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Working on-site after the festival

Guest Rayco

By Guest Rayco,
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Rayco Newbie

Rayco

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Hello everyone!

I've read in another thread that it's possible to work on site after the festival, doing the clearing up. I'm interested in that but I'd like to know your experiencies, in case anyone have already done it. How many people usually do this? How is it after work? How hard is it? Is it worth for 6£/hour? How easy is it to go to the nearest train station after the festival has finished?

Is anyone else in the same situation as me?

Thanks!

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Vectrex Newbie

Vectrex

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Yes I could be interested in doing it. Though I'm not sure if I'd like to be camped out in a field for a month or so with not much to see and do, apart from working. It would be an experience I suppose, and getting paid for it, and it would be getting the Job Centre Plus off my back for a month or so.

But what I'd ideally like to see is a proper full review posted of what it's like. What are the job duties/is it very hard work?, how long does the job last/do you have to stay for the FULL duration of the job?, what are washing facilities like, what do you do at weekends when you're not working, etc, etc.

A problem is that all non crew members have to be off the site by the Monday late afternoon. So where would you camp on the Monday night to be able to REGISTER your interest for working from the Tuesday/Wednesday? One poster on here said in the other thread that to goto Undle Ground(have no idea where that is!) and find someone and ask if you can camp there. With due respect to the poster, the thing is they may well say "Sorry mate. You can't camp here." and you could explain your situation but they could still well say "Sorry mate. You can't campe here.". Things should be a bit more organised, and anyone wishing to register for work should definitely be allowed to camp in an allocated field. Why can't you register your interest for working BEFORE the Tuesday/Wednesday?

Need a bit more info on this really.

Edited by Vectrex
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Vectrex Newbie

Vectrex

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Yes, there must surely be some people from this forum who have done this before, who can give us a rundown of what it's like.

Personally I predict it will be a job that you're either going to love or hate, with no in-between! And you'll know whether you'll love or hate it within the first few days.

The job duties themselves might not be very pleasant, so it would especially be helpful to know what we're expected to do before taking the plunge. Also according to what the forecasters say for this year, it could be VERY hot with temperatures frequently reaching 30C+. That's very hot temperatures to be working in!

Also as I mentioned before, what is there to do in the evenings after work and at weekends? You could of course start chatting to and making friends with your work mates there. But if all there is to do on evenings and weekends is simply chatting in the camping field, it could get very boring. There must surely be something else for the worker to do as well. Is there a TV lounge or something for example the workers can use? A sauna after work would be nice, but I don't think any of the saunas(i.e. Sams Sauna) would still be onsite after the Monday.

I guess that most of the workers would be young(under 35). And there'd be a fairly balanced mix of guys and girls. So if you're young and want to meet new people, I think it would be a good opportunity by doing this work.

Still need more info though! Here's hoping someone can help us out soon!

Edited by Vectrex
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Sawdusty surfer Proficient

Sawdusty surfer

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A problem is that all non crew members have to be off the site by the Monday late afternoon. So where would you camp on the Monday night to be able to REGISTER your interest for working from the Tuesday/Wednesday? One poster on here said in the other thread that to goto Undle Ground(have no idea where that is!) and find someone and ask if you can camp there. With due respect to the poster, the thing is they may well say "Sorry mate. You can't camp here." and you could explain your situation but they could still well say "Sorry mate. You can't campe here.". Things should be a bit more organised, and anyone wishing to register for work should definitely be allowed to camp in an allocated field. Why can't you register your interest for working BEFORE the Tuesday/Wednesday?

Need a bit more info on this really.

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Rayco Newbie

Rayco

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Really, no worries. where ever you are camped, if challenged, say "i'm litter picking in the morning."

you will be fine. after the wednesday or thursday after the festival all the litter pickers will be herded to the kid's field to camp (showers) and the rest of the site will be swept of stragglers.

at the end of the festival things are a tad more relaxed than many folk realise as far as "leave site" times go. :lol:

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Vectrex Newbie

Vectrex

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Well in the other thread, it says work is from 8am-5pm with an hour break for lunch. Doesn't say if that's weekends as well. One member said it may be Saturdays, but Sundays is unlikely. Even if it does involve Sunday's, work would still finish at 5pm and there'd be some spare hours left in the day before hitting the sack. Would be good if there's some things to do in those spare hours.

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Rayco Newbie

Rayco

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Hi. If it helps, this is the mail Fiona sent to me:

Hi Rayco

This is the email I send to people who are interested in working on the big clean-up after the festival. I hope it makes things clearer but I’m afraid there is no guarantee of work.

Thanks for your interest in working on the after festival clean up team. Here are the details:

* You need to register for work at Goose Hall at 7am on either Tuesday 30th June or Wednesday 1st July and ask for Rob Kearle

* You work from 8am-5pm with an hour off for lunch

* You get paid £6.00 per hour

* You camp on-site (bring your own tent/van)

* You get 3 free meals a day

* The work lasts from a few days to several weeks, depending on the weather and conditions of the site.

