Volunteering 2020

[Gilb]

11 minutes ago, Sally1999 said:

It wasn't to bad got picked up at bristol train station by bus then to site and yes straight to camping field set up tent then meeting given free 24/7 meal vouchers from onsite cafe good meals free shower vouchers free coffee and tea through out stay given shifts wednesday hard struggle 5am to 2pm thursday all night 10pm to 6am and saturday 2pm to 10pm there is a board to change shifts 

Did i enjoy well i was there shifts are really knackering wednesday busy time flew by other 2 shifts dragged big time and such along walk to get where you work like wedesday up at 3.30am but all i can say there was good times and bad times but mostly gate duties

You miss a lot and for me no i would not do it again but for some love it but wasn't for me

 

Thanks for the honest insight, Sally ? I ask because I'm planning to apply with Oxfam (isn't everyone without a ticket!). Clearly working for a  ticket provides a much different experience fromo being a punter and a certain amount of discipline may be required with regards to staying sober ? but I'd be happy to work hard to be there if it was my only choice.

[Sally1999]

I

2 minutes ago, Gilb said:

Thanks for the honest insight, Sally ? I ask because I'm planning to apply with Oxfam (isn't everyone without a ticket!). Clearly working for a  ticket provides a much different experience fromo being a punter and a certain amount of discipline may be required with regards to staying sober ? but I'd be happy to work hard to be there if it was my only choice.

It is most certainly a different insight from being a punter i arrived on the Monday and it was fab being there before the punters watching things being put together and guess what some bars are open YES there is a booze cruise monday night brilliant all workers but i just missed being a punter doing things when i wanted to do it getting old and stubborn  but hope you get though and if i hear anything about application date next year are let you know good luck

[Puttycat1]

3 hours ago, SecretFish said:

Ah that's a shame. I emailed last week or so and haven't heard back yet.

I’m in the same situation ☹️

[Steel city camper]

8 hours ago, Sally1999 said:

I worked with oxfam this year i felled on tickets 2018 and on that same disappointing Sunday afternoon sent them a email stating my interest i have never volunteered with them before i then joined there site watched out on line when the applications was released which was in February 2019 getting online was bit like trying for tickets to Glastonbury F5 a lot but got in payed the ticket money and that was it booked up half a days training which all volunteers have to do but i don't think it matters whether you worked there before just join up now with oxfam and watch the site on Facebook etc they will inform you what date to apply this year was the 12 February 2019 ??? or could of been the 11th feels such along time ago now

I also signed up for Wateraid but felled but then 2 weeks before festival they emailed me stating they had a spear couple of places available if interested but turned them down as i was volunteering with oxfam 

I have never done any sort of volunteering before try oxfam chat F/b good information on there join oxfam now you need a photo of yourself on there application 

Sign up to volunteer at a festival | Oxfam GB

 

https://oxfamapps.org › festivals

Good luck don't give up 

Cheers for the info it's much appreciated, I've signed up for around 4 different things groups so I've got my fingers well and truly crossed .not being there isn't an option so I will be doing my upmost to get there 

[Pipine]

You do have to have a slightly more sensible festival when you're working as you have to get enough sleep to get you through an 8 hour shift.  So even though I was on one of the best Oxfam shift patterns I still had to get myself to bed at a decent time most nights to make sure I could cope with standing in the heat for 8 hours or the long nightshift..  I really enjoyed it but some shifts are crazy busy, my worthy view gate shift overnight was non stop wristband checking for hours on end as a steady stream of people left the site.  Then the last couple of hours were really quiet.   Thankfully my final shift ended 10pm Saturday night so I had Saturday and Sunday nights with no worry about shifts yet to come. That was one of the better shift patterns tho.  There were shift patterns that no one wanted to swap with you left on the shift swap board.

Overall I really love it tho, nice to actually be involved in the festival after attending it for many years.

