Gig-goers can get support should they need it during the five-day festival
A mental health charity is reassuring Glastonbury Festival goers this weekend that support is on hand should they need it.
With headline acts including Coldplay, Muse and Adele aiming to turn this year into a memorable one, Samaritans is set to stage a welcome for anyone who may not be having such a good time.
Since the 1970s, the charity’s volunteers have been part of the festival mix at events all over the UK and Ireland, offering emotional support to anyone who needs it.
Janet Horsfield is a lead volunteer with Samaritans Festival Branch, said: “The image of a festival is that you’re going to have a great time, non-stop, and thousands of people do. But that’s not always the reality, especially if you’ve got a lot going on at home.
We get people coming back at a festival to say thank you - Janet Horsfield
“You hope things will be better, that this will be an escape. But for many, you end up taking it all with you.”
“We’re busy all day but from sun down to sun up, it’s party time, and that’s when we start to get people affected by drugs and alcohol. The melancholy sets in and in the early hours, as people are coming down, a lot of things can become an issue and people want to open up. We have a lot more volunteers on from 10pm to 2am, that’s our busiest time.”
Volunteers will be available across the site should anyone wish to chat while signposted volunteer stations will be placed in prominent positions.
Horsfield continued: “It’s not just the fans that we speak to, it’s also traders and others like security people. Many of them are working away for a season and some can be escaping from issues at home. But they find it hard being itinerant, and they miss their family - that’s when all the stories come out.
“Often, we get people coming back at a festival to say thank you – ‘If you hadn’t been here last night, I don’t know what I’d have done.’ It’s lovely to get that feedback, as it’s not something that happens ordinarily when we’re doing our normal shifts in our local Samaritans branch.
"Here you can see the impact you’ve had, people can arrive very down or distressed, but they leave with hope.”
Samaritans' volunteers are stationed at Glastonbury between the Pyramid Stage and the Other Stage in the Main Markets area, near Whitelake Bridge.
Glastonbury Festival runs from 22-26 June.
