For Greenbelt Angels and Volunteers

July 2008 greenbelt.org.uk

Wing & A Prayer

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I can’t tell you what art does and how it does it, but I know I can’t tell you what art does and how it does it, but I know that art has often judged the judges, pleaded revenge to the that art has often judged the judges, pleaded revenge to the innocent and shown to the future what the past has suffered, innocent and shown to the future what the past has suffered, so that it has never been forgotten.so that it has never been forgotten.

I know too that the powerful fear art, whatever its form, when I know too that the powerful fear art, whatever its form, when it does this, and that amongst the people such art sometimes it does this, and that amongst the people such art sometimes runs like a rumour and a legend because it makes sense of runs like a rumour and a legend because it makes sense of what life’s brutalities cannot, a sense that unites us, for it is what life’s brutalities cannot, a sense that unites us, for it is inseparable from a justice at last. Art, when it functions like inseparable from a justice at last. Art, when it functions like this, becomes a meeting-place of the invisible, the irreducible, this, becomes a meeting-place of the invisible, the irreducible, the enduring, guts and honour.the enduring, guts and honour.

John BergerTaken from his essay in an exhibition catalogue in 1989 Miners: keeping a rendezvous

John Berger is a storyteller, essayist, novelist, screenwriter, dramatist and critic, whose body of work embodies his concern for, in Geoff Dyer’s words, “the enduring mystery of great art and the lived experience of the oppressed.”

Front cover: Jazz trumpeter Abram Wilson, whose show, Roll Jordan Roll, comes to Greenbelt this year.

A scene from Cargo, performed at Greenbelt 07.

In this issue.

4 A farewell reflection Paul Northup says goodbye

5 Iona in hindsight A week on the wonderful Isle remembered

Angels

6 Halo All the latest Angel news and info

7 The Angels’ share An everyday story of Angels

8 Where it’s at The financial state of play

Partners

9 Traidcraft Stirring stuff

10 Christian Aid The challenge of change

11 Department for International Development Platform �

1� YMCA Absolution on tap

13 CMS Elephant pooh, from us to you

Rising Sun

14 Greenbelt – strong because it’s hard to define Rachel Stringer, Head of Content, talks about this year’s lineup

Volunteers

16 Greenbelt:handmade A new ID for the Festival’s volunteers

17 Volunteer news

18 Volunteer profile First-timers Alex and Di Mattos tell us their story

19 Giving response form

�0 Last words Jenny Baker

Letter from the Festival Director

People get ready…Not long to go now and the pace in the office has visibly picked up. Emails are coming in their hundreds (as many of you who volunteer will be experiencing!), lineup is being finalised, schedules drawn up, toilets ordered, insurance confirmed, and site plans firmed up – there’s even been some sunshine! It’s all go here, and across the country, as volunteers and contractors alike get ready for Greenbelt �008.

The season of festivals is upon us. As I write, Glastonbury is about to kick-off and between that and Greenbelt there will be many more, small and large, helping people to celebrate life and come together. I saw Radiohead at Victoria Park in East London earlier this week and the festival buzz truly began for me. The people, being outdoors on a balmy evening, the anticipation, the food stalls, the atmosphere, the smell of damp grass and the heat from each other’s bodies as we all squeezed together to enjoy the show. Listening to live music is one of life’s great pleasures, a spiritual experience that often takes over all your senses. The gig got me in the mood for Greenbelt, transcended me above all the details to the bigger picture, the joy and the celebration – communion.

Obviously, Greenbelt serves up much more than just music and, as well as the big moments, has lots of hidden gems for all ages and tastes. I was looking at the Greenbelt stream on Flickr the other day (greenbelt.org.uk/photos) and it reminded me that you can come away from the Festival with as many experiences as there are people. Sometimes I wonder if we were at the same event when I hear people telling me what they got up to!

This year you will be able to download a PDF of the Daily Diary a week or so before the Festival, so you can start to get your head round all that is on offer. And as you browse the website listings and scour the Daily Diary, I would encourage to look at the things you don’t recognise, the unusual suspects, as well as the familiar – and also to remember you won’t be able to get to everything you want to and that simply being with friends and meeting people is as much a part of the Festival as hearing your favourite speaker.

So, as the mighty Curtis Mayfield sang, ‘People get ready, there’s a train a coming ... just get on board. All you need is faith and to thank the Lord’. (Oh, and it would be great if you came to Greenbelt on the train or one of the coaches we’re putting on!)

There is one cloud over my Rising Sun this year and that is that the wonderful Paul Northup is leaving us at the end of this month. Paul first joined the staff team, taking on the helm when I went on maternity leave, in �004 and since then he has been my right-hand man – Greenbelt incarnate – and we will miss his creativity, input, theology and support hugely and wish him all the best.

A huge thanks, too, to all of you for volunteering, buying tickets, telling others and making Greenbelt what it is. See you there.

