Festival Spirit

Summer 2011

In Summer 2010, members of the club together with a member of the travel charity Jumbulance, plus support we grabbed, begged and blagged from here, there and everywhere, organised a trip to WOMAD for eight life-limited and disabled young people. We targeted those for whom the very idea of going camping, let alone at a music festival with 50,000 people, was almost fantasy (as an example, four had muscular dystrophy and needed profile beds and lung drainage overnight).

The effect it had on these young people was fantastic and they still talk about it. Some of our guests (we call them our VIPs) will only ever be able to make these sort of trips with the level of care and support we were able to provide. Others will hopefully have gained the confidence to be able to do it all over again with more basic assistance from family and carers. Through seeing what happened throughout the trip we are beginning to understand how important the confidence to do things is for those with disability in an able-bodied world. Able-bodied "buddies" attend to help guide the VIPs around the festival and to get the most out of the experience. Professional carers appropriate to the needs of the VIPs come along to support on the medical side and on other aspects of care required.

The experience has inspired us to found a new national charity focussing on bringing the festival experience to many more disabled and life-limited people. It’s called Festival Spirit and is well on the way to being formed. Until it can stand on its own two feet it is being backed by the Rotary Club of Abingdon Vesper.

This year we are planning trips to both WOMAD and Glastonbury as a minimum.

Please let us know if you are interested in getting involved with a trip by filling in the contact form.