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WaterAid at Glastonbury 2002
After a much-missed Glastonbury Festival in 2001, like thousands of others the Corporate and Events team were really looking forward to June 2002. So much so that they were down at Glastonbury on the Monday morning busily setting up for opening on Wednesday. The famous WaterAid pit latrines had survived their two year stay at Worthy Farm remarkably intact, and our team of volunteers got down to sprucing up their "African-style" covering of paint with gusto. We were delighted to be greeted with comments from passers by "Oh good, you're here again!", "I always camp up here to be near to your toilets," etc. However, we weren't so happy when we had to clear up their overnight use each morning, work for strong stomachs on occasion! From Wednesday the toilets are manned from 8 am to 8 pm by a team of volunteers who collect donations for their use, talk to the queue about WaterAid, and most importantly regularly swill out the latrines and keep them clean and stocked with toilet paper. It is this which gives them their high-scoring reputation at Glastonbury. It's also an ideal opportunity to talk to people about our work in a context where they really understand the importance of good sanitation! As always, Ecover had kindly donated toilet cleaner as well as some deliciously-scented shower gel for people to use to wash their hands with. Chris Beasley also helped by constructing a fantastic dispenser rail to nail the soap dispensers onto, it looked extremely professional! We were offering watering-can showers (as seen on Big Brother!) as well as signing up people to donate to WaterAid by direct debit and promoting our text message fundraising competition. Down by the Pyramid (main) Stage these promotions were also taking place, in our new, bigger than ever stand! With a 10 metre banner that could be seen from a long way away, this was a great opportunity to display information about WaterAid and show our petition-o-meter. This counted the number of signatures to the Water Matters campaign during the course of the Festival, and reached a fantastic 10,654 by Sunday evening! The stand also showcased the other side of WaterAid's work; we gave out water to thirsty festival-goers, keeping them hydrated. Water bottles and rain ponchos were also available for a suggested donation. Elsewhere in the Festival awareness of WaterAid was being raised, via the thousands of hygiene posters on toilet doors all over the site, prompting people to wash their hands. WaterAid banners were visible under the Pyramid Stage and the Other Stage and our press team were working hard backstage, networking with celebrities and securing coverage in the newspapers, television and radio stations. All in all, 2002 was a fantastic Festival, both for the organisers, with the new fence living up to expectations and making for a safer Festival, as well as for WaterAid. Not a drop of rain all week was a most welcome change, except for a half-hour shower on Sunday evening which allowed us to get rid of the few WaterAid rain ponchos we had brought down! Thanks to our excellent team of hard-working volunteers, we had an excellent time and Glastonbury Festival-goers seemed pleased to see us too as we can judge by the results:
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