Festivals are full of young, fun loving and like-minded people but beware they are also an easy patch for career criminals and opportunists who know how festival goers tick, and the Reading Festival is sadly no exception and so please read through the advice below and plan ahead for the event.
Festival Republic, the Reading Festival organisers, and Thames Valley Police (TVP) have teamed up together to provide information to both festival goers and parents alike that may help those who will be attending the Reading Festival this year.

There will be a slight change to the on site police station set up this year and should you need to contact Thames Valley Police to report a non emergency crime whilst attending the Reading Festival please call 0845 8 505 505. This is the police number for reporting non-emergencies and for giving information to Thames Valley Police on this number.

If it is an emergency always call 999. It is an emergency if a crime is being committed, there is a risk of injury or a risk of serious damage to property.

For 2008 TVP Crime Reduction Advisor John McNicholas has set up a specially created e-mail address that festival-goers and parents can use in advance of the show, as well as during, to seek receive further advice from police officers who will actually be attending the event.

Emails to readingfestival@thamesvalley.pnn.police.uk will go directly to the TVP team who will be policing the festival.

TVP have for many years had, as part of their large on and off site operation, a fully functioning on site police station, which is based at Piccadilly Circus, and this will again operate during the event for anyone wishing to use it.

As with each year, we are all keen to ensure that the festival goers do what they can to prevent themselves from becoming a victim of crime and we have compiled the following festival savvy tips – some tips probably wouldn’t work anywhere else but at a festival!

Valuables

• Quite simply – please DON’T BRING THEM! Don’t be flash. Ipods, MP3 players etc - you don’t need them here – there is enough going on for you to be entertained without them.
• If you have to bring them please use the left luggage facility or new lockers rather then store them in your tent.
• Campsite Assistance Teams (CATs) in the campsites have UV pens that you can use to write your postcode or name onto any valuables for easy identification.
• Split your cash and cards into two hoards so that if one lot goes – you have back up
• Don’t carry anything valuable in your programme pouch or on a lanyard – unless it is kept hidden under a shirt or jumper.
• Don’t carry anything in back pockets – the event is busier than Oxford Street, especially at the stages, and chances are you have had a drink and so you will be less aware than usual and pick pockets love it. Pockets with zips are better.
• Don’t leave anything valuable in your car – maybe go and check on your car twice during the show? Shuttle boats are free for off site car parks and the trip on the river is very nice. Leave your glove compartment empty and also open.

Campsites

• If you have any concerns about your safety in the campsites camp somewhere well lit, go near a fire tower or by your zone managers caravan.
• Introduce yourself to campsite staff, show them where your tent is, stick a funny flag on it so it’s easy for them to see, and ask them to keep an eye out. They will.
• Introduce yourself to your neighbours and set up a neighbourhood watch system, it may sound naff but experience shows that the best and friendliest campsites are the ones with people in that make the effort to do so. More friends to party with too.
• Report anything or anyone suspicious to campsite staff – you can do this anonymously if you wish and that is what the staff are there for.
• Don’t put a padlock on your tent as this will invite thieves.
• Don’t bury your valuables by your tent as someone is bound to be watching.

Personal Safety

• Make sure your mobile is charged up on a daily basis - in the early afternoon - so that it is ok for the night when it’s dark, the stages get busy and you are more likely to lose each other. Traders sell battery operated phone charges if you need them. Ask at the information tent (on road G4) for exact locations of these traders. Plan ahead. Festival time is slow and it can take a long time to get from A to B.
• Keep your phone well hidden – how annoying would it be to lose all your contacts?
• Stay in groups and be tolerant of friends slowing you down.
• At night stay on the main roads in the campsites – don’t go exploring darker, quieter areas –you can do that in the day
• Arrange an easy meeting point with your mates before you get to the event and also three times a day (eg. 2pm, 6pm and 1am) that you will be there if you get split up. No one likes to be left to have fun on their own for long.
• If you do become a victim of crime – DO NO RESIST – give them what they want and make sure you get a good look at them or their clothes, so that when you report them we have a good head start. Also, make a note of exactly where you are if you can – look out for loos, fire towers, unusual tents, what colour the bunting is and what the road name is etc
• The welfare tent is there for you on road G4, as is the onsite police station at Piccadilly Circus. These facilities are there to help you if you need it.
• If you have an incident with a security guard, steward or any other member of our staff that you want to tell us about – please make a note of their tabard number, or the name on their pass. Without this information we can do very little as identifying them without this number or name is very difficult.
  
• Please don’t be alarmed by our advice – just be warned that it does happen to some people and we don’t want it to be you. Plan ahead.
• Oh, and have the most memorable festival of your life for all the right reasons!

Further Crime Reduction advice can be found at the Thames Valley Police website at http://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/reduction/index.htm