* There are personal and clothes washing facilities available

This is paid work and does not entitle you to a ticket to the festival itself. Also, the number of places will depend on the weather ie the better the weather the fewer people are needed, so it's first come first served.

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Rufus Gwertigan Proficient

Rufus Gwertigan

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I have done it before...

You register at Goose Hall, and it's roughly minimum wage. It's an 8 hour day and the work can be backbreaking. They have loads of people at the start and then it is reduced slowly over the clear up as the main work gets done, and as far as I am aware it's 7 days a week.

Things to note though. We camped in the family field. It would be wise to decamp from where you are and move into that area (assuming that is the designated spot this year.) Do not leave your tent on it's own in the middle of a field. Trust me the tatters might get it. Alot of people come on site on the Monday, and when I worked there where quite alot of Eastern Europeans, and it was a good laugh. There are often some little bonfires around on the Monday night as well

You get a wide batch of people arriving, in trucks and families, plenty of campfire banter, put apart from the meals and showers don't expect too much, except hard work.

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Vectrex Newbie

Vectrex

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Cheers for the info coming through.

So in the evenings then, there's not really anything to do apart from stay in the camping field and chat to others? There's nothing like a TV lounge or some other form of entertainment put on?

What are the shower facilities like? Are they very basic and communal(no privacy), or like those shower tardis things? My guess is that it's the Kidz Field showers that are used?

Can you tell us a bit more about the work itself. Is it just litter picking or are there other duties involved? I don't know how it would take as long as over a month or more to pick up all the litter from the site!

How long roughly would the job expected to last? Can a worker do it for say just a month, even if it could go on for a bit longer? If you see what I mean.

Am still thinking hard whether to do this or not. There are a number of pro's and con's involved.

Any more opinions from those who have done this work will be welcome.

Edited by Vectrex
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flibbitybob Newbie

flibbitybob

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My sister did it last year for I think just over a week. She said you can do it for as long as you want, only a day, or a few days, or a couple of weeks even... She actually really enjoyed herself although she did say it was very hard work (literally hours of picking up every single cigarette butt). Apparently the people were incredibly nice, and there was a really friendly atmosphere in the evenings, with campfires and exploring the disappearing site and things like that. She did say though that towards the end, most people had left, and the ones who remained were getting to be slightly dodgier... but that she made lots of friends and they all stuck together. She's doing it again this year, so it hasn't put her off! I would do it this year for sure but I'm not quite 18 :P but I definitely will next year.

Sorry I can't really answer technical questions, but from what I remember, she told me that the food was excellent, showers were fine and they had proper toilets. She was working during the fest so I think they may have been told where to go if they wanted to continue on their last shift maybe? She definitely was on-site on the Monday night, but would probably have been in a campsite for litterpickers working during the fest. From what she said she was doing, it sounds like it was just slowly covering the entire site and returning it to nature! I definitely don't think there would be anything like a TV lounge for entertainment in the evenings, but lots of general camping jollity.

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Rufus Gwertigan Proficient

Rufus Gwertigan

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Can you tell us a bit more about the work itself. Is it just litter picking or are there other duties involved? I don't know how it would take as long as over a month or more to pick up all the litter from the site!

How long roughly would the job expected to last? Can a worker do it for say just a month, even if it could go on for a bit longer? If you see what I mean.

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themuel Enthusiast

themuel

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It is litter picking, but it is a fine pick as well, bottle tops, pulling out tent pegs, fag ends etc.

It takes as long as it takes, and I have been informed that in previous years it has been 8 weeks. Alot is dependant on the weather. In wet weather it will take longer as more stuff is trodden in. Like I said earlier numbers are reduced on a roll. You put in as long as you want. Plenty of folk only manage a couple of days and then they have had enough. It is a full on 8 hours of bending over picking crap up :lol:

Towards the end you essentially are left with the people that need the work and the money as they have nothing else coming in.

The showers were not communal when I worked there, and the toilets are kept clean.

No entertainment is provided in the evening except what you can put on yourself. Maybe if you have transport you can organise a beer run.

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Vectrex Newbie

Vectrex

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My sister did it last year for I think just over a week. She said you can do it for as long as you want, only a day, or a few days, or a couple of weeks even... She actually really enjoyed herself although she did say it was very hard work (literally hours of picking up every single cigarette butt). Apparently the people were incredibly nice, and there was a really friendly atmosphere in the evenings, with campfires and exploring the disappearing site and things like that. She did say though that towards the end, most people had left, and the ones who remained were getting to be slightly dodgier... but that she made lots of friends and they all stuck together. She's doing it again this year, so it hasn't put her off! I would do it this year for sure but I'm not quite 18 B) but I definitely will next year.
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