Free cakes, prayer and a smile at the Isle of Wight Festival

Christians are offering some respite to rockers this weekend with tea, cake and a warm smile.

More than 20 volunteers are serving free refreshments at this weekend's Isle of Wight Festival.

If the crowds get tired of rocking to the Kings of Leon, Foo Fighters or Seasick Steve, they can always take some time out to have a nibble and chat, or be prayed for.

Volunteers will even be offering to wash smelly, worn out feet at the church-run ‘Solace’ tent, which has been hailed as “a feast of hope” by mission specialist Roy Crowne.

The Solace tent has become something of a fixture at the festival and is intended to give people some space to reflect against a backdrop of live acoustic music and chilled open mic sessions.

Music festivals might be a playground for the young, but church members of all ages on the Isle of Wight support the Solace team, while a massive army of bakers are hard at work providing the cakes.

“We love giving our time and energy to this,” said Ced Wells, one of the organisers.

“Shed loads of cake containers and tins flood in – and what is amazing is that, despite high demand, we’ve never once run out of cake!”

Solace is proving increasingly popular, with long queues forming in previous years.

“We just give as an expression of what God has given us and convey his love and grace,” said Ced.

“We keep it simple – a way of serving and not expecting anything in return. We make festival-goers feel pampered and relaxed and offer them full acceptance which can open up conversation.”

Solace got going when an older church member bumped into a festival organiser and secured a pitch.

He suggested the idea of a Christian festival to Ced and was happy to hand over responsibility, saying that it was not for his generation to be on the front line.

The island’s 100 churches are all in support of this venture, making it very much a joint project owned by the local Christian community.

Volunteers mainly come from a combination of six churches and they do it all again at Bestival, another music festival which takes place in September.

“It’s a feast of hope and a model for other churches to follow,” said Roy Crowne, who heads the nationwide initiative HOPE, which encourages churches to work together in such schemes.

“We’ll be following the Solace team and their adventures, because we want to learn from their example.”