[Woolyback Wonder]

On 10/15/2019 at 11:45 PM, Sally1999 said:

It wasn't to bad got picked up at bristol train station by bus then to site and yes straight to camping field set up tent then meeting given free 24/7 meal vouchers x4 from onsite cafe good meals free shower vouchers x4 free coffee and tea through out stay given shifts wednesday hard struggle 5am to 2pm thursday all night 10pm to 6am and saturday 2pm to 10pm there is a board to swap shifts if you was lucky 

Did i enjoy well i was there shifts are really knackering wednesday busy time flew by other 2 shifts dragged big time and such along walk to get where you work like wedesday up at 3.30am but all i can say there was good times and bad times but mostly gate duties

You miss a lot and for me no i would not do it again but for some love it but wasn't for me

 

I was on the same shift pattern as you, which was one of the better ones. 

Wednesday was a good shift as it was so busy with everyone coming in, but the others did drag in parts. And the nights were freezing. 

I was lucky in the fact that I had a different gate for each shift and the furthest gate was ped gate A, but if you were somewhere like WV or west camper you had to factor in the time it takes to walk there and having to get there 15 mins before shift, so there's at least an hour gone before your shift has started.  They did have a mini bus who would take you to the furthest gates, but a few I knew just decided to walk as they always filled up quickly. 

[glasto-worker]

On 10/16/2019 at 12:09 AM, Sally1999 said:

I

It is most certainly a different insight from being a punter i arrived on the Monday and it was fab being there before the punters watching things being put together and guess what some bars are open YES there is a booze cruise monday night brilliant all workers but i just missed being a punter doing things when i wanted to do it getting old and stubborn  but hope you get though and if i hear anything about application date next year are let you know good luck

but how many were genuine crew bars with a cheap bar ? as many do appear to be charging the same { or close to the same } as Public bars. How much was a pint in the Oxfam crew bar ? -

The WBC used to allow in other workers/volunteers to their Crew bar { where prices are 50% cheaper than Public bars } but at The Phoenix Festival {Long Marston Airfield near Stratford-upon-Avon} either in 1993 or 1994 there was a huge fight that broke out and we discovered that it was ' Festival Security fighting with each other' at about 5am so the WBC banned all workers/volunteers who are not connected to the WBC from ever being allowed into any WBC Crew Bar at any festival.

I was there that morning and I recognised about 20 who were in this fight but when I asked them later what the fight was about it was over the fact that the WBC had closed the bar at 4am !!!!!! - it is a shame but over that one incident its highly unlikely that the WBC will change the restriction.It was the first fight since the WBC formed at Glastonbury in 1986 and there has not been a fight since it { at any event } 

The WBC has their own Security at their Crew Camp and only people who have WBC Photo ID are allowed in hence why random workers/volunteers are prevented from entering the Crew site.

[balti-pie]

The Oxfam crew bar only had cans, and I seem to recall they were £3: but the major crime was the choice. Stella, or Greene King IPA. I don’t mean to be rude but they can fuck off with that slop ???

[Matt42]

If anyone has any qs about Oxfam drop me a PM. I’ve done it twice  

[sirjonnyp]

The wateraid/recycling crew bar was definitely cheaper, I think it was £3.50 a pint and on the last night they did a cocktail night with loads of discounts to clear out their spirits. 

[Old_Johno]

Does anyone know if you have to re register your interest for the charities? Or the mailing list rolls over? 

[Havors]

3 minutes ago, Old_Johno said:

Does anyone know if you have to re register your interest for the charities? Or the mailing list rolls over? 

With Oxfam if you are on the mailing list i think you will get notified when the places are going to be made available. Not sure about others. 

[Old_Johno]

21 hours ago, Havors said:

With Oxfam if you are on the mailing list i think you will get notified when the places are going to be made available. Not sure about others. 

Cheers,

I tweeted shelter and they said you can email them to double check

[Old_Johno]

21 hours ago, Havors said:

With Oxfam if you are on the mailing list i think you will get notified when the places are going to be made available. Not sure about others. 

