Welfare operation mode proposal
A decision has been made (?)
https://talk.kiezburn.org/d/Ur72ItZA/welfare-operation-mode-proposal/16
This is about a new way Welfare can be operating - in short to make it more efficient and reach as many people as possible I want to make it mobile!
Proposer: Me!
To these who don't know me, I am this year's Lead of Welfare. I was involved with First Aid during the last Kiez Burn. In the regular, non-glitter life I am also a psychiatrist in training so this year I wanted to contribute a bit more in my area of expertise and this is my idea on how it can be done.
People/roles most affected by this proposal
First Aid Lead and Volunteers
THE PROPOSAL
Background
My experience from helping to organise First Aid in last Kiez Burn as well as doing shifts there is that it's quite difficult to find volunteers, especially if a volunteering shift means you have to sit it one spot the whole time (so you have no possibility to participate in anything else, even if there is nobody requiring help at the moment). I have done two shifts 6 hours each and frankly, I sometimes had kind of a feeling I was missing out on some stuff - which of course doesn't apply if you have someone requiring your help - but there were long hours in which nobody came.
Since the event might get smaller, we might have a smaller pool of participants and logically, probably less volunteers. The number of shifts, or rather the time that needs to be covered, stays however the same (at least 5 days, 24 hours each - and I think 6 hours of shifts are the absolute maximum). With Welfare, I think the point is that it's always available - so to do only as many shifts as the number of available volunteers allows makes little sense.
Another point is, I am not 100% convinced the idea of only stationary welfare is the best. I don't know a lot of people that had at some point an idea to actively look for it, even if they might need it. I myself have an experience of going to Welfare while on a bad trip - it's an insane effort to gather yourself enough to actually find the tent, especially if you don't know your way around KB. And that was during daytime, during the night I probably wouldn't trust myself to move from where I have been.
The proposal + implementation
On-call mobile Welfare shifts! The idea is - we still set up a small welfare tent with mattresses, tea and secure a small space for the people to feel safe in. The tent should be next to First Aid station.
The novelty is, the volunteers are not required to stay in that tent the whole time. If there is nobody requiring help, the volunteers are allowed or even encouraged to cruise through the whole KB area. Obviously they shouldn't be partying or doing workshops, they should be however be around, talk to the people and keep an eye on anyone that could require help maybe but won't themselves ask for it (as it often is while on a bad trip). They would be wearing some easy identification (I am thinking t-shirt saying Mobile Welfare and dunno, angel wings?). I think this way we could reach the biggest number of people - all of those who don't even realise Welfare is an option or are feeling too bad to go through the trouble of looking for the tent.At the same time, I think shifts like this are more attractive for the volunteers - you stay responsible but have no obligation to stay in one spot the whole time and don't feel taken out from the ongoing events.
One other plus would be a smaller number of required volunteers - obviously two per shift would be best, however with downscaled Kiez Burn I am quite pessimistic about the number of volunteers (considering we also have to find people for Rangers, Site Leads and so on). In the stationary version, it would be unrealistic to make single person shifts if needed (implying this single person has to stay in a single place for the whole shift - in First Aid we did two person shifts also for the purpose of keeping each other companion). I would still love to have two people on a shift (if nothing else, to not leave anyone without support), however being realistic I want to aim small (so to have one person for every shift) and if possible, upscale. In the mobile version, this person can still interact with other people so it's not 6 hours of sitting alone in case nobody needs their help during this particular shift.
What about people that ARE actively looking for Welfare? Well, they are still very welcome to come to the tent! In that case, I would need a tiny bit of support from the First Aid people. I would make it clear that people coming to the Welfare tent looking for support should speak to First Aid, since they will be there anyways. The task of First Aid would be to call the mobile Welfare person through a radio and tell them there is someone in the tent. In that case, the Mobile Welfare comes back to the tent and takes care of this person.
Another advantage of this is that we can, if required, leave the tent together with the tripping person, for whichever reason. It might be to encourage them to take a shower or change clothes (both a really good method to change mood during a bad trip) or to maybe accompany them back to their camp if they feel good enough to leave the safe space in the tent, or even to help them to find their friends. This would allow us to actively do more than just offer a safe space and tea and also have a better feeling about the fate of the people leaving the tent. In the stationary version, we kinda had to trust that the person saying they are good enough to leave the camp are going to be fine and find their way back. Now we can safely deliver them back to their camp and support system.
