The Volunteering thread 2019

[gooner1990]

2 minutes ago, incident said:

Easy Pass Out (EPO) is just a specific type of (mostly) crew wristband. Basically anyone with an EPO wristband can go through the main festival gates easier, as they're not required to show a ticket or collect/hand back a passout.

Ahh thanks for explaining. ?

[marathonsteve]

21 hours ago, April marie said:

I'm with a small group from my uni that I don't really know as we are not on the same courses but I will soon make friends, I have made friends with one of the girls and she is going to drive, doing a car share x

Dont worry You will soon make friends with people camping around you and on shift

[April marie]

Yeeaaaah, ?

[chazwwe]

Have signed up for Greenpeace as a last minute effort, its 40 hours worth of shifts from Tuesday though. You can put in 2 shifts in a day but its a lot. Its my last chance after resale, no deposit. 

[gooner1990]

23 minutes ago, chazwwe said:

Have signed up for Greenpeace as a last minute effort, its 40 hours worth of shifts from Tuesday though. You can put in 2 shifts in a day but its a lot. Its my last chance after resale, no deposit. 

I only have to do 18 with Shelter! 

[chazwwe]

47 minutes ago, gooner1990 said:

I only have to do 18 with Shelter! 

Are sign ups still openf or that or? 

[glasto-worker]

6 hours ago, chazwwe said:

Have signed up for Greenpeace as a last minute effort, its 40 hours worth of shifts from Tuesday though. You can put in 2 shifts in a day but its a lot. Its my last chance after resale, no deposit. 

With Greenpeace it will be up to 40 hours although likely to be a lot less

5 hours ago, gooner1990 said:

I only have to do 18 with Shelter! 

think again - its 24 hours with Shelter/Avalon although they will ask you to arrive early so it will be closer to 25.

Volunteers agree to volunteer their time for 24 hours over the course of the festival (Wednesday 26 – Sunday 30 June 2019). This will be in one of the following combinations:

- 3 days x 8 hours or
- 4 days x 6 hours or
- 2 days x 8 hours plus 2 days x 4 hours

[gooner1990]

6 hours ago, glasto-worker said:

With Greenpeace it will be up to 40 hours although likely to be a lot less

think again - its 24 hours with Shelter/Avalon although they will ask you to arrive early so it will be closer to 25.

Volunteers agree to volunteer their time for 24 hours over the course of the festival (Wednesday 26 – Sunday 30 June 2019). This will be in one of the following combinations:

- 3 days x 8 hours or
- 4 days x 6 hours or
- 2 days x 8 hours plus 2 days x 4 hours

Sorry worked it out wrong in my head, you’re right it’s 24. ?

[gooner1990]

11 hours ago, chazwwe said:

Are sign ups still openf or that or? 

It’s full now I’m afraid.

[glasto-worker]

2 hours ago, gooner1990 said:

Sorry worked it out wrong in my head, you’re right it’s 24. ?

with the WBC My Team works about 28 to 32 hours { roughly } but they get a choice on their shift times as I am allowed to set their shifts so they can if they wish skip a day so its all very flexible but we start Late on the Tuesday - we work in the WBC  Crew bar so Tuesday and Sunday Night is the two busy nights.

so really 24 is not bad.

[gooner1990]

23 minutes ago, glasto-worker said:

with the WBC My Team works about 28 to 32 hours { roughly } but they get a choice on their shift times as I am allowed to set their shifts so they can if they wish skip a day so its all very flexible but we start Late on the Tuesday - we work in the WBC  Crew bar so Tuesday and Sunday Night is the two busy nights.

so really 24 is not bad.

From what I’ve been told I’ll just be told what my shifts are on the way to site on the Tuesday with no chance of swapping so what will be, will be I guess!

[smudger]

Hi

So first time Oxfam for me and my mate. Have requested early shifts and the monday it closes. I know its pot luck with the early shifts, but I'm lucky what day will I need to be there? Have heard its the saturday beforehand? If so how many shifts could I expect to get before it starts?

 

Also have mates who are going on the coach. Whats the score with wandering in a day or two before hand with their tent? Is that possible/too cheeky?

 

Am really looking forward to seeing a different side  of the festival and getting there as early as possible! 

[Funkyfairy!]

Just now, smudger said:

Hi

So first time Oxfam for me and my mate. Have requested early shifts and the monday it closes. I know its pot luck with the early shifts, but I'm lucky what day will I need to be there? Have heard its the saturday beforehand? If so how many shifts could I expect to get before it starts?

 

Also have mates who are going on the coach. Whats the score with wandering in a day or two before hand with their tent? Is that possible/too cheeky?

 

Am really looking forward to seeing a different side  of the festival and getting there as early as possible! 

You won;t be able to put their tent up beforehand, but from 8am on the wednesday you will be able to pitch it for them in the normal site

 

[smudger]

2 minutes ago, Funkyfairy! said:

You won;t be able to put their tent up beforehand, but from 8am on the wednesday you will be able to pitch it for them in the normal site

 

So is there a 'staff gate' or would be have to be up and queue with everyone else? 

Thanks x

[incident]

7 minutes ago, smudger said:

Hi

So first time Oxfam for me and my mate. Have requested early shifts and the monday it closes. I know its pot luck with the early shifts, but I'm lucky what day will I need to be there? Have heard its the saturday beforehand? If so how many shifts could I expect to get before it starts? 

It'd be the Saturday beforehand, yes. You'd complete all of your shifts by Wednesday 6am and have the festival to yourself. The odds of getting those shifts are incredibly long though.

3 minutes ago, smudger said:

So is there a 'staff gate' or would be have to be up and queue with everyone else?

