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Volunteering 2020


DJL

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10 minutes ago, Puttycat1 said:

At the moment I’m thinking of doing Oxfam or festaff. Is there any big differences between the two or advantages of one over the other?

Quite a few differences, even aside from one being a charity and the other being a profit making enterprise.

Different roles - Festaff only do wristbanding, Oxfam do nearly everything else around the gates.

Different benefits - Festaff you'll get access to showers and that's about it, Oxfam will also give you 3 meal vouchers and access to hot drinks.

Different costs - Festaff will automatically keep part of your deposit as an "Admin fee" so you're effectively paying to work, Oxfam will refund you in full (assuming you complete your shifts and don't do anything really dumb like lose a radio).

Different requirements - This apparently might be changing, but this year Festaff required you to work a second festival with them (from a pretty uninspiring list), Oxfam don't require it for stewards (they do for Campaigners, but with a much better selection of other festivals). In the past Festaff also insisted that they hold on to your Driving Licence / Passport until you'd completed your shifts but I don't know if that's still the case as I've not heard it mentioned for a while.

Different shifts - this the one where Festaff do actually provide an advantage - their shifts tend to be relatively front loaded so you'd have more time free on Fri/Sat/Sun, Oxfam tend to be a bit more spread out over the weekend.

Personally I find the idea of paying to work especially offensive and would never deal with Festaff on that basis alone, but others will see it differently.

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4 hours ago, Homersexual said:

Has anyone worked the bars before? What are they like? I have extensive bar experience so I’m thinking of going that route. Who do you apply with? I’ll literally do anything to get a ticket next year.

 

4 hours ago, Avalon_Fields said:

@glasto-worker will be able to advise you.

Mark E. Spliff has covered most of it although getting a place with Shelter/Avalon is a lot easier than getting a place with a Official WBC Group/Team due to the fact that the WBC has cut back on how many  Official WBC Group/Team's there is + its not what bar experience you have that counts 
its how many years you have been a WBC volunteer for - I have people who have been with me over 25 years and they are always the top of the list as they have already proved they are dependable and honest .

If you are a personal licence holder then you should let Shelter/Avalon know as that will improve your chances.

If you go the WBC route then its best via a Trade Union or Trade Union Council - such as GMB - Unison - Unite - RMT - CWU but not all branches will put up Volunteers ' but they all had teams at Glasto 2019

Another bonus is with the WBC ' there is no up front deposit of £300 ' although if you vanish there will be repercussion for the rest of your Team/Group.{ it could end up that 10 or 20 volunteers end up being barred so they wont be all that happy }

shift wise - it works out about the same actual hours but in the WBC that can be spread out over more days { but less hours }

facility wise they are as good as each other.Shelter/Avalon crew camp is very close to where the WBC used to have their crew camp between 1986 to 1994 although the WBC are now close to Gate D

Next year will be crazy as I can imagine demand will go though the roof so I imagine some Official WBC Group/Team's will be cut back.

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8 hours ago, incident said:

Quite a few differences, even aside from one being a charity and the other being a profit making enterprise.

Different roles - Festaff only do wristbanding, Oxfam do nearly everything else around the gates.

Different benefits - Festaff you'll get access to showers and that's about it, Oxfam will also give you 3 meal vouchers and access to hot drinks.

Different costs - Festaff will automatically keep part of your deposit as an "Admin fee" so you're effectively paying to work, Oxfam will refund you in full (assuming you complete your shifts and don't do anything really dumb like lose a radio).

Different requirements - This apparently might be changing, but this year Festaff required you to work a second festival with them (from a pretty uninspiring list), Oxfam don't require it for stewards (they do for Campaigners, but with a much better selection of other festivals). In the past Festaff also insisted that they hold on to your Driving Licence / Passport until you'd completed your shifts but I don't know if that's still the case as I've not heard it mentioned for a while.

Different shifts - this the one where Festaff do actually provide an advantage - their shifts tend to be relatively front loaded so you'd have more time free on Fri/Sat/Sun, Oxfam tend to be a bit more spread out over the weekend.

Personally I find the idea of paying to work especially offensive and would never deal with Festaff on that basis alone, but others will see it differently.

Thank you. This is really helpful ?

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10 hours ago, MrZigster said:

How did you move on from Shelter if you don't mind me asking?

They're kind of always the first offer I get and it would seem foolish to not take it and risk other chances/applications not happening.

The first year we went as  customers we went round to different random volunteers to ask if they liked what they were doing, what their shifts were like, how they were treated by the company and would they do it again... If you are happy working for Shelter and are guaranteed a position I would stick with them Mr Zigster

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10 minutes ago, marathonsteve said:

The first year we went as  customers we went round to different random volunteers to ask if they liked what they were doing, what their shifts were like, how they were treated by the company and would they do it again... If you are happy working for Shelter and are guaranteed a position I would stick with them Mr Zigster

I'd be happier if their camp wasn't right next door to the late night area and if they stopped sending the portaloo hoovers in at 6:00am just as the bass has stopped pounding.

Sleep deprivation is a bitch wherever you are (I usually take sleeping pills with me. Forgot them), but I found being too tired to think straight at Glasto a little bit soul destroying.

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10 hours ago, Puttycat1 said:

At the moment I’m thinking of doing Oxfam or festaff. Is there any big differences between the two or advantages of one over the other?

I don't even understand how Festaff is a thing and there's no way I'd ever consider volunteering for a privately owned profit-making company owned by one guy, who keep a part of your deposit, even when you complete all of the shifts.

I'm surprised Glastonbury use them to be honest.

