The Archive.
Best viewed at 800 X 600 res .The Knebworth Park Festivals.
Knebworth Fair : 6-24-78.
Genesis,Jefferson Starship, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Devo, Brand X, Atlanta Rhythm Section.
Festival Welfare Services .
Knebworth Park Concert,
June 24 1978
Local Welfare Groups Report
The local welfare group
was recruited and organised by Jan Hitchens, Probation, Chris Kell, Council
for Voluntary Services, and Peter Bailey, social Services. Operations were
coordinated with Penny Mellor of Festival Welfare Services.
The Volunteers
There were twenty-eight volunteers. Each worked in a voluntary capacity but
under normal circumstances, two were probation officer, three worked for Social,
Services, four were voluntary associates of the Probation Service, two youth
workers, one a community worker, four social work students, two teachers,
one a hostel warden and the remainder were family and friends of the nucleus.
Volunteers normally worked three hour shifts but a few worked for up to thirty-six
hours at a stretch. The volunteers provided a large pool of local knowledge
on subjects as diverse as bus connections and Social Services procedures and
between them they spoke seven languages; a facility which proved extremely
useful.
Town Centre Information Points
These operated from 9.30 am to 4.30 pm on Wednesday and Thursday and from
9.30 am to 8.00 pm on Friday. Information included advice regarding accommodation'
transport, the pedestrian route to Knebworth, local shops and entertainment
and emergency changes in program or schedule. Due to inclement weather the
Information Point was placed under cover and was not readily noticeable. Signposting
to the point was difficult as "unofficial looking" notices were
persistently removed. It may be necessary to clear this with British Rail
and the Borough Council on a subsequent occasion and to explore the possibility
of an awning for the stall to shelter workers from rain and wind.
Emergency Campsite
The Canyon Adventure Playground was made available for camping from Wednesday
onwards and was heavily used. Camping was peaceable and there was a happy
atmosphere. Campers were allowed to store equipment during the day in a secure
room. The youth worker responsible for the site was forced to work over long
hours on Wednesday night so a volunteer spent the night at the site on Thursday.
The Festival campsite opened on Friday morning; a great improvement on previous
years when the campsite remained closed until evening and Stevenage was packed
with homeless campers burdened with equipment for the entire day.
Campsite Information Point.
This was manned from 10.00 am on Friday until 8.00 am on Sunday. No information
tent was provided until the afternoon on Friday so that three volunteers huddled
wet and unnoticed in a corner for much of the day. Things improved dramatically
with the arrival of a portakabin,which because it was warm, dry and above
all, visible, proved a valuable central referral point for welfare agencies
as well as a base for the Information Point. I very much hope that similar
provision may be made at future festivals. The Information Point was unfortunately
placed at some distance from the main body of campers and may have been more
usefully placed nearer to the south end of the campsite.
Two volunteers were kept very busy overnight at this position until they moved
to the arena in the morning. Two volunteers relieved civil aid workers here
in the afternoon, releasing them to repair the field telephone cable and a
team of four volunteers manned the point overnight. I understand that few
demands were made of the workers on Saturday night and it may be that on future
occasions volunteers may be more usefully deployed in the administration area
where welfare workers were sorely pressed at that time.
Arena Information and Welfare Tent.
The arena point was manned from early on Saturday morning until midnight.
Shifts changed every two hours and local volunteers worked in conjunction
with the other welfare agencies, their shifts changing half way through our
own. Thus the point was manned continuously by our workers and by civil aid
from 8.00 am to-10.00 am, the Samaritans from 10.00 am to 12.00 noon, Release
from 12.00 noon to 2.00 pm, Source from 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm, British Youth
for Christ from 4.00 pm to 6.oo pm,Civil Aid from 6.00 pm to 8.00 pm, Release
from 8.00 pm to 10.00 pm and British Youth for Christ from 10.00 pm to midnight.
This arrangement worked very well.
The welfare tent served as a permanent base for Release, Samaritans and the
local group and although I understand that the Samaritans were rather short
of counseling space, for our own organisation, the arrangement was excellent.
It was noon before we were provided with an information table but after that
time the tend had space to operate efficiently for both information giving
and counseling. Printed signs saying "Information and Welfare" provided
by the promoter proved extremely helpful.