Cheers,

I tweeted shelter and they said you can email them to double check

[waltere]

I know from personal experience that if you've volunteered with Shelter before you are on the mailing list automatically, even if you didn't do it the directly preceeding year.

Whether the same applies if you registered interest but never made it to the festival I'm not sure.

[stuartasmith85]

This might be old news, so apologies if it's already been posted, but looks like Festaff's applications will be opening on 1 February: 

 

[SecretFish]

6 minutes ago, stuartasmith85 said:

This might be old news, so apologies if it's already been posted, but looks like Festaff's applications will be opening on 1 February: 

 

thank you! in the diary

[Crazyfool01]

9 minutes ago, SecretFish said:

thank you! in the diary

mine too  .... once ive brought one  

[Old_Johno]

Got a reply from shelter...

You’ll need to register your interest each year if you haven’t volunteered with us before. If you have successfully volunteered with us in the past, we will already have you on the list.

 

re register every year it seems!

[festivalred]

I'm weighing up my options for working 2020 , I can get my campervan in general camping via a friend who was lucky in the sales, myself and my other half been offered bar work, i dont mind the graft but want to get some sleep too, is there away to get in and out of the site between shifts

Any advice appreciated TIA

[jfaragher]

2 hours ago, festivalred said:

I'm weighing up my options for working 2020 , I can get my campervan in general camping via a friend who was lucky in the sales, myself and my other half been offered bar work, i dont mind the graft but want to get some sleep too, is there away to get in and out of the site between shifts

Any advice appreciated TIA

Yes.  Based on last year, you will have a standard crew ticket (of which there are a variety).  This will get you a wristband, and you'll need that, your ticket stub and a pass out voucher to get back in.  Its a faff (especially if you lose any element of these...) but doable.  

There's a chance you'll be on a different wristband, but this will only make life easier!

[sinhala]

2 minutes ago, jfaragher said:

Yes.  Based on last year, you will have a standard crew ticket (of which there are a variety).  This will get you a wristband, and you'll need that, your ticket stub and a pass out voucher to get back in.  Its a faff (especially if you lose any element of these...) but doable.  

There's a chance you'll be on a different wristband, but this will only make life easier!

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned EPO wristbands. Would this not scupper this activity ?

[jfaragher]

6 minutes ago, sinhala said:

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned EPO wristbands. Would this not scupper this activity ?

That would be the different wristband, and would make life easier  - no need for ticket stub and pass out.

Worth noting though - lots of crews are really keen on you staying in the crew area, you might need to turn up before the festival starts (and the camper field is open), and so you may have to take a tent etc, stay there a night or so, and then your mate bring the van with the majority of your stuff in.

Also, have you checked whether your crew will let you bring your van.  I volunteer for Oxfam, and take mine.

[festivalred]

2 hours ago, jfaragher said:

That would be the different wristband, and would make life easier  - no need for ticket stub and pass out.

Worth noting though - lots of crews are really keen on you staying in the crew area, you might need to turn up before the festival starts (and the camper field is open), and so you may have to take a tent etc, stay there a night or so, and then your mate bring the van with the majority of your stuff in.

Also, have you checked whether your crew will let you bring your van.  I volunteer for Oxfam, and take mine.

Yeah already checked, the camping for the staff is next to a late night spot too, i can do a night in a tent before it all kicks off if need be, we have to be onsite on the tuesday apparently , i have registered interest with Oxfam that set up sounds perfect but so many people trying for that this year i'm weighing up as many options as possible.... thanks for your responses 

[mazola]

36 minutes ago, festivalred said:

Yeah already checked, the camping for the staff is next to a late night spot too, i can do a night in a tent before it all kicks off if need be, we have to be onsite on the tuesday apparently , i have registered interest with Oxfam that set up sounds perfect but so many people trying for that this year i'm weighing up as many options as possible.... thanks for your responses 

I did Oxfam last year and they were very vocal about not letting you camp outside the crew camping, the reason being that the festival licence forbids crew from taking up public camp space.