Westpoint 2019 FAQs

Each year Commission produces a handbook, stuffed full to the brim with information to help you make the most of your time at the event. This should be your first port of call for any general enquiries about the event

The handbook is available now as a PDF (click here), and a hard copy will be given to you at check-in when you arrive.

This year commission have also created a wonderful smartphone and tablet app to accompany the handbook. It can be obtained from the following places:

Google Play Store

Apple App Store

Our free luggage van loads up on Tuesday evening and travels down to Westpoint on Wednesday with our set up team. All your luggage will be unloaded and in the marquee waiting for you when you arrive.

You can put any of your Westpoint luggage on the lorry - just make sure it's labelled as you will be amazed at how many people have the exact same case / box / whatever as you!

To put anything on the van bring it to the Grace Centre's rear car park (via Leigh Road) between 6:30pm and 7:30pm on Tuesday 20th August.

In emergency on Tuesday evening, ring us on 07720 765 972.

Luggage Pick Up:The lorry will return on Monday evening and you will need to collect all your luggage from the Grace Centre rear car park, usually the vans will return to Chichester by early evening (5:30-6:00pm-ish).

Luggage Collection Alert: If you would like to be contacted when the vans are approaching Chichester, please click here to provide your name and mobile number

Finding WestPoint

The WestPoint arena is just one mile from junction 30 of the M5. It is well sign posted and easy to find.

If using a Sat Nav, the address is WestPoint Arena, Clyst St Mary, Exeter, EX5 1DJ

On Arrival

• Turn left off the A3052, signposted Westpoint Arena, and follow the signs to the main entrance.
• When you approach Welcome and Booking simply give them your name. No need for any paperwork this year.
• You will be given a handbook and wristband – please ensure you put your wristband on immediately and keep it on for the duration of the event.
• You will be given a parking permit, please complete the information and hang from your rear-view mirror.
• You will be directed to the Grace Church camp site, Pink 2, which is to the far end of the site, beyond the main arena, but don't worry there will be signage to direct you.
• When you arrive at the 'Grace Base' our wonderful set up and welcome team will be waiting for you with a cup of tea ready! They will direct you where to pitch your tent / caravan / campervan and there will be a small army of people to help you to get set up.
• Once you have unloaded your car and pitched your tent, please go and park your car in the main car park. Your car must be off site and in the car park by 10.00pm latest on Thursday

The campsite is divided into zones. This year Grace Church has been allocated a pitch within the Pink 2 zone, which is at the far end of the site, beyond the main arena, but don't worry there will be signage to direct you. Whilst we are a little further away from the arena than last year (and up a small slope), the plot we're on offers us a much better set of options for our site layout, which we aim to make the most of.

Cars are allowed on the Westpoint camp on Thursday but must be removed by and in the car park by 10.00pm latest on Thursday.

Cars will NOT be allowed back on the site for any reason until 7am on Monday

If you wish to leave before Monday (we will miss you - please stay!) you will need to carry all your luggage to the car park.

On the first day –

• The gates open at 10am for people to arrive.
• You register on the gate as you arrive by giving your name.
• You will be given a wristband and handbook.
• Once through registration drive round to the Grace Church site and set up your tent etc.
• There will be tea and coffee ready and waiting for you when you arrive on our site!
• The first meeting is at 7pm, and all cars have to be off site by 10pm.
• Many Grace Church people gather in the marquee about half hour before the main meeting and walk over and sit together. To let you know that this is happening, we will sound a fog horn on our site!
• Between the time you arrive and 7pm is free time to get set up, chat to people and find your way around Westpoint.
• The first evening meeting finishes at 9pm and “lights out” is 11pm across the site.
• Many Grace Church people gather in our marquee after the meetings to chat, socialise and get a drink.

There is a First Aid team on call 24 hours a day, there is also a 24 hour Emergency Department and walk-in-centre during the day at the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital, EX2 5DW.

In event of any emergency call 07403 922 392.

There are toilet and shower blocks at various places around the site.

The nearest one to us is just a short walk away from our plot at the corners of Yellow 1, 2 and 3

They are open 24 hours, but if you use the showers late at night or very early morning - please be considerate of others still asleep and avoiding singing in the shower!

Each year at Westpoint we love to gather together after one of the evening meetings to relax together and have some organised chaos fun This year will be no different. On the Saturday, after the evening meeting we will have a cheese, wine and variety night. This is a fun social evening where we get see the best entertainment that Grace Church has to offer. We will have cheese and biscuits available, and feel free to bring a drink of your choice too.