The pattern of information given changed throughout the day; the morning differing
with where do I go for ... questions and the evening with questions of the
"what time is the train for Manchester?" variety.
The stream of enquiries relating to lost people, property, children was constant
throughout the day and there was a steady rate of referral on to the police,
Release, the administration area, First Aid and the Samaritans. For part of
the afternoon British Rail worked with us, having been I suspect, displaced
from the Sounds tent but they unfortunately disappeared before the maJor influx
of railway enquiries.
Emergency Facilities In The Town Centre.
After the Festival in 1975 the social Services drill hall plus two church
halls were opened for the first tIme to provide overnight accommodation for
those stranded in Stevenage. About 400 people were cared for overnight, workers
combing the station for people who appeared or who had young children. Free
coffee and tea were served and a few blankets were provided.
In 1976 the promoter was approached to finance this venture and he stated
that as he intended in future to provide sleeping marquees on site, he was
not prepared to advance any money for arrangements off site. The drill hall
was nevertheless made available that year but as the weather was warm and
British Rail extremely efficient it was little used.
There was no festival in 1977.
This year it was decided that the hall would be made available but that it
would be given low priority in staffing. Several volunteers were already working
night shift and it was felt on the experience of 1976 that these workers would
be more useful elsewhere. Consequently the decision regarding opening was
deferred until about 8.00 pm on Saturday. At that time weather conditions
were reasonable and bearing in mind the exhaustion of our volunteers (some
of whom had already put in twenty-four hours work) it was decided not to open
the hall. In the light of subsequent events this decision was unfortunate.
The night became very much colder and despite British Rails continued efficiency
people were waiting some considerable time in very cold conditions. The police
were extremely helpful in this connection and in fact many young people were
allowed to sleep in the police garages. The drill hall could have alleviated
this need considerably. It must be emphasised however, that the responsibility
for this state of affairs must lie with the-promoter. He undertook to provide
four large sleeping marquees and, on this basis, we were reasonably happy
to provide emergency accommodation without his financial support. On the day'
however, he was found to have provided only two marquees and even these were
of a smaller size than expected*ed. Many people, even on the Friday night'
were forced to find what shelter they could in the woods surrounding the campsite.
This situation is deplorable.
Transport.
We were provided with four car passes which is probably the right number for
our operation There were three main pickup times for volunteers coming to
the arena and two cars did each trip. Transport back to Stevenage was less
efficient and had not some volunteers met friends in the audience, they would
have had to walk home. This must be re-examined.
General
Conclusions
The activities of the local group for the Knebworth Festival of June 24th
78 ran, on the whole, more smoothly than in previous years. Although there
were unfortunate delays, the accommodation provided for welfare groups both
on the campsite and in the arena was of a high standard, making our operation
easier and more efficient. We particularly appreciated the signs provided,
an innovation from previous years.
Once again a major problem for festival goers was losing touch in the crowd
with friends who had their money or return tickets. One man lost touch with
his brother at 9.30 am and still had not found him when the festival ended;
an Italian girl's friends had her plane ticket
home. We have over the years, pressed for a flagpole or something similar
from the promoter to fly a "lost people's" flag, but in the face
of continuing failure we may have to ourselves explore the cost of a large
banner saying for instance "Lost People's Meeting Point"' which
we can fly over the Festival Welfare Service tent.
Given the sufficient warning it may be possible to approach local scout groups,
etc. in the hope of borrowing flagpoles.
The matter of sleeping accommodation for festival goers must be re-examined
in the light of the discussion above. The promoter should be asked either
to provide a realistic number of sleeping marquees or to give financial support
to local efforts. I personally feel the former solution preferable in that
it would minimalise disturbance in Stevenage but marquees are booked well
in advance during the summer months and it is unfortunate when, as in this
case, the promoter is ringing around the countryside in an attempt to book
further tents when the campsite is already open.
The welfare group was not this year involved in lost children as the police
regarded this as their own responsibility. I would consider that in future
festivals, as in the past, some advantage may be gained in sharing this responsibility
with our Social Services Department in an attempt to control care proceedings.
29th June 1978
Jan Hitchens
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