A tragic mix of celebration and sadness lingers after this year’s Schoolies Festival for the 426 volunteers who descended upon Victor Harbor a few weeks ago.

For the past 25 years, Encounter Youth (EY) has been running the festival with its team of Christian volunteers affectionately dubbed the Green Team as they work with key stakeholders to keep thousands of partying school leavers safe.

EY chief executive officer Nigel Knowles says volunteers greet schoolies, help set up tents, oversee the festival zone in Victor Harbor, ride on 24-hour bus services between Goolwa and Encounter Bay and support any schoolies whose day or night goes awry.

Knowles says a temporary field hospital takes pressure off the local health system. It operates near the Victor Harbor town green to help any 17 and 18-year-old badly affected by alcohol and drug consumption, or who have a bee sting or have lost their asthma medication.

But after 15 years at the helm, Knowles knows no matter how many paramedics or roadblocks or support crews are in place, having about 5000 young people in the coastal region celebrating the end of their high school years will always be fraught with risk.

“I can’t recall a year where I wouldn’t have had a briefing or a phone call saying that we have heard of a young person receiving care at the moment and we are not sure if they are going to survive,” Knowles says.

“Any young life being lost is an absolute tragedy and what we’ve worked for during the past 25 years is to ensure we try and prevent this from happening, but we do not shy away from the fact that it’s absolutely a risky time for young people.”

This year, his worst fears were realised.

The son of SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens and Emma Stevens died after being struck by a car on November 17 at nearby Goolwa Beach. Charlie Stevens was in the area to celebrate schoolies with friends.

Charlie Stevens’ brothers and sister speak during a twilight service at Adelaide Oval. Photo: Matt Turner/AAP

“This is an absolute tragedy. The entire Encounter Youth community was absolutely rocked and shattered by the news, for our volunteers and our staff it’s not just a job, we choose to work for this organisation for the core reason that we believe in our young people,” Knowles says.

“We do take this personally – we take it as a family tragedy.”

Charlie’s death was devastating for an EY community marking its 25-year anniversary supporting the festival, after locals raised concerns about the thousands of young people arriving in Victor Harbor with few controls after Year 12 finished.

Parties spilled into streets, homes were vandalised and there were rising numbers of incidents around sexual assault or harassment concerning “toolies” – those older than the 17 and 18-year-old school leavers – arriving in town.

It was an Adelaide Pastor, Frank Ahlin, who stepped in to help stakeholders and arrived with the first 40 volunteers.

Fast forward to 2023 and there is now a highly organised strategy overseen by EY with input from local council, police and other emergency services around road safety, health and minimising impact on locals.

The festival is now funded through school leavers paying $140 for three nights of a festival centred around Victor Harbor.

Volunteers are recruited through church communities across the state from Eyre Peninsula, Adelaide and the Barossa, and are so committed that they pay $50 for the privilege of helping.

Nigel Knowles (left) with Green Team volunteers. Photo: supplied

Knowles has worked with three Victor Harbor mayors and numerous stakeholders after taking on the CEO role.

He speaks of the “amazing experience working with young people,” saying “they are very funny and the conversations you have with them, it reminds me each year why I do this”.

“There’s a real joy being in the position to experience that (end of school celebration) with them, young people are incredibly friendly, incredibly open when they know they are safe, volunteers and staff say it’s an absolute joy to work with them,” Knowles says.

He says this year brought many positives in mixing with the young revellers.

“There was not a single arrest over that weekend outside of the incident (involving Charlie Stevens) which is phenomenal,” according to Knowles, who is also on the Crime Stoppers SA board.

“(And) medical presentations have been declining over the 25 years in relation to alcohol and other drug interactions.”

But Knowles is acutely aware that it will take time to heal after the recent tragedy, and it is a challenge dealing with the collective grief from young people attending the festival and the Green Team volunteers.

About 30 Mercedes College students who knew Charlie Stevens from their school days went home after hearing the news. Some stayed in their campsites and other school leavers wanted to talk to volunteers about what had happened.

“I heard from one young person who said from what he knows of Charlie he lived life to the full and he wanted to stay and live life to the full to celebrate for him,” Knowles said.

For the Green Team, including 14 EY staff, there were regular get-togethers so they could be briefed on weekend happenings and to share their feelings about the young man who died.

Knowles says the tragedy has motivated volunteers and staff to be even more committed to their role in the annual festivities.

“It was very emotional… but it also reinforced the commitment of our organisation and our volunteer community as to why we do this,” he says.

“And, we all prayed for Charlie Stevens and his family right over the weekend.”

Encounter Youth’s Green Team. Photo: supplied