As a last remark I would like to add that in the case a lot of people would actively come to the tent, the volunteers will stay in the tent anyways (so effectively Welfare would look the same as it always did, stationary). I would however like to use this resource more actively and I think it's a shame if someone would have to just sit around and wait if they could be doing something more productive (and more fun for the volunteers themselves) during that time.
For this to work, I would like to make sure that the concept of Welfare, both mobile and stationary, will be shortly explained at the gate so everyone knows it is an option.
Who would implement this proposal
Me and the Welfare team, if First Aid Team as well as you reading this think it's a good idea :)
What would be the cost (time, money, effort, etc.) of this proposal
No additional money (or maybe a bit to buy angel wings or however we want to make ourselves accessible while being mobile). For the gear we would need a radio (that we have already, just keep one for us). And considering human resources, we would need a bit of support from Welfare - am looking forward to seeing what the affected people think of that :)
What are the advantages of this proposal (relative to the current situation and/or counter-proposals)
- more accessible Welfare that can also actively look for anyone needing help
- shifts more attractive for the volunteers
- 1 person per shift possible if we have little volunteers
- possible to accompany the person back to their camp if needed and deliver them to safe hands of their friends
What are the disadvantages of this proposal (relative to the current situation and/or counter-proposals)
- would require a bit of support from First Aid
- no stationary person in the Welfare tent 24/7 (but they would be within reach and could quickly come if needed)
- you tell me, what criticism do you have? will expand the list with your points
LAST WORDS
Please let me know what you think, I know the concept is kinda revolutionary so I would understand if someone would feel very strongly against it. But let's talk about it :) Thanks for reading!
Alex Kaos Fri 28 May 2021 7:56AM
I like the proposal in general.
I also agree with @Franzi's comments, these all need to be addressed.
Especially that First Aid is outsourced and not necessarily a great environment to have next to Welfare. Having said that I imagine it would make Welfare easier to find for someone in distress (First Aid = Help = Welfare)
I would envision this would create a much more interesting shift-pattern for such a role. But as someone who's done a few site lead shifts, I can say that the walkie-talkies are only 90% reliable. Being in a loud sound zone or at a far end of the map can cause messages to be lost. This could overload the volunteer with a backlog of compounding events that may prove somewhat stressful.
Otherwise I love the idea and bringing some fresh thinking to the topic. And I have nothing specifically against it, so long as the safety protocols and First Aid team are clear and confirm their participation in the model.
Steffen Lepa Fri 28 May 2021 9:25PM
Frankly, given the current circumstances, i would go far further with Welfare decentralization. I expect a very kiez based burn if any. Hence every kiez should have their own welfare faires. Centralized Training session on site or week before for people tested. Coordination of All fairies via walkie talkies with Rangers and meds. Maybe a very small central tent at the outskirts of the area for Hippies badly in need for a calm retreat. But thats just my 50cents, wont get involved actively this year in welfare.
CJ Yetman Sat 29 May 2021 11:51AM
I also love the idea, thanks Agata! But with the same concerns as have already been stated
first aid being third party and possibly not a good solution for first point of contact for people who try to come to welfare on their own (an additional possible problem that I see is that they might be busy with an actual medical situation when someone arrives looking for welfare)
limitations on radio communication (somewhat unreliable, difficult near loud sound stages, etc.)
@franzi6 Welfare has played a role in the safety protocols in the past.... both as a location (which we can use as a calm, quiet place to have sensitive conversations)... and as a service (relying on the welfare team to be there to support people while in crisis). I have already acquired stuff to build a Site Leads homebase that could probably takeover Welfare's location role in that (though the Site Lead's homebase certainly won't be as comfortable and inviting as Welfare has been in the past), but yes, I agree that it's rather important that the Site Leads are able to get in touch with the Welfare team and get support from them quickly and without a lot of effort during a crisis (or incident).
Veroca R. Sala Tue 1 Jun 2021 5:27PM
Hey Thanks for the detailed proposal. I would like this topic to be moving forward towards a resolution soon.
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From the volunteer's coordination perspective: I can say welfare shifts haven't been hard to fill in actually. People are usually okay with hanging out there, it's a chill and cozy vibe, with a nice soft area. I hadn't problems with fulfilling these roles ( at least not more than other roles) Maybe is not the most "fun & active" shift, but I assume ppl that want more ACTION will go on and take the rangers' shift for instance. But the model will still work .
So from volunteers coordination, this proposal would have a green light
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As a member of the Korg Team:
- I'm concerned about what the tent is gonna turn into because of the lack of monitoring, not having sober ppl around 24/7, what the tent is gonna become?
