Thanks to all who attended this event.
Thanks to all the artists who played great music.
Thanks to Lhotse Whittle for organising a great benefit gig.
Thanks to Hendre for letting us have the venue for free, to raise money for Oxfam.

NO thanks to security for charging full price for their services and took most of the money raised for Oxfam for themselves!
Something needs to be done about this...its so unfair.

Hi, Phil, well where do you start with a comment like that. one, the security at where at no time consulted, asked or even hinted at as to provide security at a discount for Oxjam. Also there were approx 200 people who attended at five pounds a head, minus a large guest list supplied by you and oxjam (who did not pay), which would have added quite a bit to the door take. I still have a copy of the guest list if you like.I don't know what the profit was, but at the rate we charge if it ate all the profit then there is something really wrong with the set up. No charge for the venue,i take it that the artists gave up their services free. Did you charge for your equipment and time Phil?

As to doing things for charity, we have and do things for charity on a regular basis, that said however, if we did all the charity events discounted we would not be in business for long as we cover events, doors etc all over the uk and a good 25% of these are covered by the definition 'charity'. I do in fact support Oxfam and several other charities and have contributed both time, services and money over the years, prob before you were even born.

Personally i feel this comment has more to do with the fact that we busted your friend for drugs and you were barred for you bad behaviour a few weeks ago and we only allowed you entrance so that Oxjam could go ahead. I had a conversation with you that night and thought you understood the situation? Don't use charity to level personal scores mate

Dr Wuw

Naughty Naughty

I Saw your mate get busted, and big up the door staff, they stopped some idiot trying to knock seven bells out of my mate for no reason...

And the drugged up idiots in the venue are being stopped----SO WHAT---

Us students are starting to come back, I have a job convincing my mates from uni to come to Hendre, give the door staff a break Dr WUW, I saw you talking with them after you had been caught jumping the fence twice and the big bloke was well sound with you, you probably don't remember this you looked like the c meth and lsd was hitting the spot :)

NOTE to the Dr, in MCR or London you would have been knocked out lad, not walked out......

Also if its their only job how do you expect them to pay the bills, one of the lads i know works doors in Llandudno and only gets £100 to live off a week as it is. How many of your mates would give up 70% of their wages--oh sorry their probably all on the dole like U.

Doormen Keep going guys and girls and it'll be rammed to the rafters with more of the good crowds -- My Mrs has felt safe at Hendre for the first time in about two years she wanders off on her own.

Keep up the good work

ThunderBlunder Out

Firstly its not a personal dig at any of the security and I do understand the score guys so I appologise for the initial comment, I wrote it when I was pissed the other night. Also its nothing to do with leveling any scores, Im not like that and I have no scores to level.
Im upset at the outcome of the night thats all.
It just upset me when I found out that no money was raised even though the place was packed out, and the venue was free. All the money raised was used to pay security, which at the end of the day made it an unsuccessful Oxjam event. It didnt make sense.
I was there at 11am setting up and was the last to leave after de-rigging too at 4am. I didnt charge a penny for this ofcourse. I never do.
I know that security is needed at all times and its a good thing too when the security are friendly as you are, and I know very well that this is your job/livelyhood.
I wasnt aware of any guestlist, so I guess it makes sense now. After some thought over your comment Im sure most people in there were guests!
Sorry guys.

Regarding thundreblunder comment, I agree that its safer in Hendre now too. Ive been in a few nights where youngsters have been fighting (one night had 15 fights!) and thats when security is needed, to deter this from happening ever again.
By the way, I hold a respectful job throughout the week working in a college. Im not on the dole. I wouldnt really be offeneded by that if I was on the dole, but Im not on the dole!
Do I look like a doley? I`ll take it as a complement ok.

PS...I cant see many nights being succesful at Hendre because of the security charge. It costs roughly half of the money needed to pay for everything only to end up breaking even or worse.. People round here cant cope with those sort of prices really and slowly but surely no one will use Hendre anymore :(

PPS..If anyone I know gets busted for any reason its their own fault not mine. Dont start pointing fingers at me for that, its not fair.

Cheers Phil, appology accepted and I have taken on board your comments, so here is my take on the situation. firstly the provision of security at Hendre for events is a legal requirment and is part of the licence.

All events are subject to search, on quieter events random, on other nights i.e. club nights and the like, they legally have to be searched on entry. This requires a minimum of 4-5 staff and even then with 4 the venue is not covered as it should be until the door quiets down 12.00-12.30. In reality when the whole venue is in use there should be at least six - eight staff on duty. As you are aware we never impose these numbers on promoters because of the costs involved and is only possible because of the quality of the staff we use at Hendre. At times in the past hendre had upto twelve staff working on certain nights.

