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The Volunteering thread 2019


FestiZebra
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Just now, Pipine said:

Ah..how many hours / shifts in total ?

Again it varies but generally you commit to 4 x 6 hour shifts. 

I was in the recycling centre this year and that is 4 x 5 hour shifts as work is a lot more full on and pretty much non stop as well as being a bit muckier

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On 7/1/2019 at 11:08 AM, mikegday said:

Back home after volunteering with oxfam this year after 5 years of having success in the ticket sales. Just wondering everyone’s thoughts? I’ve got to say it’s our first time volunteering and will be our last. We’re grateful for the fact that it came to our rescue when we failed in the ticket sales but the whole volunteering experience is just too much of a compromise. It doesn’t help that we got the shift pattern we least wanted, the shift patterns seem really unfair some miss hardly no music and some miss two days of music. The shift swap board was just full of our shift pattern and obviously no one was willing to swap onto ours. I thought the person doing the initial briefing was rude and kicked things off on a proper downer, telling everyone off like we were children for our apparent tardiness in attending the briefing (not true). Then there was the catering which was just chaotic and very unprepared. The long hike from the campsite (weather probably made this feeling longer) and finally the shifts were total over staffed. Standing there for over 8 hours when you’re missing music without a single task to do is soul destroying. The festival itself was amazing but oxfam volunteering is most definitely not for us, fingers crossed for ticket sale day!

thanks for giving an honest account of volunteering, and not just reciting the experience through rose tinted glasses sort of thing, or letting your gratefulness to go outweigh how you really felt if that makes sense! - (not that I feel anyone else is) but its good to hear the negatives. after missing out for the first time since going, it was pretty painful and I'd concluded that I would go for volunteering if not successful in October for 2020. 
But going by your post I think the thing that would get to me would be the work feeling useless, and like you may as well not be there (as in on the shift - not at Glastonbury!) not sure I could deal with that if unlucky with shift times - my jobs a bit like that at the moment and drives me a bit mental haha. 

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I volunteered with Festaff and it was a dream. The only responsibility for Festaff volunteers is wristbanding standard tickets on first arrival, so all the hard work is done by Friday afternoon, since 99% of people have already arrived. Ticket and ID checks are done by Oxfam, so Festaff just do the "fun" bit of ripping off the stub and fitting the wristband (while having a nice chat with the punters).

I got the following shifts working on PGA (3x 8hrs). Wednesday and Thursday are by miles the most important days, so pretty much everybody is expected to work these days, with only the final shift being some point during the main show days.

Weds: 4pm to midnight
Thurs: 8am to 4pm
Sat: 8am to 4pm

As far as Festaff shift combinations went, this was pretty much middle of the road. Not the best, not the worst. Shifts are first come first served (you can choose), so some who arrived early were able to bag 2x 12hr shifts on Weds and Thurs, instead of the usual 3x 8hrs. Others managed to have all their 3x 8hr shifts worked by Friday morning or Friday afternoon. No Friday shifts remained when we arrived, so we opted for Saturday daytime.

The Wednesday shift at 4pm was really busy for a couple of hours as there was still a large queue at PGA, but then extremely boring from 8pm onwards. The Thursday shift however was amazing, constantly busy, but without the pressure of a queue line to clear outside. All happy smiling faces as they arrived at the festival. And it was all finished by 4pm, for us to enjoy Thursday evening and all day on Friday.

The Saturday shift was almost a borefest... between 8am and 9:30am only 3 people arrived for wristbanding at PGA (12 people on shift). So at 9:30am I got sent to the Festaff office to be "reassigned" to a different role. We then spent 10am to 1pm walking around the festival, taking promotional photos for Festaff in our high vis. We got bought ice creams, watched the Vampire Weekend secret set at the park, and generally enjoyed a bimble around the festival. At 1pm Saturday we got sent home, 3 hours earlier than expected, and all the work was done for the weekend.

I'm amazed to see so little talk about Festaff in this thread... I think it's a great deal... perhaps their regular volunteers are trying to keep it quiet...

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Worked with Oxfam this year and thoroughly enjoyed it, nice campsite facilities certainly added to the experience. It was also nice to experience the festival from a different side and get early access to the site. I always assumed that Oxfam were also responsible for the stewards in the middle of the site as well as fire stewards, but it is apparent that this is run by someone else. Does anyone know who organises these roles? Always nice to know all the options available for volunteering.

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4 minutes ago, Jcatley said:

I always assumed that Oxfam were also responsible for the stewards in the middle of the site as well as fire stewards, but it is apparent that this is run by someone else. Does anyone know who organises these roles? Always nice to know all the options available for volunteering.

