WHILE it may seem an unlikely place to find a church, local churchgoers have been volunteering at the Creamfields music festival since 2017 – providing a welcoming safe space for festival goers.
Volunteers from churches around Warrington and Runcorn set up church tents to help support the welfare and wellbeing of people on site – handing out cups of water and jammy dodger biscuits whiach have become their trademark.
“We first approached the organisers of Creamfields in 2016 to ask if we could be there to offer support and relaxing space to festival goers, says organiser Rev’d Jane Proudfoot from St Wilfrid’s Church in Grappenhall.
“We’d heard about the work of Festival Angels at other events and wanted to do something similar for our local festival.”
This year was the fourth time the ‘We are the Church’ tents have made an appearance, staffed entirely by volunteers from a wide cross-section of local churches.
“Known on site as Pastors, all of our volunteers come from churches around the Warrington and Runcorn area and give their time willingly to help at the festival’ says Rev’d Jane.
“We offer a calm and relaxing space. We’re there to listen and to let the people at the festival know that they are loved and cared for. We give out thousands of cups of water over the four days of Creamfields and have amazing conversations. We want the young people who attend, many of whom may never have been to church, to go away knowing that the Church cares about them.
“We’re so grateful to the organisers for letting us be there and privileged to work alongside them as part of ‘Creamfields Cares’, supporting the welfare and wellbeing of everyone on the site. “It is a huge undertaking to care for the 70,000 people who come to the festival and we are just a small part of that. The Creamfields Team are incredibly helpful and generous to us and we couldn’t do what we do without their help and support.
“A certain biscuit, which we give out at the festival, has become something of a trademark for us. It’s a well-known brand with a jammy heart at the centre, because love is at the centre of everything we do,” added Rev’d. Jane.
Following a visit to the church tent one grateful festival-goer said on social media,:
“Just wanted to message and say how amazing the church was at Creamfields this weekend. It really was mine and my friends safe space with such inspirational volunteers who should be so proud of themselves for helping the people that they do. It is genuinely AMAZING! Keep doing what you are all doing even when it seems tough because you don’t realise how many people’s lives you’re changing. God bless you xxx.”
On hearing of the tragic death of a young woman at the event, Rev’d Jane added: “We were all very sad to hear of the death of the young woman who fell ill at the festival. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family.”
The church team operate entirely on donations from the local churches. To find out more, to donate to ‘We are the Church’ or to find out about volunteering contact [email protected]
Young woman sadly dies after being taken ill at Creamfields music festival
