Calamity and World Youth Day 2008
Organised by the Catholic Church, World Youth Day is the largest gathering of young people in the world.
World Youth Day 2008 was held in Sydney from Tuesday 15 to Sunday 20 July 2008 and involved The Pope, Heads of State and numerous dignitaries in addition to hundreds of thousands of pilgrims.
WYD08 was the largest single event ever held in Australia.
Calamity were chosen as the lead provider of Asset Protection, Security and Safety Officer Services to the key event sites of Randwick Racecourse, Barangaroo (Darling Harbour), The Sydney Opera House, Centennial Park as well as The Pope’s private residence in Kenthurst.
Although WYD08 itself was only a week in duration, we were present from June until August, during construction, the event itself and de-construction. Altogether we provided over 14,000 man-hours of work. Although a relatively young company, we proved there was (quite literally) no job too big for us to handle, with total client satisfaction.
WYD08 was an event unprecedented in size. The Sydney 2000 Olympics, noted even to this day for its magnitude, was held over a number of weeks, at multiple high-capacity venues throughout Sydney. In contrast, WYD08 saw crowds of over 223,000 registered pilgrims arriving in a single location at the same time.
Calamity were there for all of it.
Calamity with the Popemobile in Storage
Just some of our duties included:
- Asset Protection
- Visitor Screening
- Guest and Site Induction
- Escort Duties
- Mobile Site Patrols
- Crowd Management
- Static and Mobile Guards
- Traffic Control
- Gate Operations
- Counter-surveillance
as well as daily liaison with Venue Operations Managers, law-enforcement, building contractors and dozens of stakeholders.
Day One...
Mission Possible
The sheer magnitude of the guard force deployment was such that no single security company could possibly provide all the resources in-house within the necessary timeframe (although there have since been a number of dishonest or misleading claims made by prominent security companies since the event).
Where necessary, we sourced and vetted smaller, boutique security companies and guards from around Australia and brought them to Sydney for the event in a custom designed and manufactured Calamity WYD08 Security Uniform. In addition to Calamity's own guard force, established teams were deployed at each venue, as the limited timeframe, large sites and massive project expectations did not allow for any team-building prior to deployment. We needed to ensure everybody hit the ground running.
Calamity's own staff oversaw operations at each site, provided continuity of operations and managed the multitude of higher-level compliance, contract, strategic and planning issues associated with the event and our project.
In contrast to typical Security Industry behaviour, Calamity were completely transparent in our approach. WYD08 were fully briefed on who we were using, when and where. As situations arose or circumstances changed - and they did, we adapted and communicated this up and downstream.
The Pilgrims Arrive...
Staying Safe
In addition to Guards and Asset Protection Officers, Calamity supplied WYD08 with Event Safety Inspectors and OH&S Officers to inspect and sign-off the massive construction, rigging, electrical and building works at the major event sites. We worked closely with construction teams to ensure tight deadlines were met with no compromise in safety for builders or subsequently, pilgrims.
We were truly proud to be associated with such a magnificent, once in a lifetime event. The feedback we received speaks for itself.
"While we are all still basking in the afterglow of these wonderful days, we wanted to record our heartfelt thanks to you. As we told the Holy Father, you poured out your time, your talents, your energy – your heart and soul – for World Youth Day. The Church is so very proud of you and grateful to you". – Danny Casey, Chief Operating Officer, WYD 2008.