Numerous, and I really do mean numerous, PTAs, Carnival Clubs, and other local community and charity groups from all across Somerset.

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10 minutes ago, Sku said:

At 1pm Saturday we got sent home, 3 hours earlier than expected, and all the work was done for the weekend.

This was probably the most frustrating aspect of working for Oxfam. During quieter periods we still had up to 9 people on the ticket gates whilst Festaff had 1 or 2. Just felt like we could be doing more helpful things, like directing punters or helping people struggling with their gear. 

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14 minutes ago, miffmiffy said:

This was probably the most frustrating aspect of working for Oxfam. During quieter periods we still had up to 9 people on the ticket gates whilst Festaff had 1 or 2. Just felt like we could be doing more helpful things, like directing punters or helping people struggling with their gear. 

Yes, we noticed this. Thursday evening we reduced down to 2 lanes, but Oxfam were still working every single lane until midnight. Was no need for it. Even our 2 lanes were massively overstaffed.

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We did Oxfam and had great shifts, Wednesday 21.45 - 6.00, then Friday, Saturday 5.45 - 14.00. So were very lucky. We arrived Monday morning so had 2 days to explore the site before everyone arrived which was great. Other Plus points were great toilets, showers and thought the food in the field we had was lovely. We are doing a smaller festival in 2 weeks so we have priority for Glastonbury next year if needed. 

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On 7/1/2019 at 11:37 AM, mikegday said:

 Also little things like no hot water visit on our night shift because it ran out before they got to our gate, it’s not hard to coordinate a tea run when you’ve got staff stood there all night! Had an absolute ball when off shift, I’ve just got to accept it’s either normal ticket or nothing for me because I’d be gutted to get the same shift pattern. 

I'm one of the drivers for Oxfam (though not on any of your shifts).  The tea deliveries get worked in around the making sure everyone has batteries for radios, welfare runs for stewards, moving the response team to where they're needed and loads of other little bit and pieces.  Never mind that it takes bloody ages to get anywhere on site - the pedestrian gates are a minimum 15 minutes each way to the Oxfield crew camping, Ped D can easily take 30 minutes each way if the traffic is bad.  Having said that, you should have got a cup of tea, but sometimes it just doesn't work out...

Getting the right shifts does play a big part of how much you get out of the festival - I didn't get great shifts for me, I was on Thursday afternoon/evening, and then early starts (5am) on Saturday and Monday.  As someone who likes the late-night stuff, and had to be absolutely sober on shift, heading up the hill at 10pm  on Friday and Sunday was pretty harsh.  However, I'd still rather be there, and get some of the magic, than not be there at all!

On 7/1/2019 at 4:39 PM, jimbarkanoodle said:

Those briefings are very wearisome. Giving it the biggun about kicking any volunteers off site immediately if a drop of alcohol passes their lips on shift etc. Like your going to catch me out grandad :clapping:

It's a bit of a case of making sure people have been told with the briefing - you don't want people to give it "no-one told me I had to..." when they do something that a reasonable person would think was stupid.  You'd be astounded how often people get caught drinking whilst on shift (in their high-vis...), or turn up absolutely fucked, or having had no sleep - those reminders are there for a reason.  And we do know when you're not quite sober, it's just that the majority of supervisors will let it slide if you're functional, and not a risk to other people or the job - there's always a gap between the policy and the practice; it's just that if you make the practice the policy, then people push even further.

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Did Oxfam for the second time and liked it again. Compared with 2017, however, the catering was a little annoying. I rememember being able to get a good breakfast before the early shift and this year they only started serving breakfast at 6, which missed the point. It also felt like they only served lasagna and fish and chips at some point. Some things were just unfortunate this year. Like the showers being closed for some time. I generally always like having a quiet campsite away from the festival. As for the shifts: I was slightly more unlucky with the pattern than last year but was placed at a ped gate rather than at a very boring vehicle gate last time. It's true, the gates feel way overstaffed but I think that may be because of some safety guidelines? As with the shifts themselves, it's very hit or miss with the supervisors. For the most part, our supervisor made sure we all had something to do even through less busy times. We pretended to be runners and had to catch each other being one example. During the nightshift they put music on and we had a dance party to stay awake. Last time, however, my supervisor felt like god on earth and did not allow any joking around or even sitting down which made the shifts feel pretty long. We had several people complain about being bored on shifts or in the sun for too long. This problem can often be solved by talking to a supervisor that would give you something to do or change you in the shade. I did that many times and never ended up doing the same thing for the entire shift. Met some amazing people, though. 

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21 minutes ago, kleinerkiwi said:

I rememember being able to get a good breakfast before the early shift and this year they only started serving breakfast at 6, which missed the point. It also felt like they only served lasagna and fish and chips at some point.