As you've already got a wristband, you'd be going in as re-entry so would largely avoid the queues. But remember that there's a decent chance you're on shift from 6am - 2pm Wednesday and in that scenario wouldn't be able to put anything up until the afternoon. The Wednesday morning shift is by some distance the busiest, and so has the most people allocated to it. Security do a sweep of the public campsites on the Tuesday night and remove any tents they find.

[smudger]

24 minutes ago, incident said:

It'd be the Saturday beforehand, yes. You'd complete all of your shifts by Wednesday 6am and have the festival to yourself. The odds of getting those shifts are incredibly long though.

As you've already got a wristband, you'd be going in as re-entry so would largely avoid the queues. But remember that there's a decent chance you're on shift from 6am - 2pm Wednesday and in that scenario wouldn't be able to put anything up until the afternoon. The Wednesday morning shift is by some distance the busiest, and so has the most people allocated to it. Security do a sweep of the public campsites on the Tuesday night and remove any tents they find.

That’s really useful, thanks ?

[hurdy]

38 minutes ago, incident said:

The Wednesday morning shift is by some distance the busiest, and so has the most people allocated to it.

Thanks, hadn't considered this so good to know

[amfy]

2 hours ago, hurdy said:

Thanks, hadn't considered this so good to know

This is good because it means a lot of people get a shift out of the way quite early in the shift pattern.

[amfy]

5 hours ago, gooner1990 said:

From what I’ve been told I’ll just be told what my shifts are on the way to site on the Tuesday with no chance of swapping so what will be, will be I guess!

You can swap your shifts, but you have to swap ALL of them (I.e. a complete shift pattern)

This is because they like you to work one bar. You could try to swap one shift with someone else on the same bar, but chances are you won’t be able to find a way of doing it that doesn’t lead to a double shift - which isn’t allowed (or advisable!)

If you did manage to find a usable swap, it have to register it properly with the supervisors otherwise you could end up marked absent for a shift you swapped and lose your deposit if the other person doesn’t turn up for a shift you were on originally.

[gooner1990]

26 minutes ago, amfy said:

You can swap your shifts, but you have to swap ALL of them (I.e. a complete shift pattern)

This is because they like you to work one bar. You could try to swap one shift with someone else on the same bar, but chances are you won’t be able to find a way of doing it that doesn’t lead to a double shift - which isn’t allowed (or advisable!)

If you did manage to find a usable swap, it have to register it properly with the supervisors otherwise you could end up marked absent for a shift you swapped and lose your deposit if the other person doesn’t turn up for a shift you were on originally.

I think I’ll stick with what I’m handed unless it means I miss The Chemical Brothers AND Liam Gallagher which are the only two name acts I’m really keen to see (but will settle for one of the other)

[amfy]

It’s easier to just go with the mind that you’ll accept what you get. Stressing about trying to swap shifts is a waste of the time off you do have!

[MrZigster]

4 hours ago, amfy said:

You can swap your shifts, but you have to swap ALL of them (I.e. a complete shift pattern) This is because they like you to work one bar. You could try to swap one shift with someone else on the same bar, but chances are you won’t be able to find a way of doing it that doesn’t lead to a double shift - which isn’t allowed (or advisable!) If you did manage to find a usable swap, it have to register it properly with the supervisors otherwise you could end up marked absent for a shift you swapped and lose your deposit if the other person doesn’t turn up for a shift you were on originally.

I can certainly see the reasoning behind a "No Swaps" rule. It's additional work for already working hard people.

I guess it depends on how cool your bar manager is. The "work one bar, no double shifts", thing is spot on but in my first year there were quite a few swaps done within the same bar iirc, without swapping a whole shift pattern. That was a big bar with loads of staff mind, so lot's of potential for variation. May have been a logistical nightmare for said bar manager but they were reasonably cool with it. I managed to swap my shift at the very last minute to get to see Metallica. Literally last minute. Long story. The "register it properly and risking the other person welching on the deal", thing is also a consideration. Last time I worked was one of the smaller bars in terms of staff numbers but a couple of swaps were definitely OK'ed (and we were so quiet we actually let someone sneak off to see Adele as long as they came back to help us clear up).

3 hours ago, gooner1990 said:

I think I’ll stick with what I’m handed unless it means I miss The Chemical Brothers AND Liam Gallagher which are the only two name acts I’m really keen to see (but will settle for one of the other)

This made me laugh. Wasn't sure how to reply. I was going to say: Hope we get the same bar but different shifts and then we could (possibly) swap. But then I thought, hang on, I'd quite like to see them as well. We'll see what the later announcements have to offer.

3 hours ago, amfy said:

It’s easier to just go with the mind that you’ll accept what you get. Stressing about trying to swap shifts is a waste of the time off you do have!

Prefuckingcisely. Nail on the head. You're already at the place to be on the planet that particular weekend. If you get on that bus, get given your shifts and then realise that you are off shift for your favourite band of the weekend... that buzz is great.

Edited April 6, 2019 by MrZigster

[amfy]

I think there is greater potential for swapping if you get a bar which is open for the whole 5 days. 

I was on the Glade which only opens at 11am Friday so it left little room for manoeuvre.

[chazwwe]

On 4/5/2019 at 7:03 AM, glasto-worker said:

With Greenpeace it will be up to 40 hours although likely to be a lot less

Oh? I've never volenteered for Glastonbury before? I could just see 4/5 x 8 hour shifts. 

[philipsteak]

14 hours ago, amfy said:

It’s easier to just go with the mind that you’ll accept what you get. Stressing about trying to swap shifts is a waste of the time off you do have!

Yep. This is my (I think) 14th time with Oxfam and I've never once felt the need to swap. I've seen people get so worked up about swapping, it just doesn't seem worth it