The Volunteering thread 2019

[Dub-You]

Volunteering this year with Oxfam. Will be the first time volunteering, but after missing out in 2017, and again in this years sales my GF and I grabbed volunteer places. I am actually looking forward to it quite a bit, giving something back to the festival we both love so much. 

 

Any thing a pair of newbie volunteers should know?

[VeeDubs]

Oxfam volunteering for the first time with other half this year, too.  We both have our online training on Thursday. Expecting around three hours, with a break. So glad to have been offered this as an alternative to travelling to one of the centres. 

We are planning to arrive on the Monday and it will be great to get set up, say hello and have a look around the site before the general public arrive. 

Not too sure yet what our stewarding roles involve, but expect it will all become clear in due course. It must be okay as it seems people return to it year after year and, so far, Oxfam’s organisation and communication have been good.

[MrZigster]

Civil Servant here.

I received a generic email last week, stating that Civil Servants can get Special Paid Leave days for volunteering.

Have any Civil Servants here ever successfully applied for this regarding volunteering at Glastonbury? Or unsuccessfully?

[TheFullShaboo]

4 hours ago, MrZigster said:

Civil Servant here.

I received a generic email last week, stating that Civil Servants can get Special Paid Leave days for volunteering.

Have any Civil Servants here ever successfully applied for this regarding volunteering at Glastonbury? Or unsuccessfully?

I seen this last week and immediately put the idea to bed. But now you’ve brought it back up, I’m more than happy to see where this goes.

i mean, It doesn’t actually say anywhere about music festivals being excluded....

[Watchy]

I work for a County Council and we can have 2 days volunteer leave but I was rejected for Glastonbury as it was felt that I gained too much from going, which is actually what I thought they would say.  But I have seen on another thread somewhere people being granted it. 

[eFestivals]

9 minutes ago, Watchy said:

I work for a County Council and we can have 2 days volunteer leave but I was rejected for Glastonbury as it was felt that I gained too much from going, which is actually what I thought they would say.  But I have seen on another thread somewhere people being granted it. 

surely if you do it for oxfam they'd grant it? Oxfam gets paid for the hours you'd work.

[incident]

3 hours ago, eFestivals said:

surely if you do it for oxfam they'd grant it? Oxfam gets paid for the hours you'd work.

Depends a lot on the specific terms and conditions attached. I tried to apply for the equivalent scheme where I work, but found that they had a "community benefit" clause in there which basically send to be entirely discretionary and there to stop things like this.

[MrZigster]

9 hours ago, Watchy said:

I work for a County Council and we can have 2 days volunteer leave but I was rejected for Glastonbury as it was felt that I gained too much from going, which is actually what I thought they would say.  But I have seen on another thread somewhere people being granted it. 

Same reason I got for being declined. It's felt that I'm getting something out of it. I was informed that if I wanted to do three days with Shelter in a local store it would be a different matter. As @eFestivalsstated, my wages are going directly to Shelter, so though I get their point that I'm getting something out of it, it seems a bit harsh.

[mazola]

Oxfam spots are still coming up, just managed to get my wife a place this morning

Took 3 days of refreshing the page though so have to be dedicated / very lucky

[Notamurderer]

Curses, I must've just missed it.  Been on it for days now.  

[Funkyfairy!]

17 hours ago, MrZigster said:

Same reason I got for being declined. It's felt that I'm getting something out of it. I was informed that if I wanted to do three days with Shelter in a local store it would be a different matter. As @eFestivalsstated, my wages are going directly to Shelter, so though I get their point that I'm getting something out of it, it seems a bit harsh.

But shouldn;t 'you ' get something out of volunteering anywhere ? else why would you do it, or is the presumption that as the volunterring is at a festival therefore you have down time and fun etc ..... seems harsh !

[belle365]

Hey! We were planning to forget about glasto this year (not sure that’s possible) but then got on talking about volunteering so new to this. It will be good to give something back and still enjoy some of the festival!! 

Is it possible to register interest with Oxfam at this point? It won’t even let me add Glastonbury to my account now 

[incident]

Just now, belle365 said:

Hey! We were planning to forget about glasto this year (not sure that’s possible) but then got on talking about volunteering so new to this. It will be good to give something back and still enjoy some of the festival!! 

Is it possible to register interest with Oxfam at this point? It won’t even let me add Glastonbury to my account now 

You can certainly create an account with Oxfam and try to get in, but at this point it's far from guaranteed. Any further places that do become available will be late cancellations so they're likely to be very limited in number, and given that it seems like there's still quite a few people trying they're likely to get snapped up quickly. So you may have left it too late at this point, especially if you need to get more than one place - it might be possible but as @mazola can testify, succeeding will require some dedication.

Are you getting a drop down menu that looks something like this? If further Glastonbury places do become available, then the "Sold out" message will disappear and Glastonbury will become selectable. At that point you can click through to pay a deposit and doing so effectively confirms your place (subject to meeting some requirements that should be all in your own hands). If you're seeing a different screen, then you may be looking in the wrong place. If there's more than one of you, you'll each need to create your own account and sign up individually.