Also at present since the new company took over security costs have gone down by 17.5% and there has not been a price rise in as long as I have been there, can any of your other suppliers state that? The security is a known cost and we are happy to work with promoters to create a safe and profitable event. What we will not do is put venue staff, customers and promoters at risk by not having enough staff to do the job and allow people in that could cause problems or cannot show that they are old enough to be there just to up the door take. I have seen the comments on the other strings regarding 40 odd being turned away at the door for no id. Somewhat over estimated i think, but Long term this is no good for your event because for every problem that gets through the door you, the promoter we lose the good customers you want, trouble of any sort will stop people coming to future events. Also the rules regarding id are well known by the hendre regulars and are enforced on every door in the country, therefore stick it on the posters and the websites for your event. Anyone who appears to be under the age of twenty one will be asked for id and needs to provide it for entry, this is a legal requirement as well as a venue policy. Minimum Security numbers are dictated by the licence.

Hendre is quite unique as a venue, it has a unique license and needs handling in a certain way. But how many other clubs would give you the option of the amount of door staff needed for the venue, not many. The amount of staff is gauged by how much of the venue is in use, the type of event and the possibility of trouble on the door i.e. the crowd it attracts. i myself have and still do promote, run production services etc on a scale somewhat larger than Hendre / time etc. There are several things that I know you can not skimp on if you want a safe and successful event and the first on the list is security.

Most venues include the costs of security in the hire fee so you don't see what you are paying. The venue management already regularly pay for extra door staff over and above what the promoters pay for. I will happily meet with any promoter and discuss their event and the security levels needed. I should also add that more often than not you have extra door staff around both in uniform and in plain clothes both on and of duty that are around at hendre during the course of any event that neither you or the venue is paying for and is purely good will on both ours and their part.

We are not just at hendre to keep trouble to a minimum, security have a whole list of legal areas to cover and venue policies to adhere to and enforce as well.

While were discussing things one of the other things that happens far to often is that we are asked to drop or increase staff numbers at the last minute. Door staff are booked in advance and when there booked they are working. There is no other profession that I know of that are booked that turn up to work to be told, because the promoter has not done their job properly, that they are not needed or are wanted to go home early! In my world if I book staff for an event and then decide I don't need them I still have to pay them. They have in all likelihood turned down work elsewhere, could of put off plans etc to come and work for you.

If the cost of providing security levels is the difference between your event making money or not then you need to question your operation. What’s wrong, is it the marketing, door price, timing, competing events, to large guest lists, not enough following etc, etc. I am not saying this for having a go or as a security consultant, but as a fellow promoter whose been around the block a few times. I am more than happy to help if I can.

In Haste.

as this seems to be an argument about the security in hendre, i for one (and so can my 3 friends who regularly go to hendre) can say that we have NEVER been made to feel more uncomfortable by door staff. we've been going for 4years, and allways bring either valid passport or driving liscence, and when being asked to present them, we, garunteed every time, get scrutinised. the staff allways, no matter how many times they have seen us and our id, take it off us, stare at it for minutes, whisper between them selves, ask ludicrous questions like ''are you from this country''?!?!?!? '' did you make this yourself''?!?!?!? and myself and my friend have both got the new driving liscences and they told us they were fake and wed made them. do security companies not get informed about changes in liscence appearance?!?!?!? before the new door staff were in hendre, we could happily go to hendre without worrying that were going to be made to feel uncomfortable or some kind of master criminal immigrants and know were going to have a good night. one friend of ours now refuses to go to hendre because of the female security guard. we COMPLETELY understand that if we look under 21 we will be asked for id, but we'de expect them to be polite, to use basic manners, and overall just be pleasant and not so ''thorough'' ( it feels physically uncomfortable being searched by the particular female security guard). we have been looking into making a formal complaint, but dont know how to go about it.

basically wed like to go to hendre as its the best night out, we think, in north wales. it has good people, atmosphere and music. itd be nice to know we could go without being searched very intimately. another thing about the security is they allways ask if we have ny other form of id, what on earth do we have to bring???? isnt passport or liscence enough??

heres a simple idea that mite help to change public misconception a little, instead of tshirts and jackets with the word SECURITY on in big letters why not have just an identifiable logo for example the logo on hendres sign of the horse with no writing on.
youll all know what it means and others will too in about 5 seconds, weve had ive worked with many security firms over the years the best of which wore black suits and blended into the background,
just a though
kaimxxx

Cheers Magpie for the whole explanation. I understand now how complicated it can be for Hendre. Its the legal side thats complicated, not the way that Hendre or the security run.
I do believe though that prices paid for security should relate to how many people the venue can hold.
For example Oxjam had the main room on 20th Oct, there was a private party in the other rooms and fences blocked each area off. Now, considering that, do both partys involved pay full price for each security member or is it shared?
Im sure with fresh, experienced and understanding security who hold respect for Hendre`s VERY loyal punters the future might well be bright for the punters, the venue, the promoters, and the security.