Beki Bateson Festival Director

PS Don’t forget you can download or order a CD of talks by some of this years speakers to get you in the mood! And follow the links from the website listings to see artists’ YouTube footage and listen to downloads so that stuff online you haven’t heard of gets into your head and heart a little.

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A farewell from Paul Northup

Rather than get morose at the prospect of leaving (although, on the advice of those who’ve left before me, I am preparing for a time of grieving!); rather than try and remember all the things I’ll treasure (there are too many to list!); rather than try to thank everybody I’d want to thank by name (I will inevitably forget some); instead, I thought I would simply attempt some sort of parting reflection.

Celebrate good times, come on …It seems only days ago that I was being summoned by the sound of Abbey bells on Iona and feeling the Atlantic breeze on my face on the island’s beautiful beaches. The peace. The stillness. The slowness of life there is still in my bones.

Yet now I write with only weeks to go until our tenth Greenbelt at Cheltenham Racecourse (and our 35th in all!) and it seems that every day things shift up a gear. We are well and truly into the frenzied run-up.

It’s easy to think that these two experiences are from different worlds and have nothing to do with each other. What can religious community life on a remote Scottish island possibly have to do with the hurly-burly of the final push to make a Festival for �0,000 happen?

On the surface, at least, the answer might perhaps be: ‘not a lot.’ But, delve a little deeper and I’m convinced that the two are inextricably linked, part of the same reality. And I say this because I think that both have to do with joy and celebration.

Alastair McIntosh, who led some of our sessions on Iona,

urged us to think about the way that human behaviour in a place over time can actually pattern and shape that place – for good or ill. And there is a sense in which a stay on Iona imparts a deep-seated and understated joy, a celebration – and in part that is a result of the goodness of the monastic tradition that has been lived out there.

That’s one of the many reasons I’ve been so pleased to work for Greenbelt; because it, too, is about celebration. And I believe that Greenbelt’s celebrations pattern Greenbelters and the places in which the Festival happens, too. OK, the celebration of the Festival is of a very different style and mode to that of the quiet, unassuming prayerful life being witnessed to on Iona, but it is celebration nevertheless. Not a celebration that forgets the difficulties and injustices of life in this world, but rather one that embraces and transforms them.

Our coming together is, then, a celebration. We sense it. It’s

part of what we’re made for. My hope and prayer for us all as we look forward to being together again this Greenbelt is that we sense the rhythm of quietness and reflection alongside the impetus and vibrancy of the Festival in full-flow; that these two experiences would be knitted together for us in our hearts in a seamless sense of celebration.

So, as I leave the staff team this summer, after working on five Festivals in various capacities, I am thankful for the ride and all it’s taught me; the friendships I have made and the inspirations and insights I have gained. And the great thing is that I can still be part of all that. Because we’re all in this together. Looking full- square into the face of the worst of the world’s ‘will to power’, Greenbelt is a place of prophetic hopefulness and joy. A celebration.

So, I’m with Kool and the Gang: ‘Celebrate good times, come on …’

Greenbelt staff news

The Family Northup, Iona, May �008

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Iona in hindsightOur fantastic weekGreenbelt Angel and mum Louise Crookendon-Johnson reflects.

Our Greenbelt Iona week was booked on the very first day we could in October! It seemed the ideal way to bring together both the treasure of Greenbelt and time for our family – Jesse, aged 8, Eve, 11 and I – to be together.

I had been working intensely before we left for this break, so although I was ready to be away, I hadn’t given a great deal of thought to what it might bring, other than a hope and excitement of being in a good, different place, a long way away from home.

I learnt so much from our few sessions. Our wonderful leaders (Alastair McIntosh and Kathy Galloway) pushed my boundaries of understanding. I’m not sure I got all of it, but I certainly enjoyed the atmosphere, discussion, and unexpectedness. From faeries to outer-space

It offered time to be, freedom to enjoy being with the children, a rhythm to the days that naturally included times for worship in all that we did, as well as services and meals with the Iona Community.

There was a tenderness about it all and the Greenbelters and the Community demonstrated a genuinely non-judgemental approach to all of the children and young people in our group.

We were blessed by the sun – �0-�4 degrees – and it was as if the sand wore away my layers of troubles, pared me down and opened me up to God and new friendships, giving me more capacity to feel.

Eve and Jesse fed back that

Here are just another few extracts of feedback from people on the week.

Most important for me was to be in a community where children were not just accepted, but appreciated by everyone and where adults were happy to talk with them. Fiona Haworth

The evening events were great, especially the Africa presentation by the Levermores and Wroes (this made an impression on our girls, particularly because it was presented by their children). The Sprackling family

The pilgrimage was very special. Catriona Card

I liked the relaxing/holiday feel to the week and the freedom and permission to do as little or as much as you wanted to. Rachel Blackamore

the freedom and space was the best bit; time to run, be noisy, play on the hill. And they also enjoyed (yes, their words!) not having computer games, TV and electronic stuff. And I hugely enjoyed their interactions and the complete absence of fallings out.