[belle365]

Yes that is what I have, thank you. I will set an account up for my partner also - at this point it is worth a try

[mazola]

37 minutes ago, belle365 said:

Yes that is what I have, thank you. I will set an account up for my partner also - at this point it is worth a try

Definitely worth trying, as @incident posted that is the screen you need to keep refreshing, click 'choose a festival' and hope Glastonbury appears in black rather than greyed out. It's easier on desktop than phone, as there is an extra step involved on the phone closing the list each time you refresh.

If you want an idea of the hours involved, here's my rough diary of getting the tickets.

Both times i got through were on the PC,  so any time you are using the PC have that window open and refresh as often as you can stand.

I got my ticket about 16.15 on Thursday, and got my wife's about 10.00 this morning.

I've been trying since last Tuesday, I know from the resale thread (where I heard about this option) that another 4 or so were bought last week after I started trying, so seems to be about 1 or 2 a day still getting listed at the moment. I'm assuming they go on there as soon as someone else cancels theirs, no reason to see why that will stop going forward.

Have your card details ready to go as that's the first thing that comes up. There's quite a bit to fill out after that including booking the training day (online was still available this morning) and supplying an email address for a reference, but I think the panic is over once the card details are in (I didn't hang about though and banged the rest in whilst trying to remember to breath!)

Good luck, the dream isn't over yet!

[jfaragher]

1 hour ago, incident said:

 

See you at WOMAD and Shambala then, if that's you?

[incident]

15 minutes ago, jfaragher said:

See you at WOMAD and Shambala then, if that's you?

Yep.

(though I'm not convinced I'll make it to Shambala for various reasons)

[jfaragher]

1 hour ago, incident said:

Yep.

(though I'm not convinced I'll make it to Shambala for various reasons)

If you can bear it, we could lift the veil of anonymity, and grab a beer...  I think the Mrs and me might try to arrange a little bar crawl on Thursday evening for Oxfam volunteers and hangers on, shifts permitting.

[incident]

1 minute ago, jfaragher said:

If you can bear it, we could lift the veil of anonymity, and grab a beer...  I think the Mrs and me might try to arrange a little bar crawl on Thursday evening for Oxfam volunteers and hangers on, shifts permitting.

For WOMAD? Quite possibly. Not been before so something like that sounds good..

 

[keepad]

Hi all, so I have  ticket this year but I have decided to volunteer at other events for Oxfam later this year just because it is something I would like to do really. However I would like to volunteer for Glasto next year if the opportunity comes up.

Do charities like Oxfam tend  first offer places at the major festivals/events  for people  who have worked for them before ?

 

Edited May 21, 2019 by keepad

[stuie]

19 minutes ago, keepad said:

Hi all, so I have  ticket this year but I have decided to volunteer at other events for Oxfam later this year just because it is something I would like to do really. However I would like to volunteer for Glasto next year if the opportunity comes up.

Do charities like Oxfam tend  first offer places at the major festivals/events  for people  who have worked for them before ?

 

Yes - if you do two or more festivals with Oxfam this year you'll be on the priority list for Glastonbury next year.

[glasto-worker]

34 minutes ago, keepad said:

Hi all, so I have  ticket this year but I have decided to volunteer at other events for Oxfam later this year just because it is something I would like to do really. However I would like to volunteer for Glasto next year if the opportunity comes up.

Do charities like Oxfam tend  first offer places at the major festivals/events  for people  who have worked for them before ?

 

they send a special link so as long as your fast it should be fine

here is the current rules just in case some are not aware about the bottom paragraph

To qualify for priority status for 2020 you must have volunteered at two or more festivals in 2019.

Oxfam campaigning or shop roles can count towards this, providing at least 1 volunteer experience has been stewarding. Experienced/long-term returning stewards will qualify for priority status, if one of the following applies:

You have held a supervisor role at festivals for us, for the last 2 consecutive years.
You have volunteered in 4 of the past 5 years and have volunteered 8 festivals within that period.

You have volunteered at 10 or more festivals in the past 10 years*.

* Due to changes in data regulations in May 2018 you will need to ensure that you have opted in to receive communications from us or volunteered in the last three years to remain active on our database.

[keepad]

Thanks for the info guys.

[jfaragher]

12 minutes ago, glasto-worker said:

they send a special link so as long as your fast it should be fine

Glastonbury never fills in priority (though some other festivals with smaller crews do).  There's about 2500 places, and they keep an unspecified amount back for the main admission, but in the couple of weeks its priority only you can get a place.  Doesn't stop us all pilling on as soon as it opens and stress testing (breaking...) the application system though.

[smudger]

I did the supervisor training at the weekend. I know it’s not guaranteed you’ll be asked; but if I am will I be notified prior to the festival? Also would it mean I’d have to get there earlier I.e. before the stewards briefing? 

Ta x