The hub of Grace@Westpoint is our wonderful marquee. This year we will have our largest ever which is open all day for you to come and relax in. We will have a constant supply of hot water so you will be able to make hot beverages whenever you want. We will have a refrigerator full of milk (including Alpro) for everyone to use so you won’t need to bring any with you. You can use this milk for drinks or cereals – it will be freely available to all so you won’t have to worry about keeping yours cold. Because we will be storing so much milk, there will not be any space for you to keep any personal items in the fridge (except baby food and/or medications).

If you would like to bake cakes for general consumption with the drinks – please bake away and bring them down with you.

The marquee will contain a children and youth 'zone' within it meaning that we will no longer have to erect our second marquee (to collective sighs of relief from the setup team). The additional zone can be curtained off at times to provide a dynamic space in which our young people can relax and play

The very popular bacon or egg breakfast sandwiches (using free range eggs) will be back this year, along with a more healthy cereals option, including some warming porridge! The free breakfast will be served in the marque every morning. On Sunday afternoon we will be holding the Free Grace Church Sunday afternoon BBQ. This will be in and around our marquee before the Sunday evening meeting. Don’t miss this! In response to feedback and to help reduce the level of unnecessary waste, from 2019 we are reducing the amount of disposables we're using, so if you're staying with us on-site please come prepared with camping mugs, plates, bowls and cutlery. Compostable disposables will be available only for new arrivals, those staying offsite, day visitors and guests. There are some food vans available on site. If you are a member of S20, our students and twenties ministry, you can enjoy sharing freshly prepared main meals together with the rest of the S20 crew in the Grace Marquee. The great thing about camping with Grace Church is that you can easily arrange to share meals with friends old and new, members of your life group or short-term groups in an informal way.  Bonds made over meals last well beyond the Westpoint weekend! Finally, as with last year Westpoint are offering pre-paid meal plans for those who'd prefer to have something other than camping or burger-van food.  Details of the menu and an advanced booking form are available here: https://www.commission-together.org/westpoint/westpoint-2019-catering/  

Yes, we will be using free-range eggs this year.

This is an excellent question. Catering for an event such as Westpoint requires a great deal of detailed planning, but also a degree of speculation as to what we need to purchase to cater for all of the 246 people who are coming this year.

In planning our stay, we use information learned from the previous years' events and feedback from you to shape the amount of food, paperware, and equipment we buy. The aim is to reduce waste, whilst not compromising on the quality of the Westpoint experience.

This year, we have reviewed what excess we had last year in perishables and have reduced the amount of food purchased in some areas where waste was identified. Whilst this may mean additional shopping 'on the fly', it is also good stewardship of our natural resources.

Additionally, we have taken on board feedback about the use of non-recyclable plates, cups and cutlery.

Therefore, we are reducing the disposable paperware and cutlery we're supplying and instead asking everyone who's camping on site to make use of their own reusable equipment. This includes, cups, plates, bowls and cutlery. Compostable disposables will be available for new-arrivals, day visitors and guests (although they are welcome to bring their own equipment if they wish).

We value your input into the efforts to sustainability of what we do at Westpoint and more generally as a church, so please let us know if there is anything else you believe we can practically do to help reduce waste.

The nearest supermarket is Tesco - Exeter Vale Extra.

It is 2 miles from Westpoint (8 minute drive) and is open 24 hours a day (10am - 4pm on a Sunday).

The address is Exeter Vale Shopping Centre, Russell Way, Exeter EX2 7EZ.

Directions:

• Come out of Westpoint car park and turn right on to A3052 (towards Exeter and M5).
• At the M5 interchange, go round teh roundabout (under the M5) onto the A379 (second exit of roundabout).
• Take the first right of the A379 into Russell Way.
• Follow this road to the left into Tesco.

There are loads of groups and activities for children at Westpoint. When you arrive you will be give the westpoint handbook which will give you full details.

Westpoint is a family friendly event! We want everyone to fully enjoy it.

As well as the separate children's groups each morning, we will be setting up a children and youth zone in our Marquee, along with a range of games and activities suitable for children, young people and everyone else! In the afternoon's there are loads of activities planned in the main Westpoint arena that are suitable for all.

We strongly recommend that all parents encourage their children and young people to go to all available meetings for their age group. It’s amazing what God can achieve in our kid’s lives over a weekend!

