happens to people who seek your help who aren’t signed up to the service? I can imagine your time could quite easily get taken up with directing people to the appropriate support.
-if the people paying your fee are anxious parents, you may face a lot of calls asking you to confirm that their children are ok, which of course you can’t give.

But yes, my son is off to Reading for the first time this year and I’m half thinking of going to stay with my parents (who live nearby) just so I can be on hand in case of emergencies. Half thinking of telling my mum friends that I’ll be there except I know I’ll be asked to be the contact for scores of DC.

Thank you, that's incredibly useful.

I'll be on site alongside colleagues that are working as part of a couple of safety functions, but will be supernumerary and wanted to test whether this might work. This does though give me access all areas and access to comms that are more robust than the standard mobile phone and wifi.

Liability insurance yes, however my insurers have suggested carefully selected wording that limits what I expose myself to - and there are obvious limits as to what is possible given the scale and extent of the event. It wouldn't be feasible to 'check in' on contacts, and I would be more the response to the call to mum/dad that I don't feel safe -for the youngster to be told to meet so and so at the entrance to 'xyz camp' and he'll look after you.

I wouldn't be overtly obvious in terms of being approached by anyone for help and wouldn't plan to, other than for something critical, and instead would signpost to what there already is there.

Conscious of not wanting to scaremonger any parents, but it truly is carnage at times. What would your appetite be for your son to attend a virtual call/briefing prior to going - what to expect, how to stay safe & what to do if you need help and so on. Something that you could position as 'I trust you to go, want you to have fun, but just ask that you spend half an hour online beforehand' ?

Thanks again for the feedback

That also sounds good. I’d also like the idea of someone they can speak to if they need help having taken drugs, or a friend has, without worrying about getting in trouble- I know parents and schools all impress this on kids but you still hear about tragic cases of people not seeking help.

Great idea

Interesting idea. But festivals employ staff to do this already don’t they?

Would your service be available over the Sunday night? IME that is when it turns into the wild west and gets pretty scary in some campsites.

I read awful things on here last year about Reading. It sounds really dangerous on the Sunday night.

What happens if for example you're overwhelmed with teenagers on the Sunday night & you can't deal with the amount of them needing support?

I went when I was 18 & it was much more chilled than what I read on here last year. Glastonbury always used to have a medical tent & also some sort of Christian tent for those needing support.

I don't recall back in the 80s and 90s young people needing much in the way of emotional support. Why is it needed so much now?

Welfare tent at Reading.
Make sure your teenagers know it exists and where it is.

www.readingfestival.com/live-blog/welfare-tent

www.eventwelfare.co.uk/?_ga=2.229359519.225146183.1656232435-1129232346.1656232435