News
Chill Out Tent on hand at V Festival
It has been confirmed that the Chill Out Tent will once again be on hand at this year's V Festival.
The Chill Out Tent is run by leading drug and alcohol support charity, Open Road which will be working closely with other support services at the Festival to help anyone who needs assistance. Festival organisers, Maztec, work alongside Open Road each year and provide the support to run this vital service. A Maztec spokesperson said:
“Open Road has exactly the right mix of skills and expertise to provide support to festival goers. Although we don't condone taking drugs and misuse of alcohol, our Hylands Park venue becomes a bit of a party town during the V Festival weekend and, like at any party, people may well indulge. We wanted a well respected local organisation to offer support to festival goers and Open Road fits the bill perfectly.”
Wayne Powell, Open Road coordinator, will be on hand with his team of Open Road volunteers. “Throughout the year, we run the Colchester SOS Bus which is open all-night every weekend in the High Street. So we are very skilled at recognising whether someone just needs a rest and a drink of water or whether they have a more serious problem. In the last 12 months, we’ve helped over 1,200 people on the Bus. It’s great to be at V because we can also promote the work of Open Road and raise awareness of issues around drug and alcohol misuse.”
Open Road has operated in Essex for over 20 years and has recently established services in Suffolk and Norfolk. The charity works to reduce the harmful impact of drugs and alcohol on users and their families and enjoys a high success rate. Open Road’s approach is very much holistic; combining traditional counselling and structured support with complementary and cognitive therapy, making Open Road unique in the region.
Approximately 75,000 people are expected to attend the festival weekend. The headline acts confirmed for the three main stages on August 20th and 21st include Eminem, Rihanna, Articic Monkeys, Plan B as well as a host of other artists.
Notes to Editors:
Open Road is a registered charity and leading provider of drug and alcohol treatment services in the East of England. For over 20 years Open Road has delivered high quality services to empower individuals and families to recover from the harmful impact of drugs and alcohol. Every year Open Road helps thousands of individuals and their families, offering a range of one to one support, group therapy and harm reduction services. Open Road currently employs 90 staff and has a team of over 100 volunteers who actively support our work.
Open Road is funded through both the Essex and the Suffolk Drug and Alcohol Action Partnerships, Primary Care Trusts, the Big Lottery Fund, charitable trusts and individual donations. In 2010/11 Open Road is expected to receive over £2 million in income.
For further information about this event and Open Road please contact: Carol Macaskill, Marketing & Communications Manager on tel: 01206 369782 Email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).