For everybody's safety and maximum enjoyment at Westpoint, we ask parents to supervise your children and young people whilst they make the most of Westpoint. If they use any of the games and equipment please make sure it is packed away once they have finished with them and left ready for everyone to have fun. To ensure your child’s safety it is paramount that you know your child’s whereabouts throughout WestPoint and particularly in the evening, so with that in mind please do not retire to your tent without them.

Hopefully you’re excited about attending WestPoint and about all that is available for your children, or maybe you’re thinking when will my children sleep?! Don’t panic - there is a curfew across the whole WestPoint site so we can all get some well-deserved and much needed sleep. At 11pm everything is shut down (except the loos of course!). Everyone is responsible for keeping the noise to a minimum after this time and making sure they and their families are tucked up in bed. We do understand that babies and young children may cry after this time and that’s fine. Lots of us have been there so don’t worry, we shall bring you warm cups of tea and coffee in the morning and a friendly face!

The main meeting times and speakers are:

• Thursday, 7pm to 9pm - Andrew Wilson
• Friday, 10am to 10:45am - Tim Blaber
• Friday, 7pm to 9pm - Hannah Anderson
• Saturday,10am to 10:45am - Tim Blaber
• Saturday, 7pm to 9pm - Andy McCullough
• Sunday, 10am to 12pm - Guy Miller
• Sunday, 6:30pm to 9pm - Guy Miller

As well as these, there is a huge list of amazing seminars that you can attend.

We would highly recommend that you attend all the main meetings and carefully look through the details for the seminars.

For anyone who can't make it to the main meetings, they will be broadcast on the internet.

On YouTube Live by following this link - Commission Together Channel

Only you can really answer that questions, but here is a guidance kit list we have put together to help:

Camping and Cooking Equipment

• Tent or caravan and all associated bit (eg. ground sheet / pegs etc)!
• Sleeping bag or Duvet
• Air bed / camp bed / roll mat
• Pillow
• Torch and / or camping light
• Camping stove (and gas)*
• Plates / cups / bowls
• Cutlery
• Pots / pans
• Bowl / sponge / washing up liquid – for washing up
• Container for collecting / holding water
• Tin opener / peeler / bottle opener
• Camping table and chairs (there is a large marquee on our site with tables and chairs - you can eat meals in there if you want)
• Any food you wish to bring
• Tupperware containers or resealable bags are often handy

*Remember breakfasts and a BBQ tea on Sunday are provided. There is an endless supply of hot water for tea and coffee in the marquee and there are some fast food vans on site. So you may decide you don't need to cook hot food at Westpoint!

Toiletries

• Towel(s)
• Toothbrush and toothpaste
• Shower gel / soap / flannel / sponge and any other wash items you use!
• Deodorant - please don't forget this! 🙂
• Comb / hair brushes
• Shampoo / conditioner
• Any make-up you want
• Portable mirror
• Note: we have a hair dryer in our marquee

Clothing

• Footware
  • Trainers and/or shoes
  • Wellies / walking boots - sometimes it can rain and be wet at Westpoint!
  • Flip Flops / Sandals (without socks!) - sometimes it can be hot and dry at Westpoint!
• Underware for 5 days
• PJ's
• Any sports clothes if you fancy football / volleyball etc (No blades / studed footwear)
• A warm jumper / sweatshirt
• Some warm clothing including - coat, scarf, hat and gloves (especially if you get cold at night). Remember you may need to run across the field in the middle of the night to get to the loo!
• A waterproof or similar
• Your normal clothing – jeans / t-shirts / etc for 5 days

Extras you might want

• Bible & Book to read
• Phone charger (we have electricity in our marquee and phone charging is possible at times)
• A blanket/hot water bottle if you easily get cold
• Sun lotion
• Any regular medication or allergy treatment
• A teddy bear to cuddle at night!

The only BBQ's allowed on site are gas ones. Please do not bring Lumpwood or Charcoal BBQ's with you as you won't be able to use them?

This may seem like a silly question, but people have been caught out in the past, which has resulted in nasty tummy bugs for some. Please can we ask you to ensure that you wash your hands regularly with soap and water and then dry your hands with a clean paper towel followed by hand gel. This is particularly important before and during food preparation (whether preparing food for yourselves or for others). Please note: the use of hand gel alone is not enough to stop the bug that causes this kind of sickness, soap and water must also be used.

If anyone in your family who is coming to Westpoint has had tummy bug symptoms within 48 hours prior to the event, please ask them not to come until their symptoms have resolved. I know this may be difficult where the ill person is a child, but it is for the safety and comfort of all Westpoint delegates.