- Iam afraid this this "patrolling-welfare" responsibility will be loaded to rangers, having to keep the tent to its purpose.
- in practice, Id like to be realistic on this, How efficient is it to go out and seek for people in need of help (amongst 800 ppl) than the other way around?, having the person in need go to touch base.
- I like the fresh air that the proposal brings in, However, What is the main goal of having welfare at Kiez Burn event?,
We want to offer a safe and calm space. Id like in that case, to put the focus on those ppl that might need the welfare and not that much on the volunteers filling the shift. I guess we do offer a cool place to volunteer in, with tea, and cookies, and warm blankets, where they can even take a nap. If the worry is ppl being bored at the welfare, then we could change that, I heard something about a tea testing table somewhere. Just to say something...maybe consult the budget available for welfare and see what can be done to make it as cool as possible (?)
so from the event coordination perspective: Its unclear whether the proposal of an non monitored welfare tent will actually serve its purpose as we know it.
Personal point of view
I also put myself on the feet of someone that is not having the best time, and want to go to welfare, but for that has to pass by first aid to get someone to call the welfare volunteer, and feel that I would be cutting the fun of others to assist me which also wouldn't make me feel any better. I think the nice thing about the welfare tent is that we all know its there, and that we will find someone on their feet to have a sensitive conversation.
Most of the ppl taking shifts on site are attending to an event that is actually happening because many other ppl have put probably more than 6 hours work into it; 6 hours at the welfare its a nice gift to the community... the time we invest before, during and after the event I see it as a gift, if we, as community are not willing to do that, then we probably wont have people filling the shifts, and we will see that fail, wich will speak of our community as well...
I Would suggest, if you worry about the boredom on the shifts, maybe get a co-lead to work on the "fun" part, im sure there are plenty of nice things to do on deco, and things to offer, that can keep the volunteers busy if they wish to be, and can make the welfare tent a cool shift❤️
Cris Tue 1 Jun 2021 8:50PM
Thanks a lot, Agata, for bringing up such an interesting idea! Getting and engaging volunteers it's been always a tricky part, and I love the thoughts you put into this.
I, nevertheless, subscribe to all the comments and concerns above, particularly the 1st Aid ones, of course.
From the Rangers perspective, this is overlapping a bit in what they actually do, although I don't see a big problem in that, only that then we have too many people doing the same job (a bit pointless?) But finding Welfare - no one - finding 1stAid - waiting for them to be available - requesting - having them calling on the radio - and then wait, seems to me like a lot to overcome and go through if you're in distress. Not mentioning if that's a Friday-distress!
Maybe, as Vero mentioned, focusing on alternative solutions for the actual problems could be an option. Given this particular year's challenges and the unclear number of people (=unclear number of potential volunteers) I was debating with this year's Ranger Lead @Jessie about prioritizing the most important slots and then opening the rest once more tickets are sold and the important slots are filled. Personally, I'd be ready to keep some hours here and there (those where usually nothing happens) without rangers, if needed to be. Probably that's not even going to be the case, because everything looks good. But maybe this is something you could use in Welfare?
Some other input I'm getting from Monkey-Steffi: Gate volunteers usually have it quite boring after the very first days, could it be possible that they are somehow a bit close to each other and give each other company?
Franzi Wed 2 Jun 2021 6:15AM
@Agata hey just a quick question. How long do you plan to have your advice process running? I am asking cuz I am currently re-writing safety protocols and the outcome of this process needs to go into my protocols. The deadline I got from the board is June 18th :)
CJ Yetman Wed 2 Jun 2021 11:48AM
Having thought a bit more about this… I still like the idea, and I support it, but not at the expense of the existing situation. I think a good amount of people have the expectation that they can go to Welfare and someone will care for them immediately and without any hassle or waiting or searching. Maybe this idea could be integrated with the existing structure? Like if there are always two people on shift at Welfare, then one of them could spend half the time as a roaming Welfare person (unless they got called back to the tent), and one would stay at the Welfare tent so that it’s constantly monitored?
Veroca R. Sala Thu 3 Jun 2021 9:59PM
@Agata how is this going? we would need to close off this before Sunday. Tickets go on sale on Monday and the volunteer's sheet must be ready Sunday afternoon at last so as to allow some time to finish the whole thing up before going live.
How is your timeline? we are moving really fast pace atm. please catch up coz this is happening and apparently without welfare...(?)