Iona distilled Greenbelt values; the things that make Greenbelt so immensely special to us as a family, and why it renews us each year, were all around us.

Louise with Eve, Iona, May �008

The Solstice has just passed, we’ve had a few weeks of summer (OK, it’s been a bit windy and it’s rained a few times but …) and time is rolling on towards the Festival.

New AngelsOver one hundred new Angels signed up during and since the last Festival. The generosity and commitment of Greenbelt’s Angels is an essential source of stable income for the Festival, and forms a bedrock on which fresh ideas can grow. Thank you all very much.

Iona reunionCome and meet us for a cup of tea in the Angel Lounge at 4pm on Saturday at Greenbelt to reminisce about a sunny week in May when Greenbelt and the Iona Community enjoyed a week together exploring the ‘Holiness of Place’.

Angels LoungeThe Angels Lounge is a heavenly spot – a place to meet, relax, and take time out during the busy day. Situated in the G-Source

exhibition venue, near Pru’s Café and the Divine chocolate fountain, the Lounge is open daily and will be hosting some special events – for more details see greenbelt.org.uk/angels, and look out for information in the Festival Guide.

Angels discount cardDon’t forget to sign up for your discount card at the Festival! Available from the Angels Lounge, the card entitles you to money off or freebies from a range of Greenbelt vendors.

Purls and Wisdom – Greenbelt knittersFollowing on from the success of last year’s knitting circle, ‘Purls and Wisdom’ will be meeting again at 11 am on Saturday and Monday in the Angels Lounge, and is open to complete novices and seasoned knitters alike. If you’d like to knit something for charity this year, we have a woolly hat pattern from the British and International Sailor’s Society – the pattern is available at greenbelt.org.uk/angels along with more information about BISS.

Daily Diary in advanceThis year you’ll be able to download a non-printable PDF of the Daily Diary from the website from early August. For those of you who like to, this will help you plan and prepare for the Festival more before you arrive. For full details go to to greenbelt.org.uk/diary

Last year’s ReviewYou’ll find your copy of the 06/07 Festival Review enclosed with this issue of Wing & A Prayer. It makes good reading. And that’s a lot to do with the support you offer the Festival. So, thank you.

Wing & A Prayer login areaDon’t forget to check out the login area of the website for recipients of Wing & A Prayer – for back issues of Wing & A Prayer, past Review publications, our Annual Accounts, and exclusive desktop images and MP3s to download.

Username: angels Password: high13igh

Emma Bennett Development Manager

halo. Angel news and information. greenbelt.org.uk/angels

6 To become a Greenbelt Angel or to increase your giving please use the response form on p.19.

The Angels share.

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Roger and Jenny Morrish are both retired and keep busy with work in the local community and church, gardening, working out at the gym and especially being grandparents.

They met when on a youth group outing, aged 17 and 15 respectively, and married five years later. They later moved to Bath where they have lived for 34 years. It was through a local church that they became Christians. Their link with Post Green Community Camps in Dorset was formative to their spiritual development. They have also worked in the local church and community including with young people and drama group. Roger writes scripts for the local pantomime and is a founder member of the Bunions Group (a men’s group who meet monthly in a local pub to discuss problems on their spiritual journeys).

So how did you come to Greenbelt?

It started in the ‘80s when our teenage offspring John and Anna discovered Greenbelt. It soon became a regular fixture on their calendar – a Christian festival for young people and their music we thought, complete with legendary toilet arrangements!

In the ‘90s suggestions that ‘the olds’ would find Greenbelt interesting led to caution on our part not wanting to ‘cramp their style’. Eventually a glance at a Festival programme revealed a host of interesting events/speakers and this, combined with further encouragement from the family and their friends, led us to take the plunge in 1998 – and we have been to the Festival every year since.

What do you love about the Festival?

Roger I appreciate the relaxed atmosphere, that there’s no ‘party line’, the opportunity to experience different worship

styles and the varied programme. There is always something different, so the Festival doesn’t become entrenched in tradition.

Jenny I love the fact that there’s nothing homogeneous about Greenbelt folk, and that you can fill every moment of the day trying not to miss the good things on offer or just chill out and either is OK. Just the thought of it makes me happy.

What made you become an Angel?

We believe you get the best out of something by being involved and, being excited by the Festival, we wanted to do what we could to help. Joining the Angels seemed to be a good place to start. More recently we’ve helped out at the Angels venue, getting to know some fellow Angels and meeting other Greenbelters visiting the stall. We’ve had the encouragement, too, of signing our daughter up as an Angel – and she’s been a Greenbelter a lot longer than we have!

So what sustains you about Greenbelt?

We are all pilgrims on a journey and like all traveling folk it’s great to meet, to exchange ideas, learn from each other, worship, pray and have fun. And that’s Greenbelt: a huge gathering of pilgrims, which we leave refreshed and invigorated to continue our journey being God’s people, additionally supported by wonderful friends and family.

