The last few weeks Dr Shelley Stiles has been busy supporting her local village fete committee in preparation for the annual village fete.

2024 was the first fete since pre COVID, and with a new fete committee keen to deliver, there has been months of hard work to get to the big day! As plans for the various activities developed, Shelley advised the team on the health and safety considerations from first aid and fire safety, to temporary electrical supply and lost children, and a duck race!

Shelley says “preparing the Event Safety Plan and risk assessments was a great way to work through the detail of how health and safety will be managed for the public, stall holders and children involved in the fete activities. This has become a useful briefing aide for sharing with the wider committee as well as the local council. The team are well versed on the plan and appreciate the importance of protecting people from harm. There were many interesting debates about the duck race on one of the local rivers – especially with the amount of rainfall we have experienced this spring! Fortunately, the long awaited dry spell was well timed so the river flow wasn’t too high.” Bonus – it was a bright and sunny weekend with fantastic attendance and over 700 people joining in the fun!

 This is another example of the Gateway team sharing their experience free of charge for the benefit of the local community.