V-Festival

The V Festival is one of the biggest operations that our members take part in. Last year over 150 St John Ambulance volunteers provided first aid care and ambulance cover for a record 95,000 festival goers.  Members came from as far a field as Guernsey and Cumbria.

Volunteers agree it is the social aspects of the event that bring them back year after year.  The camaraderie and team spirit generated from working at such a big event is also a key factor for return volunteers. 

Months of preparation

Preparation for the V Festival starts for St John Ambulance months before the festival opens it gates.  At the beginning of each year the first planning meeting is held to look at replacing equipment, ordering stock and training volunteers.

In all, over 150 members volunteer for the county’s biggest duty performing a variety of different roles.  Les Crook co-ordinates the Forward I T Team or FIT Team which is made up of four personnel who work in the vast crowds to extract casualties. The members attended ’pre-festival’ training courses at the County Show ground.

Organisers praise St John Ambulance members

With over 90,000 festival goers the organisers of ‘V’ have to run and co-ordinate the equivalent infrastructure of a small town.  St John Ambulance play a role in this, working alongside other major emergency services as well as those that provide water, food and lighting. 

Andy Redhead, from Roseclaim Ltd (V Festival organisers) also praised the part St John Ambulance has to play in the event.  He thanked the members for their dedication, commitment and support in making the V Festival a success.

Venture Event Medical Management co-ordinate the medical cover for the event and St John Ambulance have been contracted by the company for many years. Carol Taylor and Dennis Holmes from the company agreed:

Behind the Scenes

A team of people provide support to those providing first aid at the Festival; keeping supplies topped up, making sure everyone has food and keeping the administration side of things in ship shape. We normally have:

• The Network Scouts that work across the five first aid posts, acting as scribes and on the reception desks. 
• 14 scouts that act as support  for our volunteers, filling in paper work etc. All 14 of the scouts work on six hour shifts.
• Over 124 members that are on duty each day.
• A command centre expects who take over 600 calls during the  four days of the Festival mania!

Contact us

If you would like to hear more about our biggest annual event, then why not get in touch with us. You can contact us by email or call us on 01785 257124.