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You’ll find our latest Review publication (for 06-07) enclosed with this issue of Wing & A Prayer. We hope you enjoy it. It’s the fourth such Review document we’ve published and we hope that those of you who like collecting are seeing them build into a picture of the Festival’s health and progress.

The Review is just an overview of our last financial year. If you want to see the more detailed Annual Report then that is available for you to download from the Wing & A Prayer login section of the website (username: angels; password: high13igh), along with Treasurer Jonathan Smith’s supporting presentation to the AGM this year.

He describes our year as ‘solid’. Our reserves were grown. We reinvested into the programme. Attendance grew for the seventh

year in a row. We gave away lots of money through Trust Greenbelt. We are set about securing the long-term financial future of the Festival.

This year will be Greenbelt’s 35th incarnation and the tenth at our Cheltenham Racecourse site. Our time in Cheltenham has witnessed extremes: both the smallest ever Greenbelt since the year it started way back in 1974 on Prospect Farm in Suffolk and also the longest period of sustained financial progress the Festival has ever enjoyed.

But, as Rachel reminds us on page 14, putting on a Festival is still a precarious business. The incredible success-story of the micro-funding of the Barrack Obama campaign in the States makes us realise we are likewise supported by an host of micro-funders – our Angels. Your hundreds of modest (and

not so modest) regular gifts are what makes all the difference to Greenbelt’s health and prospects. Thank you.

We are grateful, too, that our ticket sales this year have been strong so far – while many events have struggled and some, sadly, have had to fold. The signs are that we’re headed for another healthy attendance – weather permitting. But we can’t and don’t take this for granted. Especially given the economic climate we are now living with.

As well as the readers of Wing & A Prayer – our Angel and Volunteer communities (often the same people!) – our partners and associates also contribute to this encouraging picture. And in the following pages you can read about some of their work and about what they will be doing at Greenbelt this summer.

Where it’s at

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Stirring stuff!

Stirring Stuff Stirring Stuff is the theme for Traidcraft’s presence at Greenbelt this year. Why? Well, supporters of Traidcraft are passionate about improving the lives of producers and their families overseas.

As ever, we’ll have loads going on. Our wine tasting and pub quiz are back by popular demand (see the Daily Diary for timings). We’ve got an Ethical Panel debate with lots of exciting guests, and we’ll have something daft for people to try out on our stand in G-Source!

So come on, ‘stir yourself’ and come and see what we’re up to. We’ll be opposite Pru’s Café in the G-Source exhibition venue!

For more details see www.traidcraft.co.uk/www.traidcraft.co.uk/getinvolvedgetinvolved

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The The challenge of changeof changeHere at Here at Christian Aid we like a challenge.we like a challenge.You’d expect that though, wouldn’t you? We spend our days working to end the causes and consequences of poverty. From speaking out on behalf of the poorest people in Zimbabwe, to helping communities in desperate circumstances like in Burma, or highlighting how a changing climate impacts the poorest, hardest.

So this year at Greenbelt we are going to shine the spotlight on how some of our partners are rising to the challenge of securing their future.

First off, we’d like you to join us on a trip to Burkina Faso. Passports won’t be needed though, because we’re bringing a bit of Burkina to Cheltenham.

Our venue will be transformed into a garden that will highlight some of the ways in which we help farmers adapt to the devastating effects of an

increasingly unpredictable climate. From soil and water conservation techniques to solar technologies that bring electricity to remote communities – we’ll be showcasing how our partners are at the forefront of how to rise to the challenge of climate change.

But that’s not all – we have brilliant activities for children, a café for refreshments / shelter depending on the weather, and the latest info and actions from our Climate Changed campaign.

After all that (climate-friendly) travelling we’ll be sitting down for a nice cup of tea at our Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.

In exchange for a small (optional) donation we’ll transport you to the topsy-turvy world of

Wonderland where questions and statements are answered with riddles and nonsensical poems. Bring your lunch, your family and friends and experience the challenge of talking about rights and justice in a world that doesn’t seem to understand either. Our Mad Hatter will be on tea-pouring duty and look out for the March Hare who will be in charge of seating. Fancy dress is optional but encouraged!

Of course, we will be involved with much more – from worship to art installations, talks to films – all so that you can join us in rising to the challenge of bringing about a world free from poverty.

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Platform2 is a unique opportunity for 18-25 year olds who wouldn’t otherwise be able to volunteer abroad to make a real

difference to a poor community in the developing world.

We’re sending 2,500 young people all over the world, from Ghana to India to Peru, to work on community and education

projects. They’ll be documenting their trip in loads of different ways – fi lm, photography, music, dance - and then

showcasing their experiences at events around the UK when they get back.

If you want to help bring about an end to poverty, Platform2 could be for you. If you’re interested, or work with young

people who might be eligible, contact us now.

WWW.MYPLATFORM2.COM

A global volunteering initiative funded by the Department for International Development and run by BUNAC, Christian Aid and Islamic Relief.

platform2@myplatform2.com / 0800 988 6828

LOOK OUT FOR PLATFORM2 AT GREENBELT ’08

WAKE UP. SHOWER. EAT. GO TO WORK. COME HOME. EAT. WATCH TELLY. SLEEP.HOW DOES 10 WEEKS IN INDIA SOUND

INSTEAD?

