Reading & Leeds - Thank You!

Many thanks to all who worked at the 2009 Reading and Leeds Festivals!

2009 has been a long but successful year. We've taken the CATs, what started as a tiny volunteer project at the 2003 Leeds Festival, and formed Hotbox Events; an organisation which now supplies well over a thousand volunteers to the Reading, Leeds and Latitude Festivals!

We couldn't have done this without you all! The enthusiasm and professionalism of the CATs & HATs is always highly praised by all who work with you.

We hope you've enjoyed working at a festival or two with us in 2009 and very much hope you'll be returning in 2010!

Please find below some feedback from those who worked onsite at Reading & Leeds...

Dear CATs,

Once again the CATs did an absolutely fantastic job at Leeds Festival - we have received many positive comments about CATs that helped out festival goers and made their experience onsite so much better. Thank you so much for all that you do, and please come back next year. We hope you had time to enjoy it as well as do such a good job.

Kind regards,

Harmony Blake - Leeds Festival Deputy Licensee & Assistant to Melvin Benn

Hi all,

Many thanks to all the staff and volunteers for this year's CATs and HATs at Reading Festival. I know a lot of work goes into the planning and execution of the CATs, and this year HATs too. I do think they give the event a very approachable feel and certainly the CAT presence in the campsites is much appreciated by all. Thank you for 2009, and see you very soon for 2010.

Nicky Hodgson - Reading Festival Deputy Licensee & Event Coordinator

Dear CATs,

Thank you again for your cheerfulness and dedication to making Leeds a safe and enjoyable festival. You are the eyes and ears of the festival and your contribution to reducing disorder on the last night cannot be overstated. Those who needed you were very grateful for the way in which you helped them. The way you engaged with the festival community helped to build a community spirit on the campsites.

Thanks,

Steve Sage - Leeds Festival Security Coordinator

Dear CATs,

A huge thank you to everyone who volunteered with us this year at Leeds. It was so lovely to meet all of you and despite the wet weather once again, you all worked extremely well under the conditions . All of the campsites throughout the week were a lot quieter than previous years and I truly believe that this was down to the presence of the CATs on the sites doing a fantastic job and interacting very well with the public.

I would like to say a special thank you to CAT control; this was the first time at Leeds that we had this in place and you all need to give yourselves a pat on the back as you exceeded all expectations and we very much hope you join us again next year.

We look forward to seeing you all again at Leeds and Latitude Festivals 2010.

Thank you,

Jo Shields - Hotbox Events Project Manager, Leeds Festival CATs

Dear all,

As Jo has said, a huge thank you to all the CATs at Leeds 09 - it was wonderful to see that you all fully understood the CAT Pack and onsite briefing and did an excellent job helping the Zone Managers and staff in your zone to create a more peaceful environment out on the campsites, even when that sometimes meant dealing with things slightly out of your remit... We are all very grateful to you all for your dedication and professionalism and of course - your smiles!

Thank you again and we look forward to seeing you all in 2010!

Kind regards,

Steph Newman - Hotbox Events Project Assistant, Leeds Festival CATs

Dear CATs & HATs,

Thank you all very much for being part of Reading Festival CATs & HATs, in the campsites, main arena and control room - your hard work, commitment and overall enthusiasm were very much appreciated and we hope you will be able to join us at next year's events... Hopefully many of you will also be enticed to join us at Latitude next year.

I'd like to wish all of those who were injured or fell ill during their time at Reading a speedy recovery (I believe most of the injuries were caused by Prodigy's boisterous performance!)... Perhaps it was because Reading '09 was the 13th CAT event! Thankfully CATs have nine lives!

It was nice to catch up with so many familiar faces and get to meet many new ones and I hope you are all able to return in 2010 to help in making the events better and more enjoyable for both crew and festival goers alike!

Kind regards,

Tavis Russell - Hotbox Events Project Manager, Reading Festival CATs & HATs