Penny Mellor

Penny Mellor has worked in the events sector for over 50 years, mainly concerned with the health, safety and welfare of audiences and others at outdoor music events. 

From 1977 to 1996 she ran a small charity called Festival Welfare Services. From 1996-99 Penny worked on the “Event Safety Guide” with the UK Health & Safety Executive and a consortium of event industry professional associations.

She helped with the development of the entertainment industry BTEC courses for the Production Services Association and Loughborough College from 1997 and from 1999 Penny worked on the development of the Events NVQs for the Travel, Tourism, Events National Training Organisation, Newham College and the National Outdoor Events Association. 

In 2004 Penny paired with the International Live Music Conference Safety Focus Group and Buckinghamshire Chilterns University to develop pan-European health and safety guidance for live music event workers, funded by the European Occupational Safety & Health Agency. 

In 2015 she produced the Welfare Handbook section for the Purple Guide (Pop Code) website with practical guidance on how to set up a range of services to support audiences at events.