For parents
We wanted to make life a bit simpler for parents and carers considering sending their children to newday, so we’ve produced a potted guide to the event: click here to download our parents’ guide. We’ve also published a list of the various activities on offer at newday - click here to see what sort of things your children may be getting up to. You know your children and their abilities and limitations best, so if you’ve any concerns about them participating fully in any of the activities, please talk to the youth worker accompanying them to the event. Of course we carry out full risk assesments ourselves on all activities at newday, ensure suitable supervision for each and have a professionally qualified First Aid team on site available around the clock.
Camping info
Okay, we’d love to put you all up in a posh hotel for the week . . . but newday is a camping event, so bring your tent or caravan and rough it with us instead. The weird thing is that, despite the odd downpour, queuing for the showers, surviving mainly on baked beans and pot noodles and risking bad hair, it’s actually rather good fun.
We automatically allocate a modest amount of camping space to everyone who books into newday. A few weeks before the event, we get in touch with every Group Coordinator to let them know the total amount of camping space allocated to their church group, with a map of their group’s camping area. Your Group Coordinator has the slightly daunting task of planning out your church group’s site and will let you know where you can pitch your tent.
Serving at newday
Those who come to newday to serve the event can choose whether to camp with their church group or on our site set aside exclusively for servers. We try to locate this site so our workers don’t have to walk too far to get to work, and in a quieter area so they can be sure of getting some well-earned sleep.
Our top tips
Your Group Coordinator will give you the lowdown on our fire regulations and other important safety info. Here are our tips for a great week’s camping:
Check your tent before you arrive at Newday, to make sure you’ve got all your poles and pegs.
Don’t forget to bring a mallet, especially if the ground is dry and hard after baking sunshine, to hammer home your tent pegs.
Bring a torch and some spare batteries. Playing cat’s cradle with guy ropes when you need the loo in the middle of the night is not that much fun.
It just might rain, so bring some waterproof bags to store your clothes and sleeping bags.
Dos & don’ts
The best things in life always have a few rules to make sure you have the most fun. Here are some of the basics to remember before you arrive at newday. Your Group Coordinator will fill you in on other essential safety info.
Dos:
Remember to bring to newday any regular medication you may need, such as inhalers or hay fever tablets, especially if you have diabetes, epilepsy or suffer from allergies. Think about the weather. No matter what the forecast, bring your sunscreen - and something waterproof to wear - to cover every eventuality.
Don’ts:
We’re sorry, but here’s the stuff you can’t bring: bikes, rollerblades, scooters, generators, BBQs (gas or otherwise), pets (even very cute ones) or anything very valuable. You may bring your skateboard, but please remember that, for safety reasons, skateboarding is restricted to the skatepark, only when supervised by our team.
Safety on site
Your safety - our priority. With around 7000 young people on site, we take your safety very seriously. We ask church groups to ensure that they bring one responsible adult for every six young people under 18 that they bring to newday, to make sure everyone is properly looked after. Your Group Coordinator is the person with overall responsibility for church group.
Here are some of the other ways we ensure your safety on site…
Zone hosts
On site, the church groups camping on the same zone will be looked after by its Zone Host and team – they’ll act as your point of contact for any issues that arise, and liaise closely with all the other teams at Newday to ensure your safety, 24 hours a day. They’ll make contact with Group Coordinators on arrivals day, so they’ll be a friendly face in case of need.
At the gate
We’re concerned for your safety both on and off site, so the Gate Team will not only be checking that those accessing the site during the week have legitimate reason to do so, but also checking that any young people attempting to leave site do so safely. Due to the lack of safe pedestrian access off site, delegates under 18 will be strongly discouraged from leaving the site during the event week and will be instructed to bring their Group Coordinator to the main gate if wishing to do so. We hope that all responsible adults will dissuade their young people from leaving the site in the light of the fast-moving traffic on the surrounding ‘A’ roads.
In emergency
A professional team provides First Aid cover on site and we have a Fire Officer in attendance throughout the event, with appropriate arrangements made with the emergency services, should an accident occur. And, of course, we make sure all sporting activities are carefully supervised with appropriate safety equipment.
Wristbands
We ask everyone booked into newday to wear a numbered wristband during the event. This ensures we can identify easily anyone not booked in, as well as all those who are – important in case of injury or accident. Those visiting for the day are also given wristbands to wear. In addition, all newday servers wear photo-id badges, and all contractors are given identity badges to wear on site.
Child protection
We have a Child Protection Coordinator on site, whose role is to be available for advice and training, both for young people, their supervising adults and event servers. All our servers are asked to adhere to the newday Child Protection Policy and all those in direct contact with young people must have undergone a Criminal Records Bureau check. This also applies to anyone joining the Ministry Team, who pray for young people when requested, and to all our team leaders and Event Management Team. All servers wear appropriate identification.
Lost property
If you lose something at Newday please email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). If we’ve found it, we’ll return it to you, so please make sure you include your full name and postal address when you get in touch. We’ll donate to charity any items unclaimed after three months.