I need: Number of volunteers per shift, date and time of first shift, date and time of last shift, length of shifts etc all in this form. Let me know if I can help on anything
River Aleks Fri 4 Jun 2021 7:17AM
@Agata I was Welfare Co lead 2 years ago and I am happy to be a co-lead with you this year again. I have materials and work sheets from 2 years ago.
Agata Sun 6 Jun 2021 10:53AM
Hey, sorry for taking time to answer, I was quite overworked last days with my daytime job.
To start with, I think making stationary shifts some times and mobile the others would be a compromise, however it doesn't make much sense from a practical sense of view. How would we tell people how to reach someone? I think best is clear information (go to the tent OR look for volunteers), mixing it and making it different depending on the time/ day is just going to confuse people. So it's either this or that.
Argument about people making party in the empty tent I don't really get - we are not a festival, we are a burn and if we believe someone will violate that space (that I intend to mark as a welfare tent with signs specifically saying to leave it as a safe spot) then we assume the participants are just regular festival people. I was under the impression we operate in a community mode and have more faith in the people attending the event.
I did talk to Kai. He basically told me he was also doing mobile welfare alone on events up to few hundert people. He pointed on the principle of Radical Self Reliance. We want to provide a service to people, however I think expecting someone to be in the tent 100% of the time is just unrealistic, it's not even how the actual ER works - you have someone sitting there and talking to a person, assuming what they need and then calling a person qualified to help them.
What CJ said - 'I think a good amount of people have the expectation that they can go to Welfare and someone will care for them immediately and without any hassle or waiting or searching' - I am sorry, I don't think it's an expectation I am able to fulfill, also kinds of contradicts Radical Self Reliance.
2 people on the shift x 4 shifts a day x 5 days of the event is minimum 40 volunteers. I understand the prinicple of volunteering, am willing to make a shit by myself, don't think however 39 other people will take 6 hours from their event to volunteer. I am really trying to be realistic here, I however know filling in shofts has been a problem last years wich ended up with Kai himself putting a lot of hours - I am sorry but I am personally not willing to fill in empty spots, it's also something I talked about before taking the lead. Would be very happy to be proven wrong and have a set of volunteers though.
With my concept, if a lot of people would come to the tent - we are in the tent. I would love to talk to Red Cross people - I don't think it would be too much of a stretch to ask them to redirect the people to us. The information that we could be giving to people entering the event is - if you feel fad and need welfare, look for a welfare angel OR go to rangers OR to first aid. I understand radios fail sometime, if they are good enough for Site Leads and Rangers to communicate, I don't see why welfare should be different. Franzi - my experience from Welfare was coming down from acid next to a sound stage playing loud Psytrance - which I don't wish to anyone. When I tried to raise this point many times, I have been told it's because the tent needs to be easy to find and it'a priority above vibe. I wished to have the tent a bit more on the side - which is not optimal because it's very difficult to find for a person on drugs - and have rangers/ welfare and so on deliver people there. Please remeber it gets also dark early in August - I don't think it's realistic or wanted to have tripping people cruising the ground in the darkness, which was another reason why mobile version would be superior in my eyes.
Welfare tent being a place to gather is not something I was aware of. Isn't ranger's station for this? I can understand it's convenient but if we have a tripping person in the tent at the same time what would happen?
I am sorry but what I had in mind with keeping people company on the road is definitely not what rangers are doing. I wanted to make sure this person can take a shower safely (for example to avoid having consent breeches while showering and being on a bad trip - which is waht happened to me), have a possibility to go on a quiet walk with them if that's what they feel like doing, basically to be there for them. While being on a first aid shift I asked rangers once to escort the person to their camp to make sure they will arrive to safety - same person came to me few hours later beacsue they got lost). I don't want to make accusations because you guys have way more stuff to do - which is why I don't expect anyone to put 100% of their attention to a tripping person if they have other responsibilities. But that's why I don't expect rangers to do stuff like this and want to make it possible to welfare to provide this service. But to say thats this job will overlap with rangers is a huge oversimplification.
It kinda puts me in a wird position - the reason why I wanted to do welfare was because from my peronal experience I saw some stuff that can be improved - and that was my idea on how to do that. I can also see that it' generally not so agreed on. As I said, would love to be proved worng and have a list of willing volunteers. I have to also mention, when I talke with people during the Treasure Hunt many of them basically voiced same concern about being forced to sit in a tent and said that possiblity of doing it mobile would be for them an argument to do a shift they might not be willing for otherwise. Hence, my scepticism on finding 40 people willing to sit around.