You probably know this, but they had new caterers for the first time this year after the previous long serving and much loved one retired - and they are actively looking for constructive feedback on what worked and what can be improved for next year so I would suggest including these comments in your feedback form if you haven't already.

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On 7/2/2019 at 9:04 PM, Sku said:

Yes, we noticed this. Thursday evening we reduced down to 2 lanes, but Oxfam were still working every single lane until midnight. Was no need for it. Even our 2 lanes were massively overstaffed.

Oxfam essentially bid to place as many stewards as possible in the available positions that the festival identify need to be covered.  They do this cos they charge a fee for each steward (which is where the money is raised). The more stewards, the more money. It doesn't matter to Oxfam therefore if some positions end up being oversubscribed, at least for some of the time. It also acts as an insurance for positions where they cannot accurately predict whether there will be a rush or lots of work and so on.

 

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7 hours ago, incident said:

You probably know this, but they had new caterers for the first time this year after the previous long serving and much loved one retired - and they are actively looking for constructive feedback on what worked and what can be improved for next year so I would suggest including these comments in your feedback form if you haven't already.

Gonna do that. Was quite aware of that. I forgot to add that the entire Oxfam team seemed pretty welcomming again. I'm german, and last time they were pretty fussy with accepting my ID since all the safety measures were amped up. No problems this year. Never felt left out though. I was treated pretty much like any other volunteer of them and found friends pretty quickly. Was also pleased to see that the team was pretty international since I met Oxfam volunteers from France and Italy too.

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The overstaffing worked out really well when it was hot saturday afternoon, our supervisor rotated the teams so that everyone got a break in the shade on a regular basis which was very much appreciated / necessary.

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16 hours ago, jfaragher said:

 

It's a bit of a case of making sure people have been told with the briefing - you don't want people to give it "no-one told me I had to..." when they do something that a reasonable person would think was stupid.  You'd be astounded how often people get caught drinking whilst on shift (in their high-vis...), or turn up absolutely fucked, or having had no sleep - those reminders are there for a reason.  And we do know when you're not quite sober, it's just that the majority of supervisors will let it slide if you're functional, and not a risk to other people or the job - there's always a gap between the policy and the practice; it's just that if you make the practice the policy, then people push even further.

You sound quite reasonable to be fair.

Its the slightly creepy 50 year old male supervisors with beards and glasses types, who want to do everything by the book and are embarrassingly jobsworth and basically utter dickheads that give the supervisors an overall bad name.

"Last time, however, my supervisor felt like god on earth and did not allow any joking around or even sitting down"

What the actual fuck? perhaps this supervisor thought he was a squadron leader in Basra or something, rather than a laid back music festival. Hopefully his name was taken and multiple complaints made to Oxfam about this chump.

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11 hours ago, incident said:

You probably know this, but they had new caterers for the first time this year after the previous long serving and much loved one retired - and they are actively looking for constructive feedback on what worked and what can be improved for next year so I would suggest including these comments in your feedback form if you haven't already.

Was the food van supposed to be 24 hours?  The sign (that was laying sideways on the floor for most of the time) said so, but it was closed until lunchtime.

Also, weird policy in the main tent at breakfast where you choose your breakfast items.  Because I had bacon I wasn't allowed the veggie sausages... apparently they must save them for the vegetarians.  Er... just cook some more as you would with any other item when it runs out.

 

11 hours ago, Pinhead said:

Oxfam essentially bid to place as many stewards as possible in the available positions that the festival identify need to be covered.  They do this cos they charge a fee for each steward (which is where the money is raised). The more stewards, the more money. It doesn't matter to Oxfam therefore if some positions end up being oversubscribed, at least for some of the time. It also acts as an insurance for positions where they cannot accurately predict whether there will be a rush or lots of work and so on.

 

Also, if people mug off their shifts there shouldn't be any problem staffing with the remaining ones.

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26 minutes ago, jimbarkanoodle said:

You sound quite reasonable to be fair.

Its the slightly creepy 50 year old male supervisors with beards and glasses types, who want to do everything by the book and are embarrassingly jobsworth and basically utter dickheads that give the supervisors an overall bad name.

"Last time, however, my supervisor felt like god on earth and did not allow any joking around or even sitting down"

What the actual fuck? perhaps this supervisor thought he was a squadron leader in Basra or something, rather than a laid back music festival. Hopefully his name was taken and multiple complaints made to Oxfam about this chump.

Most of us are quite reasonable and despite being male, nearly 50 and having a beard and glasses, I try not to be too creepy. But there is some of this, and I would encourage stewards to feed back to the shift leaders - supervisors are told that part of their job is to keep their teams happy and motivated, and the Oxfam management people do care about this stuff.