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The Jesus Arms

Absolution on tapAbsolution on tapDave Ball is one of the key Dave Ball is one of the key YMCA staff members who head YMCA staff members who head up the Greenbelt volunteer up the Greenbelt volunteer team who run our onsite bar, team who run our onsite bar, The Jesus Arms. The Jesus Arms.

I like beer. I like pubs. And I like the people who go in pubs. I also like Tim and Ernie who, along with me, make up the ‘Holy Trinity’ that run the Jesus Arms. For six days every year, Greenbelt’s local is a real pub. We offer quality – reasonably priced – organic beer. That’s our passion and we share it with you.

Last year we offered Absolution on tap at the Jesus Arms. This year we’re expanding our range to offer both Confession and Redemption. For a beer fiend like me, offering key components of Christianity while supping a pint is the very essence of an integrated holistic faith.

Our team of 50 Greenbelt volunteers provide a place for people to feel welcome, discuss, argue, debate, relax, worship, sing, dance, laugh, cry, sleep, read, listen... and anything else (within the law) that floats their boat. The volunteers work hard and genuinely enjoy their job, making each visitor feel special and welcome.

Here was just a piano Here was just a piano and hundreds of people and hundreds of people singing at the tops of their singing at the tops of their voices — raucous, tuneful, voices — raucous, tuneful, passionate, heartfelt passionate, heartfelt worship, with all the vibe worship, with all the vibe of a football crowd, but of a football crowd, but full of honest joy.full of honest joy. Church Times

Beer and HymnsBeer and HymnsThe now-legendary Beer and Hymns is one of the highlights of Greenbelt. The reason it works is because, unlike most expressions of church, there is no piety or religiosity. People are relaxed in pubs and the Jesus Arms opens people up to honest worship.

We’re not slick like some church services strive to be. Tim, the stout (not fat) landlord, leads Beer and Hymns, accompanied by Monkey Boy Dave on keys. As Greenbelters join the chorus you get a taste of heaven. Beer and Hymns draws together two things that church really struggles with: lack of control and banter.

The singing is outstanding. Men, in particular, sing in a way you don’t often hear in church – singing different parts together without being exclusive. This year we will also be doing a ‘Cockney Knees Up’, and a ‘Christmas party’, too!

Secular and sacredSecular and sacredMany years ago I got tired of using ‘secular activities’ to ‘flog Jesus’. Now I’ve grown into a better place. I invite God to inhabit all my ‘sacred’ and ‘secular’ places. That’s my understanding of a non-dualist theology.

I think Jesus would drink in a pub named in his honour. I suspect he would enjoy the banter, the sometimes-acerbic wit and the safe place for children and families. He’d also appreciate the raucous singing of his message, the quality beer and the 50-strong team who graft for six days and light up the bar with their smiles.

Make sure you visit us at Greenbelt this year, enjoy a pint and a rabbit with friends new and old.

Dave Ball is a poor golfer, an Dave Ball is a poor golfer, an accomplished angler, a Charlton accomplished angler, a Charlton supporter, CEO of Romford supporter, CEO of Romford YMCA, a father and a husband, YMCA, a father and a husband, and Monkey Boy Dave, master of and Monkey Boy Dave, master of the keys for Beer and Hymns.the keys for Beer and Hymns.

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So what was that all So what was that all about then?about then?Those of you who received the Those of you who received the elephant dung paper flyer with elephant dung paper flyer with Greenbelt’s spring mailing Greenbelt’s spring mailing may well have been asking may well have been asking yourselves this question! yourselves this question!

Well, a group of seven young deaf people and one disabled young man from rural Tanzania, who work with elephant dung on a daily basis and also happen to be amazing African dancers, have been invited by CMS to perform at Greenbelt as part of their ‘Sharing Jesus, Changing lives’ events this year. And all eight dancers and musicians work at the Neema Crafts Centre, a Tanzanian church project that provides handicrafts training and employment for deaf and physically disabled people in the Ruaha Diocese. Neema Crafts are the guys who sent the elephant dung to you!

Started in �003 by CMS Mission Partner Susie Hart with just three young deaf people, the centre has now trained and employed over 80 people with disabilities,

of all faiths. The crafts taught and practised include paper-making (which is where the elephant poo comes in), weaving, jewellery, recycled glass and micro solar panels. The centre also has a thriving physiotherapy department, which provides services for disabled children in the town and surrounding villages.

Many of the group have rarely been outside the small rural town of Iringa in Tanzania where they come from, so coming to the UK will be a mind-blowing experience for all of them. Haruna Mbata, a spokesperson for the group, said: “It means a great deal to us to be invited to the UK to perform. We have all experienced terrible prejudice towards disabled people, and this is a chance for us to show the world what we can do. Where we come from, people hide their deaf and disabled children because they are ashamed of them, they think they can’t do anything; but at Neema Crafts Centre people come and see the beautiful things we make and they are starting to

change their attitudes. The deaf dance group have really made a big impact too. Deaf people dancing – can you imagine! They used to say we are a burden, but now they say we are like Kings!”

