New Welfare Guide Launched by the Events Industry Forum

A comprehensive new guide to welfare at events has been published by the Events Industry Forum.

The new guide, which has been written by welfare specialist Penny Mellor, draws on the experiences of a wide range of welfare organisations to provide a set of guidelines for providing welfare services at events, such as concerts and festivals. It also contains guidance for event organisers about providing welfare services as well as downloadable forms that can be used by those providing these services (e.g. lost property etc.)

This is thought to be the first time that guidance on welfare services has been made available and it is hoped that it will lead to greater consistency in the approach to the provision of these essential services.

The provision of good welfare services is critical at many events as they provide support for dealing with a wide range of issues, from drug problems, welfare and distress to lost people and property.

The new Welfare Guide is being published alongside the Purple Guide and will be provided to subscribers at no extra cost. The work to create the guide was funded by a grant from the Events Industry Forum raised through subscriptions to the Purple Guide. ‘The Purple Guide to Health, Safety and Welfare at Music and Other Events’ was originally published by the Health & Safety Executive, but taken over by EIF in 2014 with their support. It is considered to be the main reference source to health and safety by the events industry and is used widely by licensing authorities, enforcement agencies as well as event organisers.

EIF has made a commitment that all funds raised from subscriptions to the Guide, after costs, will be reinvested in support for the UK events industry and has recently announced that it is making a further £8,000 of grants available for industry projects. 

Details of the new guide can be found at www.thepurpleguide.co.uk

Olympic stresses highlighted by EIF

The Event Industry Forum (EIF) is warning event organisers that 2012 will be an exceptional year in the UK because of the Olympic Games, with a huge number of events happening across the UK at the same time advising that in some areas there is likely to be excessive pressure on suppliers which they may not be able to respond to. The EIF has said “We are particularly concerned that this could result in inexperienced suppliers entering the market with the result that something goes badly wrong and the reputation of the industry as a whole becomes tarnished” and offering members advice that includes the suggestion to bring forward with suppliers and establish whether they have sufficient capacity for your event, ensure suppliers have suitable experience and are members of a reputable trade body, make sure that all events around the Olympics are fully risk assessed by someone with appropriate experience and where possible link and share information with other organisers of Olympic events to co-ordinate the supply chain. Separately The UK Government (Cabinet Office) has warned business in the UK that the 2012 games may promote heavy demand on the UK’s internet infrastructure saying that the country’s telecoms system may be unable to cope with increased demand leading to slower speeds, temporary drop outs or even rationing. The Games will also lead to up to 3 million additional public transport journeys each day in London on top of the 12 million made on an average workday during the games. The Department of Transport is piloting a scheme to promote staff working from home and w ill also promote walking and cycling.

http://www.eventsindustryforum.co.uk/