Abandoned Glastonbury tents to shelter street children » Environment » 24dash.com

Tents and other camping equipment left behind at the Glastonbury Festival will be used for humanitarian purposes under the 'Give Me Shelter' project.

The equipment, which would otherwise go to landfill, will instead be sent around the world to provide emergency accommodation or support projects working with disadvantaged people.

Give Me Shelter is run by NGO Global Hand and will operate at six festivals this summer, including Leeds and Reading as well as Glastonbury.

Ben Solanky, Global Hand’s European Representative, said: “Thousands of tents are left behind at the end of each festival. By collecting them and sending them to those with humanitarian needs we create a win-win; reducing waste and global poverty.”

This year’s campaign follows a successful pilot project at Reading and Leeds festivals last year, where more than 3,000 tents were left behind.

More than 450 of these were collected and sent to humanitarian organisations, including an AIDS day centre in Botswana and a centre for street children in Sri Lanka.

Ben added: “This year we’re encouraging people to donate their tents, chairs, sleeping mats and bags by packing them up themselves and dropping them off at one of our collection points around the festival sites. Our message is: don’t dump it, don’t destroy it, donate it.”

Singer KT Tunstall, who will be performing at Glastonbury, said: “Festivals to me have always epitomised openness, tolerance, and community. It’s great that Give Me Shelter can channel some of this vibe and create something great out of the aftermath!”

Beneficiaries in 2006 included orphans from Eastern Europe who slept in festival-donated tents on camping holidays organised by NGO International Aid Trust.

“I thank you that you presented me so wonderful a time in the camp. I saw the sea for the first time in my life. I will never forget this,” said 9-year-old Vanya, from a Ukrainian orphanage.

Melvin Benn, Director of Glastonbury, said: “There has been a growing problem with the amount of surplus camping equipment and other goods left behind after the festival.

"Give Me Shelter helps us to reduce waste, meet needs and help people to think seriously about their responsibility to environmental and social issues.”

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