2020 Festival Update
WE MISS YOU SO MUCH!
This sure hasn’t been the Summer that we all planned for. Our office calendar has become a painful reminder of what should have been our busiest summer ever, but rather than running from field to field fuelled by a combo of strong coffee and energising hugs it has been our hardest summer to date. Not only have we not danced, sung, eaten and drunk in the sights and sounds of the most spectacular events on earth, but we have not had the chance to spend time with you, our volunteer family, and that has been by a long way the hardest thing for us. Words can not explain the void in our lives that not seeing you in a field this summer has left us all with. As you will have seen in our previous emails, the whole team has been working significantly reduced hours, primarily working remotely which has only added to our feeling of distance. To say we miss you is an understatement.
This week, our final festival- Tokyo World, was cancelled. This means we no longer have any festivals scheduled this year, and we have now refunded all of your deposits. Although hugely disappointing news, it draws a line under 2020- the festival season that never was. This sense of closure has helped us as a team, and we are now refocusing our energies to the future, so wanted to give you all an update.
When we last got in touch, it was with a very difficult ask. For the first time ever, we asked you to donate cash rather than time to My Cause UK. We have already said a lot of thank you’s to so many of you, but wanted to share that collectively you have donated over £6,500 which has gone a long way to helping us meet our ongoing costs, helping to ensure the future of the organisation. As a small not for profit social enterprise, My Cause UK has not received any funding or support from investors, the government or any third sector organisations. All the money that has kept our office open, and team working, has been down to your support, a fact that we can’t thank you enough for. We know times are tight all round, but if you are able to support us financially at all, head over to the website where you can donate, or buy some of our exclusive merch. Every penny really does help!
What’s more is that on top of this amazing donation to My Cause UK, you exceptionally benevolent bunch have committed over £1,500 in donations to your nominated charities too, which we will be processing in the coming weeks. Although clearly somewhat short of the £50k+ we had hoped to donate before our plans were derailed, we know how much of a difference this vital support will be to your chosen causes as the charity sector faces unprecedented challenges. On behalf of the 69 beneficiary charities, we wanted to thank you all!
We have been speaking with our festival partners and there is an overwhelming energy and determination for them to go ahead with their events in 2021 and all have assured us that we will continue to be part of their plans going forward. Nobody can be sure what the future will look like, but we are glad to hear that when the world is ready for festivals to open their gates once again, they will be greeted by our inimitable pink Hi Vis welcome!
As such, we are really excited to announce that we plan to be launching applications for festival season 2021 early in the new year! Keep an eye out on our socials for more info closer to the time. For those that have not already do-so, please register your interest and join our 2021 festival waiting list via the link below to be right at the front of the line for when we reopen the gates next year!
For now, we feel it’s more important than ever before for you all to communicate with one another, amplifying memories to help keep the vibes strong, sharing pictures of festival summer from years-gone-by, and engaging with our volunteer community group. We still hope to organise a traditional festive gathering so long as government guidelines allow, but for now please do keep sharing messages and things that make you smile on our Facebook volunteer group. We need it as much as you do!
Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, remember you are not alone and we know from experience that this is a really tough time for all of our crew. We are always here for you, and our partners Mind, Rethink and The Samaritans are available 24 hours a day if you need someone to talk to during these challenging times.
We wanted to thank you all from the very bottom of our hearts for your ongoing support. Nobody can predict the future, but your actions have helped us secure a future for our organisation. Your donations and uplifting messages have helped us through some really dark days over the past months, and it is all thanks to you that we are in a position to keep the dream alive, looking forward to a brighter, sunnier time when we can be together in a field once more.
Sending lots of love,
Rob, Lu & Anand
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