The sitting down thing though...  We regularly get "what are we paying you for if your people are sat down" from the festivals, and it does make stewards less approachable / open from a public perspective.  You definitely should be joking around and having fun though - that makes you more approachable, represents Oxfam well to the public, and makes the shift pass by.

11 hours ago, Pinhead said:

Oxfam essentially bid to place as many stewards as possible in the available positions that the festival identify need to be covered.  They do this cos they charge a fee for each steward (which is where the money is raised). The more stewards, the more money. It doesn't matter to Oxfam therefore if some positions end up being oversubscribed, at least for some of the time. It also acts as an insurance for positions where they cannot accurately predict whether there will be a rush or lots of work and so on.

You have to staff for the potential busiest it gets.  Ped Gate C is the classic example - Campervans east enters the festival from here.  You start your shift at 6 am, see nearly nobody for 3 hours,  have queues out the gate for 2 hours, and then tail off to nearly nobody by 2pm.  Repeat for those coming on at 2 (loads going back to their camper between 4 and 7 to get sorted for the evening, queues in and out) and then for the overnight, you have a massive rush to leave site between midnight and 2am that has to be managed.

You need enough staff to keep all the lanes open when it's busy, but 65% of the time, they'll be pretty much doing nothing.

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On 7/2/2019 at 8:32 PM, Sku said:

 

As far as Festaff shift combinations went, this was pretty much middle of the road. Not the best, not the worst. Shifts are first come first served (you can choose), so some who arrived early were able to bag 2x 12hr shifts on Weds and Thurs, instead of the usual 3x 8hrs. Others managed to have all their 3x 8hr shifts worked by Friday morning or Friday afternoon. No Friday shifts remained when we arrived, so we opted for Saturday daytime.

Not sure i completely understand what you mean by this. Surely if its first come first served everyone would turn up at the earliest possibility to make sure that their shifts are all complete before the music starts? Whats the earliest festaff can turn up? 

From how i've interpreted this it seems a pretty decent deal to me!

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57 minutes ago, TheFullShaboo said:

Not sure i completely understand what you mean by this. Surely if its first come first served everyone would turn up at the earliest possibility to make sure that their shifts are all complete before the music starts? Whats the earliest festaff can turn up? 

From how i've interpreted this it seems a pretty decent deal to me!

Well they told us we could turn up between 2pm and 6pm Monday, and that shifts were first come first served.

We arrived at about 1:30pm, and found that at least half of the entire Festaff crew were already standing in line waiting for shift allocation to begin at 2pm.

This is why I didn't get the best possible shifts, but also didn't get the worst. To be fair though, it felt like everyone got a pretty good deal, even those at the back of the line, since that everyone works on Wednesday and Thursday no matter what. Getting there early only really seems to matter so that your 3rd shift during the show days isn't a dud, and for the chance of doing 2x 12hr shifts on Weds/Thurs.

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1 hour ago, Sku said:

Well they told us we could turn up between 2pm and 6pm Monday, and that shifts were first come first served.

We arrived at about 1:30pm, and found that at least half of the entire Festaff crew were already standing in line waiting for shift allocation to begin at 2pm.

This is why I didn't get the best possible shifts, but also didn't get the worst. To be fair though, it felt like everyone got a pretty good deal, even those at the back of the line, since that everyone works on Wednesday and Thursday no matter what. Getting there early only really seems to matter so that your 3rd shift during the show days isn't a dud, and for the chance of doing 2x 12hr shifts on Weds/Thurs.

Thanks for this. Sounds like Festaff volunteers get a better deal than those with Oxfam.

Any idea how early you have to apply to get a place with Festaff? 

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Just now, TheFullShaboo said:

Thanks for this. Sounds like Festaff volunteers get a better deal than those with Oxfam.

Any idea how early you have to apply to get a place with Festaff? 

They do get a better deal in terms of shift allocation - but I do need to point out there's a few problems - namely that they charge you to work for them by keeping a percentage of your deposit as an "admin fee", and that they insist that you work a second festival with them (which they'll also charge you for) from a prescribed list (most of which I'd not want to go near). Not sure if it's still lthe case or not, but they also used to insist on keeping hold of your passport/driving licence.

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Just now, FuzzyDunlop said:

I had decided that 2019 was my last festival for a while. Mainly due to cost.

Volunteering is another option. If I volunteer for another festival with Oxfam this year, will I get priority for Glastonbury?

Yep, any 2 in 2019 (and Glastonbury can be one of them) will give you first dibs in 2020. Though it looks like there's not actually a lot of festivals with spaces left.

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