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Revd Lee Barnes
UK News

'Sanctuary Marquee' returns for Glastonbury revellers

A team of 70 believers are holding daily prayers and worship and offering free water and face painting at the five-day event in Pilton, Somerset.

The Sanctuary Marquee is also available 24-hours-a-day for anyone needing a safe space to spend the night.

Yui Mok/PA Wire

Revd Lee Barnes from Holy Trinity Hotwells in Bristol first took part in 2005 and told Premier the 'Sanctuary Marquee' has been well-received in recent years.

He said: "The response is brilliant. We have people who are regulars who manage to get tickets to Glastonbury who will actually camp near us because they know that they have got a safe space where they can come and just hang out and chill out."

More than 180,000 festival-goers are expected at Glastonbury - which ends on Sunday - with headline acts this year including Adele, Coldplay and Muse.

Yui Mok/PA Wire

Revd Barnes also said the event is not godless and he explained why he believes the sanctuary is a good idea.

"I think it is important there just to have a place in which people, if they want to, can have a safe place, a place where they are listened to, a place where they can ask questions about faith but also to see the fact that, at the heart of Christianity, is the message of serving others," he said.

"It might be a bit more extreme but it is no different to any city or town where all the perimeters of human life go on; drug-taking, music or whatever. I think God is found in both in the obvious places but also in unexpected places."

Yui Mok/PA Wire

Meanwhile, hundreds of people are expected to attend a tribute at Glastonbury to murdered MP Jo Cox on Thursday which was postponed yesterday due to problems on surrounding roads.

You can listen to Revd Lee Barnes speaking with Premier's Aaron James by clicking here.

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