Our charity is staffed by volunteers, many of whom are doctors, nurses and other clinicians who work in the National Health Service. They bring to their involvement with FMS the same high professional standards they follow in their day to day employment.
FMS started in 1979 with volunteers providing medical care at the Glastonbury Festival to ensure the safety of festival-goers.
We have developed into an exemplar organisation that is engaged to cover an increasing number of events. In 2020 we were awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. By our 40th anniversary, we had donated more than £1million in grants which have benefited many thousands of disadvantaged people and already we are well on our way to the next million.
We deliver targeted donations to charities which champion medical causes and bring meaningful improvements to the lives of ordinary people around the world.
At the start of the new century we developed our ability to examine each project and charity to promote capacity building and effective use of appropriate resources. We have donated approximately £1m. In addition we have teamed up with World Extreme Medicine (WEM) to provide Trauma Boxes and Individual First Aid Kits (IFAKS) to Ukraine. FMS has contributed £30,000 with £137,000 of external donations for the Ukraine project. Together with other doners more than £2m worth of supplies and medical equipment has been delivered to Ukraine to benefit civilian and combatant patients.
In 2020 we were awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary
Service.
A Charity providing protection, education and healthcare to underprivileged children living in Kolkata, India
A Charity supporting St Peter's Schools and Community in
Kajuki, Kenya. A remote, rural and desperately poor
community.
Read more here
Humanity & Inclusion aids disabled and vulnerable in 60 countries affected by poverty, conflict, disaster, aiming for inclusive, dignified living.
Read more here
A social enterprise, providing tailored wheelchairs to disabled individuals globally for over 30 years, ensuring access to essential Assistive Technology.
Joliba Trust supports farming communities in Mali's, focusing on women's initiatives and environmental sustainability for rural livelihoods.
Rowans Hospice provide palliative and end of life care to the highest quality for those living with a life-limiting illness in the Southeast of Hampshire
Friends of Mandritsara Trust a charity which runs a nursing school and seeks to teach and train qualified nurses.
A charitable initiative in Zanzibar aims to relieve sickness and maintain health by providing equipment, facilities, and health services to residents.
FMS has, throughout its existence, made grants to medical charities around the world. In the majority of countries that we deal with, food can be scarce due to poverty, warfare, or climate change. In the developed world we possibly have too much food and whichever world you live in health and food go hand-in-hand.
We are inviting people to submit recipes to our website to demonstrate the huge range of ways that people feed themselves on this planet. Some recipes will be based in poverty and others in varying degrees of excess, they will all reflect the societies and cultures of their origins.
We would love recipes from anyone in the charity, health or not for profit sectors, volunteers and workers. If possible, we would like at least one recipe from every country that an organisation works in. We are also interested in what charity workers eat whilst in a foreign country. Do they pine for the dishes of home, do they eat to align themselves with a foreign culture?
As we build up a body of recipes, we want to share a link to your websites so that everyone can see the project as it builds. This will be an open-source collection of recipes that can be used by any organisation. Recipes can be used for fundraising, research, education or any other purpose.
Events try to make themselves accessible and welcoming to people with health problems and disabilities. With a bit of thought and planning, many potential difficulties can be overcome. Here are a few things to consider:
Bring with you enough of your medication to last till you get home
Check the advice on our Prescribed Medicines page
Bear in mind that festival sites can be difficult to get around at the best of times and pretty well impossible in bad weather if your mobility is poor
Many events have a Disabilities Coordinator, who will be able to advise you on any special provisions made
If you have a complicated medical history, it will be really helpful if you bring a summary with you (your doctor’s surgery may let you have a print-out)
Let us know if you have to carry out any special procedures to keep well – we may be able to provide facilities and assistance
We do not believe a festival site is a suitable place for childbirth, or indeed for very young babies
FMS does not provide midwifery services and will advise getting you to the nearest hospital if you go into labour
If you have recently undergone surgery, ask your GP or hospital for advice about any special precautions to take and whether it is a good idea to go
Bring supplies of dressings with you. We can change these for you but may not have the particular ones you need
Festival sites are not sterile! Bear this in mind if your condition makes you particularly prone to infection
FMS cannot provide special toilet or washing facilities.