I however get the general response on this and I guess the general wish is for things to be done the way they always have been done. We will then offer welfare to the extent in which we are able with the amount of volunteers we will have. I will be meeting with Alex tomorrow to discuss it - since she had more experience on how welfare has been done I guess we will just adapt the schedules from last years. I am happy to contact peronally anyone that would express want to be in welfare and make it work - however if we don't cover all shifts (as it has been an issue last years) I am peronally not willing to fill in the missing spots.
I will update tomorrow after the meeting, thanks for reading.
Franzi Mon 7 Jun 2021 6:58PM
Hey Agata, I have now some more time and wanted to respond to your answer in more detail. First of all, thank you for taking time to listen to all the advice you gathered. (And sorry to hear that work kept you so busy <3) I am writing my answers in bold. Hope that helps and gives some structure.
Argument about people making party in the empty tent I don't really get - we are not a festival, we are a burn and if we believe someone will violate that space (that I intend to mark as a welfare tent with signs specifically saying to leave it as a safe spot) then we assume the participants are just regular festival people. I was under the impression we operate in a community mode and have more faith in the people attending the event. - This concern is purely based on experience from the last years. People have partied, drugged, fucked and done all other sorts of things in welfare when unsupervised :D Its burn after all and the tent is cozy. Now all these things are fabulous activity but not in a "saver sober space".
What CJ said - 'I think a good amount of people have the expectation that they can go to Welfare and someone will care for them immediately and without any hassle or waiting or searching' - I am sorry, I don't think it's an expectation I am able to fulfill, also kinds of contradicts Radical Self Reliance. - Thats ok, you dont have to fulfil it personally but maybe with a co-lead or a team? This is the vision and the expectations the Kiez Burn community has. Its why we set up welfare in the first place. Its kinda the whole purpose of this place.
2 people on the shift x 4 shifts a day x 5 days of the event is minimum 40 volunteers. I understand the prinicple of volunteering, am willing to make a shit by myself, don't think however 39 other people will take 6 hours from their event to volunteer. - I have been recruiting volunteers for welfare for the last years. We never had a problem with finding volunteers. People love doing welfare cuz it is such a nice shift. So I am not sure whats driving your concern that there won't be enough volunteers?
Welfare tent being a place to gather is not something I was aware of. Isn't ranger's station for this? I can understand it's convenient but if we have a tripping person in the tent at the same time what would happen? - I think it would be helpful if you read the safety protocols..they havent changed much from 2019. Welfare plays a key role in most incidents. Thats the reason we have welfare, or one of them to be precise - to support the safety and wellbeing of the event.
Thank you for leading the team this way and let me know if you need a helping hand :)
From what you said, is the advice process closed now? Would be cool if you can update the thread.
Agata Tue 8 Jun 2021 11:47AM
Yes, advice process is closed. We will share the lead with Alex who is positive we will find enough volunteers. She is handling shift plan, I am handling preparing the volunteers for the task.
River Aleks Thu 10 Jun 2021 10:03AM
@Franzi @CJ Yetman The welfare is back on! 🎉We will try to improve it and love it up as much as we can. I also rebranded it a little, the trained volunteers are now called Welfare Guardians. I would like to talk to you @CJ Yetman about relocating the Welfare tent to a more quiet location. I also think we should have a separate tent structure for Kborg and Rangers ( like they do at Borderland with the Clown Police) to avoid them using the Welfare tent (happened a few times in the past) which should be stricte for providing a safe space.
River Aleks Thu 10 Jun 2021 1:00PM
@Cairn (Clément) I would love to talk to you about the location of the Welfare tent, it should be moved to another location. Nothing against Psy Trance but it is not very conducive for calming the nervous system.
Veroca R. Sala Sat 12 Jun 2021 9:39PM
Moving this thread to the Advice process group. It is unclear its resolution. Is Only clear bay this comment the advice process its closed. We keep it in this group as for documentations and learnings for the future.
River Aleks Thu 10 Jun 2021 12:56PM
I was told you were the Site Planning Lead @CJ Yetman, sorry! I should have checked. It turns out that I am the only Welfare Lead at this point, because of Agata's really intensive hospital schedule in July.
I have rebranded the Welfare again today and so we are the Welfare Care Bears ( trained volunteers) and the Welfare Teddies ( former Fluffers).
Yes, I was told about that situation I wanted to prevent that to happen again and I am so happy to hear that the Site Leads will have their own tent! So the problem is solved. And of course if someone needs emotional support that what Welfare is for.