Between performances the group will be demonstrating exactly how they make the exotic dung into paper, and giving Greenbelters the chance to make their very own piece of ele-poo paper – an offer not to be missed. So do come along to the CMS tent at Greenbelt this year to experience African music like you’ve never heard it before, and hear the amazing stories of faith and transformation that these young people have to share.

Expect the unexpected …Expect the unexpected …

Elephant poo Elephant poo from us to you …

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Greenbelt’s hard-to-define-ness is its strength Yesterday a friend of mine forwarded me a newslink about yet another UK festival sadly folding. Reports like this are coming through almost ever other week now. The events industry is being seriously shaken, and music festivals are particularly struggling in 2008. With over 500 festivals in the UK alone this year, we’ve reached market saturation. Alongside this, festivalgoers are expecting bigger headliners, artists are asking for more inflated fees because record sales can no longer be relied on as their main source of income, and, under increased competitive pressure, events are ‘buying artists out’ with exclusivity clauses. And all this is leading to too many good festivals going under.

Watching this happen, and hearing from friends in the industry whom this is affecting, has made me look at our own programme in a very different way.

One of Greenbelt’s strengths is that it is not just a music festival;

it is not just a talks festival, just festival of theatre and dance, or just a youth festival. Greenbelt is all this – and more besides. This is what makes Greenbelt hard to define – especially when you add in the breadth of spirituality represented – and that is a good thing. That hard-to-define element means that we’re not a victim of the changing moods of music fashion. We have an interested, excited audience who don’t come to see the current ‘Number One’ band, but instead come because they know that Greenbelt provides more than a few well-known guitar heroes.

Greenbelt provides a full and eclectic programme which nurtures, provokes, entertains and inspires – perhaps through a theatre piece, a talk, an art exhibition, a dance workshop, a worship event or, indeed, a mainstage artist. But all these offerings in the programme are things booked especially for the Greenbelt audience. We may not have Jay-Z headlining (possibly a good thing, as even Glastonbury only sold out at the last minute

this year), but our contributors are ones we have sought out and invited because we feel they share something of the ethos of the Festival. We have a hunch they will ‘get Greenbelt’.

Having seen our programme come together over the last few months there is so much in it that excites me and so many contributors involved who already ‘get Greenbelt’ – or will soon.

We’ve some great music acts. 1 Giant Leap, who are headlining on Sunday, are an act that we’ve been trying to get for a few years now, and we’re delighted they could make it this year. Taking a laptop and a DV camera around the world, they gave world musicians a backing beat and then space for the musicians to add their music and sing their songs. Their stage show features a mix of live music and audio visual inputs, as well as footage from their double Grammy-nominated film and album ‘What About Me?’ Working with people like Michael Stipe, Robbie Williams, Gabrielle Roth, Baaba

Emmanuel Jal1 Giant Leap

Greenbelt 08Rising Sun

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Greenbelt’s hard-to-define-ness is its strength Maal, and Asha Bhosle, they’ve created true unity in diversity.

I’m also really looking forward to Emmanuel Jal’s return to Greenbelt on the Friday evening. Since appearing at the Festival three years ago, Emmanuel has gone from strength to strength, and this year released a critically acclaimed album and film, ‘Warchild’. His hip-hop style is amazing, but what is more amazing is what he’s talking about and its message of peace and reconciliation, which comes from his own experiences as a former child soldier in Sudan.

Performing arts has a plethora of great theatre, dance shows and workshops on offer. I think Linda Marlowe’s performance in ‘Believe’ – where she takes on the role of four different women from the old Testament – is going to be something special. But I’m also looking forward to a much smaller show called ‘Prison?’ written and performed by Charlie Ryder. After being part of a human rights demo that turned into a riot, Charlie

was arrested and put in prison for three years. Charlie isn’t a professional actor, but what he produces is a touching, sweet, painful and ultimately truthfully telling performance.

Our talks programme is incredibly strong this year, and I’m very pleased that Sara Miles is coming to speak, as well as leading some worship events. Sara underwent a radical conversion when, on a whim, she stepped into a church and took communion. She entered the church as a ‘a blue-state, secular intellectual; a lesbian, a left-wing restaurant cook and journalist with a habit of scepticism’ and she left knowing that what she’d been doing with her life was what she was meant to do: feed people. She went on to set up food pantries, providing hundreds of families with free food every week, and worked within housing projects while facing the scepticism of her atheist family and friends, and the prejudices of the church. Inspirational stuff.

The Hub this year will feature a cosy Library where you are invited to bring along a book that you think other Greenbelters should read, and swap it for a book someone else thinks you should read. There’s also a great mix of poetry readings, literature talks, art forums, and live music. And each evening is rounded off with a late night meditation by Ed Newell, examining the religious meanings behind the fairy tales of the brothers Grimm.