Oxfam on the other hand, is a wonderful charity and I know that my volunteer hours contribute to the work that they do throughout the year, around the world.

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, MrZigster said:

I'd be happier if their camp wasn't right next door to the late night area and if they stopped sending the portaloo hoovers in at 6:00am just as the bass has stopped pounding.

Sleep deprivation is a bitch wherever you are (I usually take sleeping pills with me. Forgot them), but I found being too tired to think straight at Glasto a little bit soul destroying.

That does sound pretty off-putting.

Since I found that Shelter don't have an area for campervan's (which Oxfam do) they're sadly off my list. 

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21 hours ago, Sku said:

They have confirmed that they are no longer doing that in 2020.

The new system is that you need to have worked 2 festivals the year before, to get priority access to volunteer spaces the next year. So for example, work 2 festivals in 2019, then get priority access in 2020 (without the need to work a sister event in 2020).

Then any remaining places for 2020 go out to anybody, without the need to work a sister event. However you might still want to work a second festival for priority access in 2021 anyway, but at least it's your own decision now rather than a forced thing.

I was just wondering if you'd seen this confirmed elsewhere? Currently, Festaff's page about Glastonbury 2020 still suggests you would have to sign up to a second festival as well (https://www.festaff.co.uk/news/glastonbury-applications-2020), but I can see that this may simply be last year's info page updated to refer to 2020 rather than 2019, and that things may change when it comes to the applications actually opening...

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55 minutes ago, stuie said:

I don't even understand how Festaff is a thing and there's no way I'd ever consider volunteering for a privately owned profit-making company owned by one guy, who keep a part of your deposit, even when you complete all of the shifts.

I'm surprised Glastonbury use them to be honest.

Point 1 - you get to go to Glastonbury, in exchange for 24 hours of work, and £50.  For lots of people, that's a fair deal (actually, it's objectively a reasonable deal - you'd need to earn about £10 an hour to earn the cash after tax for the same period to buy the ticket...).  Also, loads of the organisations who bring volunteers aren't doing it for charity - Arcadia, Block9, various clean up crews etc etc.  

Point 2 - Festaff are pretty good at what they do, basically.

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1 hour ago, stuie said:

I don't even understand how Festaff is a thing and there's no way I'd ever consider volunteering for a privately owned profit-making company owned by one guy, who keep a part of your deposit, even when you complete all of the shifts.

I'm surprised Glastonbury use them to be honest.

i'm no fan of festaff - I won't take their advertising since I saw them tweet about wanting an unpaid intern.

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1 hour ago, jfaragher said:

Point 1 - you get to go to Glastonbury, in exchange for 24 hours of work, and £50.  For lots of people, that's a fair deal (actually, it's objectively a reasonable deal - you'd need to earn about £10 an hour to earn the cash after tax for the same period to buy the ticket...).  Also, loads of the organisations who bring volunteers aren't doing it for charity - Arcadia, Block9, various clean up crews etc etc.  

Point 2 - Festaff are pretty good at what they do, basically.

Point 1 - you have to do 2 festivals in the season so 48 hours work at £10 per hour. 

And it looks like you have to have done 2 this year to be guaranteed Glastonbury next so that’s a lot of work you have to do, earning a guy money - and then he’ll keep £50 of your deposit for the pleasure. 

Not for me! 

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24 minutes ago, alicemd said:

Does anyone know if you can cancel your volunteering slot if you manage to secure a ticket in resale?

Some places you can, usually with a 20 quid or so admin fee. Others might not allow it. You'll need to check the terms and conditions with whoever you sign up with. The terms and conditions and benefits can vary quite a bit between different organisations.

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7 hours ago, stuie said:

I don't even understand how Festaff is a thing and there's no way I'd ever consider volunteering for a privately owned profit-making company owned by one guy, who keep a part of your deposit, even when you complete all of the shifts.

I'm surprised Glastonbury use them to be honest.

Oxfam on the other hand, is a wonderful charity and I know that my volunteer hours contribute to the work that they do throughout the year, around the world.

 

 

 

And madly Oxfam have offered to do accreditation but have been turned down so dont know quite what hold they have over GFL.

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37 minutes ago, Pinhead said:

And madly Oxfam have offered to do accreditation but have been turned down so dont know quite what hold they have over GFL.

It’s about having multiple organisations in the process to prevent people let’s mates know, blagging through etc. You’d have to convince people rota’ed on from two organisations. 

Thats a guess btw.

Doing it for charity is a big thing for me. If Festaff was the only option I’d have tried for a regular ticket instead.

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2 minutes ago, March Hare said:

It’s about having multiple organisations in the process to prevent people let’s mates know, blagging through etc. You’d have to convince people rota’ed on from two organisations. 

Thats a guess btw.

Doing it for charity is a big thing for me. If Festaff was the only option I’d have tried for a regular ticket instead.

Does this make any difference? Oxfams controls on this are pretty strict

 

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4 minutes ago, Pinhead said:

Does this make any difference? Oxfams controls on this are pretty strict

 

The guess is based on the importance the festival places on controlling numbers and protecting the integrity of the perimeter. When it comes to the license reviews it’s a point that influences the committee more than how much extra they could raise for charity.  Controlling numbers is a big thing.

This time an educated guess based on knowing licensing committees (from the dark side :) )

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8 minutes ago, March Hare said:

It’s about having multiple organisations in the process to prevent people let’s mates know, blagging through etc. You’d have to convince people rota’ed on from two organisations. 

Thats a guess btw.

Doing it for charity is a big thing for me. If Festaff was the only option I’d have tried for a regular ticket instead.

This is what we were told at our Oxfam briefing this year 

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