CJ Yetman Thu 10 Jun 2021 1:42PM
I'm the Site Leads Lead... or something... I know, it's confusing. Basically, I organise all the volunteers who take the Site Lead shifts and make sure they get everything they need.... which this year includes their own home base! 😀
River Aleks Thu 10 Jun 2021 10:03AM
I did not know we divided it like this, I also want to give the trainings :)
Franzi Mon 7 Jun 2021 6:24AM
I second CJ, as the safety protocol secretary :)
Veroca R. Sala Thu 3 Jun 2021 8:46AM
I think the concern is that the shift is long and boring at the tent. Having one person alone in there...
Maybe consider what Cris says... like prioritizing the busy days (Friday and Sat) with volunteers in the tent, and the rest can be slots to be opened as we go. Im down for that.
Also instead of making it sound like a "roaming shift" it could be simply up to the volunteer whether they want to stay and be present or if they want to hang out somewhere else and be available on-call.... however this might be confusing for those who actually need some assistance...
CJ Yetman Sun 6 Jun 2021 1:41PM
@Agata again, I love the idea of this additional capacity for Welfare to roam the site when needed. I doubt anyone here doesn't appreciate the value of that. The question/debate is about whether or not we should remove a capacity that we have always had and many people have appreciated, and serves a critical role in our safety protocols. It's totally ok if you're not interested in leading that capacity and would prefer to focus solely on adding this new capacity, but the capacity that we have had in the past probably needs to be continued one way or another. Maybe @Aleks would be able/willing to handle the Welfare tent and you could spearhead this new mobile welfare team? I think it's super cool that you want to do this and 100% supportive of it, but if you don't want to lead the Welfare tent, we need to fill that role asap.
Cris Wed 23 Jun 2021 8:49PM
Yes, Rangers will have their own separate hut again this year. 2018 they were sharing it with 1stAid, which was a terrible idea..
CJ Yetman Thu 10 Jun 2021 11:25AM
location question should be directed to Site Planning Lead @Cairn (Clément) , though I'm happy to discuss if you need/want my input
Kborg/Korg doesn't have/need any tent/structure... I don't think that's ever really been a thing. Most of their work is done through planning before the event, they don't really have much of a role or purpose on-site.
Rangers did have their own Ranger Station last time, and afaik they will this year as well. I'm not aware of this situation where Rangers were needing the Welfare tent, maybe @Cris knows more about that?
Site Leads have not had their own tent/space before, but they will this year. Last time, there was one situation where Site Leads (me and @Franzi) asked to use the Welfare space because we had to have a sensitive conversation that we thought might need emotional/psychological support during/after (it did) and that somehow turned into a much larger drama than we had anticipated. This year, that type of conversation will by default begin in the Site Lead homebase, however... please keep in mind that the Welfare tent is a critical part of our safety protocols, so Site Leads are trained to deal with situations the best they can, but as soon as someone needs medical or emotional support, they are meant to hand that off quickly to First Aid or Welfare respectively, and then refocus on solving problems... so there's always a chance that Site Lead will bring people or situations to the Welfare tent if they believe that's appropriate.
Franzi · Fri 28 May 2021 5:56AM
Hey @Agata, Thank you so much for all your thoughts and passion to bring forward your proposal. I am not the first aid lead this year..I still wanna share some qq's and invite some more people to this discussion. Hope thats alright with you :)
First Aid is supposed to be led by red cross this year and going forward. For all the reasons you mentioned. Not sure you are aware of this? For me this changes the situation a lot since we wouldnt ask "externals" to oversee one of our additional areas. Also, from a placement perspective I wouldnt strongly advice against welfare being next to red cross. (For space - they ll bring their huge army tent, but also for vibe)
Retired welfare leads Dr Goodtimes (I think he is not on talk but maybe you can give him a call and gather his thoughts), @Steffen Lepa I would really appreciate your input on this.
Wanderers..so I wonder how this will go hand in hand with the wanderers? Since these are the shifts that walk the Gelaende, "collect" people in distress and bring them to welfare. @Cris @tobi (Wanderer Lead any thoughts on this?)
Safety Protocols... welfare as a space but also the welfare lead role is a crucial part in most of our safety protocols. I dont think its feasible if we have an emergency the site lead needs to go "find" the welfare folx somewhere of the gelaende. (That was already tricky last time during my side lead shift and caused mega stress) @CJ Yetman as site lead lead, what do you think? I know you are planning a site lead station and so on. How would that work for your team with a mobile welfacre group?
Visibility: I think if you go forward you need to make sure the welfare teams are visible and clearly distinguished from wanderers etc.
I agree with all points you listed under advantages :)