Finally, this year I’m hoping to get a few minutes to experience one or both of the two interactive ‘Podules’ we have at the Festival. I don’t want to say much more – if you look out for them, you can’t really miss them. And, of course, it wouldn’t be Greenbelt if I didn’t have one of Tropical Inc’s meerkats on my shoulder at least once. Something Reading Festival definitely doesn’t provide.

Rachel Stringer Head of Content

Sarah MilesLinda Marlowe

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Back in the autumn, we went to our lead designer with the brief for a new piece of work. It was about the fact that we wanted to develop a new ‘brand identity’ for our volunteer community at Greenbelt. It was going to some piece of work.

We told him that the new identity should have cache and cool and not be too obvious. It also needed to be something that said something clear, something that made sense of Greenbelt’s volunteer-led dynamic. And it should have youth appeal, too. At this he went away and lay down in a darkened room!

But there was more. It also needed to be something that was as widely applicable as possible – think tee-shirts, mugs, letterheads, website, the Volunteer Handbook, and so on. We also wanted it – while obviously fitting with the Greenbelt family of logos and icons – to be something distinct, very much its own brand.

What we emerged with – after numerous sketches and much head-scratching – is this new volunteer identity you see here (above). Interestingly, it doesn’t even mention the word ‘volunteer’ (another important part of the brief!).

The motif evokes the idea of a fingerprint; all our volunteers are unique, beautiful humans, as longstanding Festival Trustee Pip Wilson would say. It is instinctive and naïve, yet engaging at the same time. But what really cements the strength of the new ID is its strapline. Greenbelt really is a ‘handmade’ Festival after all.

Our hope is that this new ID will be worn and ‘owned’ across our entire and very diverse volunteer community – from those who would more usually opt for the word ‘crew’, to those who would run a mile rather than be called crew. From those who work onsite to those who work year-round. And from those who work in the

Festival’s operations community to those who book its programme.

Our volunteer community is almost impossibly diverse. But we all come together to make Greenbelt, by hand: by our hands this Festival is shaped. Greenbelt is a handmade Festival.

We hope you like the new ID and we hope this story helps you appreciate the journey that led us to it. From here on in, it’s every bit as much yours as it is ours. Because, ultimately, it’s Greenbelt’s. And Greenbelt is handmade.

All volunteers will be offered a free volunteer tee-shirt with this new ID on at the Festival. So we hope we see the new motif everywhere. Volunteers will also have the chance to purchase a copy of the Festival Guide at a discounted price the day before the Festival opens to the public. Team Leaders will have more information on all this for you.

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Volunteer news.greenbelt.org.uk/volunteersA world of opportunities in the handmade FestivalAs well as all having the chance to bag a free volunteer tee-shirt and get hold of a copy of the Festival Guide a day early at a discount, all volunteers at Greenbelt can now belong within our newly designed ‘handmade’ volunteer identity – it’s a living logo. And because the Festival is handmade, and because many hands make light work, and because Festival numbers are increasing year-on-year, we still need to recruit more volunteers for this year in the following areas …

Stewards team greenbelt.org.uk/stewards

We are still looking for stewards in most areas. Browse the various flavours of steward you can volunteer to be on the website. New team leader Karen Radcliffe is looking for people to come and work with her in the Control Room onsite. You can read her story on the website at greenbelt.org.uk/volunteers

Children’s team greenbelt.org.uk/childrensteam

We still need more volunteers to work with us in the Children’s Festival. Because it’s quite late in the day, if you want to volunteer for this team you’ll need to be able to demonstrate you have your own current CRB check. In addition, we are also

accepting more ‘helpers’ onto the Children’s team this year and so if you’re under 18 and want to get involved we want to hear from you. Email Niki on childrensadmin@greenbelt.org.ukchildrensadmin@greenbelt.org.uk

Taxi drivers team

We need volunteers to drive golf buggies around the site, transporting festivalgoers who need help in getting around the site, or just those who don’t fancy walking. All volunteer drivers must:– Have a full UK driving licence– Be responsible for collecting

payments and driving in an environment that is likely to be very congested with pedestrians.

– Be comfortable interacting directly with the festivalgoers.

Email phil@greenbelt.org.ukphil@greenbelt.org.uk if you are interested.

Media capture team

As Greenbelt seeks to increase the reach and scope of its marketing with a view to growing the Festival’s brand way beyond the Festival weekend itself, we are looking for volunteers to gather and then catalogue multi-media content - podcasts, video etc - for broadcast across all media, especially online, year-round. We’re especially interested if you might be willing to bring your own gear. See the ‘Media and press team’ ad at greenbelt.org.uk/volunteersgreenbelt.org.uk/volunteers for more.