Oxjam was a Top Night by the way! ( had to add that in.)
Thanks.

cheers to all for the comments, i'll deal with them in order if i may.

Firstly the young lady who feels that she has" NEVER been made to feel more uncomfortable by door staff. we've been going for 4years, and allways bring either valid passport or driving liscence, and when being asked to present them, we, garunteed every time, get scrutinised. the staff allways, no matter how many times they have seen us and our id, take it off us, stare at it for minutes, whisper between them selves, ask ludicrous questions like ''are you from this country''?!?!?!? '' did you make this yourself''?

Interestingly enough this is usually the opposite reaction to what we get feedback wise. Also for every comment like this we get at least ten complements about our service. That said I understand that some people do not like being searched and feel it is an invasion of their space. Unfortunately it is required and I will not appologise for the staff doing it well. The same is true of the id issue, you my know your id is genuine but we don't, we have all sorts of things put before us as id and so many tricks that it would take an essay to list them all. The most common are using an older sister or brothers id, passport, driving licence etc and of course the fakes, which are very good fakes in the main and can be purchased virtually anywhere. The other thing is you only have to remember a few faces of Security when you visit occasionally, we see hundreds if not thousands of faces every week and Hendre is just one door. Having said that we know nearly every regular face and most of them are really good people out for a laugh. I don't understand the comment about manners and being polite as you will always be treated with both of these attitudes unless you have given the staff a reason not to. Don't be defensive when you come to the door, have your id examined or are searched, do not give a hostile attitude to the staff and if you are genuine then there is no problem. I'm sorry that you have a problem with being searched properly, but I take that as a complement, not a problem. We search for drugs, weapons and hidden alcohol and doing it well keeps people safe. Anyway introduce yourself next time you come and I'll have a natter with you and introduce you properly to the staff, and if you wish to complain then talk to me so i can work out which bit of the search bothers you?

Hi Kaim, love the idea (just like the old days) but nowadays blending into the background is not liked, not by the industry or us, but by local authorities and the SIA etc. In many areas of the country they want the visable deterent and are making door firms wear hi-vis on the doors and day-glo t-shirts in the venues so that everyone can see them! We work all over the country and when working the top end clubs in London, Manchester, Liverpool etc or doing CP work we to are able to work suited, booted and blend.Unfortuatley theres not many palces in this neck of the woods where that is needed. Also there is a reason for the jackets apart from the amount of kit we need to carry, its protection, the jackets, gloves etc stop needles, bottles and help snag up knifes etc. The reason for the signs is that should it go off customers can see who is who in the middle of it and that stops mistakes and also should a member of the staff need to have a word with someone then it is clear to all whose talking to them. Oh for the good old days!

By the way, 'Ive been around in this game for a long time and our staff and teams are personally requested all over the country by some of the biggest players in the game because we are good at what we do.

Cheers again Phil and I can totally agree about the division of the venue being a problem. It makes our lives a pain in the Arse and the majority of the time there is no Security at the private functions and we end up policing the fenceline (where most of the trouble happens), dealing with the problems that spill over from one to another and end up policing both by default as well as holding the door, searching etc, etc.

thanks for replying, all of what youve said is much appreciated, the reason it bothers us is that we are such a quiet, small group who have never caused any trouble, if we did look in any way suspicious then its fine, but were far from it! we feel that theres no need to be so unfriendly. i understand that it is compulsory to search for various things, and ive never had a problem with bieng searched untill now. with the security guard i mentioned in my last comment it feels a bit too intrusive and we do get intimidated by her, and i dont think that its very fair that anyone should feel intimidated. what i meant about manners was that it its not a case of ''hello, could i see some id please?'' its just ''got any id''. i have to say that its just that one security guard that i find to be not so nice, the rest are great, and i have to say do a good job of keeping the peace, i feel safe in hendre. i should have been more specific in my last comment, sorry about that. again, thanks.

By the way....Oxjam was a great night. Hope you can all make it next year too.