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TAXI!Not all volunteers have been coming to Greenbelt ever since it was imagined. Some parachute – fresh-faced and wide-eyed – into the midst of the mayhem, after being invited to fulfil a role, or perhaps responding to roles advertised on the website. It seems odd, perhaps, that many volunteer for Greenbelt without having first been a Greenbelter. But it shows the will to volunteer is strong. And it’s great that Greenbelt has so many and varied roles for people to slot into.

One such case is husband and wife team Alex and Di Mattos who came on board last year to run our onsite taxi service – the first time we‘d offered this service to Greenbelters. We asked Alex what it was like.

What was your first impression of Greenbelt?

Well, if we’re being honest, festivals have never really been our ‘cup-of-tea’, so we would probably not have gone to Greenbelt as festivalgoers. And, because we were onsite early and saw a lot of the ‘build’, the event took shape naturally before our eyes – so there wasn’t really a big first impression for us.

So why did you come on board? And why are you coming back?

We were asked by Pete Allison (Greenbelt’s Site Contract Manager) to come and run the taxi service as an experiment (along with long-time Greenbelt volunteer, Andy Jackson). We’re coming back because we had a great time! And also because the taxi service was such a success! Di discovered that the admin and looking after the

team members themselves was more aligned with her skills than organising the taxis and Greenbelters. So this year we’ll divide and conquer, with me doing the public-facing stuff and Di organising things behind the scenes. Considering that Di came along for the ride (excuse the pun) last year and to ensure we saw each other for the week, it actually worked out really well with both of us working together as a team. It was actually, in the main, great fun (perhaps that’s because it was really sunny?) and I enjoyed interacting with all sorts of people.

What are the main challenges of your role? And what are the things you most enjoy?

Everyone wants a taxi. And they want it now! Which causes some friction – when, for instance, someone has to wait for the next one or a family has to go in two separate taxis. I must confess that I was surprised by some of the mild verbal abuse that our taxi drivers encountered, given the nature of the audience. But on the whole I really enjoyed the interaction with Greenbelters and the volunteer community. There is a great sense of teamwork throughout the Festival. And that rubs off.

Is it very different from your day job?

I’m a Chief Systems Engineer and Diana is a full-time housewife and soon-to-be mum, so, yes, Greenbelt is very different to our daily experience. Having said that, running the taxis involves project, people and conflict management – which are all aspect of my job. And

looking after the admin and team is a bit like organising a big extended family for Di, so in some senses you could argue that it’s not that different at all! What was great, though, was the chance to be outside and enjoy the sun for a whole weekend.

Are you Greenbelt volunteers forever now?

We are expecting our first baby in October this year, so we’ll see how that goes before thinking about next year!

Volunteer profile

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Last words.Jenny Baker.

Jenny writes for a living, does triathlons for fun, shares an allotment for the strawberries and helps to run the Sophia Network for women in youth work.

My first Greenbelt was in 1985 at Castle Ashby. My boyfriend had been several times with his youth group before and was very keen that I should come to this amazing festival with him. But I hated it. It rained all the time, people were really noisy at night so I couldn’t sleep, I had to share the smallest tent I had ever seen with his sister who I’d hardly met before while he slept soundly in his mum and dad’s comfortable, dry camper van with his friend Jim. But I guess there must have been something about it that got under my uptight, old-before-my-time skin. I married the man, now totally love his sister Esther, and hopefully have mellowed a lot since, although I think there’s still a twinge of resentment about that camper van.

And I came back time and again – with my friends, with my extended family and then with my two boys who have both loved Greenbelt from when they first came. They never wanted to go to the Children’s Festival; they just wanted to hang out with us and dip into the huge range of things on offer. It’s brilliant to see them now contributing in different ways to the Festival, becoming ‘Greenbelt makers’, as Pip Wilson would say.

I think that’s one of the things that I love about Greenbelt, that there is space for the creativity and contribution of so

many different people. I love the diversity of performers, speakers, participants and punters and the way those categories flow into each other without fixed boundaries. I love the fact that you can hear someone say something that you totally disagree with in a talk, and that there are plenty of people to discuss it with afterwards. When some Christian events are so controlled, and controlling, I love being treated as an adult with her own opinion who can cope with hearing different points of view. And some of what I have heard over the years has been life changing – John Smith on being disillusioned, Richard Rohr on going deeper in the second half of life, John O’Donohue scattering wisdom with every sentence.

For the last few years, I’ve been the Trustee who oversees the communion service and who tries to encourage and support the very brave people who take it on. It’s such a challenge to try and create a worship service that caters for around 10,000 people, all of whom have their own ideas of what worship should be like! But it seems such an important part of the Festival, to all gather together around one table, all of us in need of God’s grace and each other’s love, that it is definitely worth persevering with. I hope we are able to encourage a spirit of generosity in worship, and that we offer a glimpse of what it might be like in the renewed heavens and earth, where keeping everyone happy in worship will be Jesus’ problem and not mine.

The Greenbelt Trustees – who are, of course, all volunteers! – share their hopes and fears for the Festival, and tell us a bit about themselves.

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