Volunteering 2024

[Jay Pee]

20 hours ago, Chazwozza said:

Thanks all for the insights and ideas - I like the idea of Water Aid, the loo crew seems like an… interesting?… option but not sure I could stand the stench.  Or am I putting the worst possible interpretation on things?

You just get use to it.  The human brain is incredibly adaptable.  Just have the crack with other team members if you do get it and enjoy the plus sides of great campsite, bar, showers, food an reasonable shifts

 

[Crazyfool01]

1 minute ago, Jay Pee said:

You just get use to it.  The human brain is incredibly adaptable.  Just have the crack with other team members if you do get it and enjoy the plus sides of great campsite, bar, showers, food an reasonable shifts

 

I guess it's similar , I used to work on a fish counter but honestly couldn't smell it on myself , others could . I actually don't find the toilets so bad these days anyway it's rare to find one that's horrendous like they were in the days of the porta loos . I dont think I came across a bad one this year 

[dotdash79]

Just got back from Kendal Calling and being a first time volunteer with Festaff, and I loved it. I was doing wrist banding so that was either scanning the tickets or putting wrist bands on, and on our gate we also had to manage a crossing as the site lane was next to the gate.

The people we camped near were great, and the people on the gate were really friendly, the hot showers and decent loos were good. The wife wants to do Glastonbury with them next year I'm not 100% convinced that it will be as good as this, as we had quite a bit of access with our accreditation. But I will be back at KC volunteering.

Also I actually met someone who works for see tickets, an actual human.

Edited July 31, 2023 by dotdash79

[stuie]

44 minutes ago, dotdash79 said:

Just got back from Kendal Calling and being a first time volunteer with Festaff, and I loved it. I was doing wrist banding so that was either scanning the tickets or putting wrist bands on, and on our gate we also had to manage a crossing as the site lane was next to the gate.

The people we camped near were great, and the people on the gate were really friendly, the hot showers and decent loos were good. The wife wants to do Glastonbury with them next year I'm not 100% convinced that it will be as good as this, as we had quite a bit of access with our accreditation. But I will be back at KC volunteering.

Also I actually met someone who works for see tickets, an actual human.

You would have access to all of the crew bars with your Glasto accreditation and I think you can arrive early with Festaff too.  My only issue with Festaff is that it's a private company and your work hours are making the directors richer - there's no charitable element to it, which is important for me when I give my time.

[incident]

5 minutes ago, stuie said:

You would have access to all of the crew bars with your Glasto accreditation and I think you can arrive early with Festaff too.  My only issue with Festaff is that it's a private company and your work hours are making the directors richer - there's no charitable element to it, which is important for me when I give my time.

Plus they charge you to work for them.

[dotdash79]

30 minutes ago, stuie said:

You would have access to all of the crew bars with your Glasto accreditation and I think you can arrive early with Festaff too.  My only issue with Festaff is that it's a private company and your work hours are making the directors richer - there's no charitable element to it, which is important for me when I give my time.

I believe the do donate some profits to charity. 
 

i also think it has to be a company due to the way they are responsible for some of the licensing conditions(admission numbers). 

[curiouscat]

For those that have been to Glasto with Oxfam... What dates should I be looking to book off work. 

I'm doing 2 festivals with Oxfam this year to get priority for next year and want to get ahead of myself with the holiday booking 😊

[stuie]

24 minutes ago, curiouscat said:

For those that have been to Glasto with Oxfam... What dates should I be looking to book off work. 

I'm doing 2 festivals with Oxfam this year to get priority for next year and want to get ahead of myself with the holiday booking 😊

The festival next year is Wed 26 to Sun 30th June 2024.

You can arrive on either the Monday 24th or the Tuesday 25th (up to you) unless you apply for the early shifts.

You should expect to be on site until Monday 1st July. 

 

[curiouscat]

1 hour ago, stuie said:

The festival next year is Wed 26 to Sun 30th June 2024.

You can arrive on either the Monday 24th or the Tuesday 25th (up to you) unless you apply for the early shifts.

You should expect to be on site until Monday 1st July. 

 

Thank you!! 

All booked, fingers crossed for a volunteering space now

[marathonsteve]

On 7/31/2023 at 12:52 PM, stuie said:

You would have access to all of the crew bars with your Glasto accreditation and I think you can arrive early with Festaff too.  My only issue with Festaff is that it's a private company and your work hours are making the directors richer - there's no charitable element to it, which is important for me when I give my time.

Have you actually worked for Oxfam, Shelter and War child  which are charities and seen how they have treated stewards. 

[stuie]

10 hours ago, marathonsteve said:

Have you actually worked for Oxfam, Shelter and War child  which are charities and seen how they have treated stewards. 

Two of the three.  What's your point?  I'm not aware of any problems of how any of them treat their stewards.

My point was that I would prefer to volunteer for a charitable organisation than a profit making one. 

I'm not sure why that offended you.

 

[incident]

11 hours ago, marathonsteve said:

Have you actually worked for Oxfam, Shelter and War child  which are charities and seen how they have treated stewards. 

FWIW War Child haven't had a steward operation for about 5 years now.

[Bike_Like_A_Mum]

I'm definitely down for volunteering in 2024 if I don't get tickets. My friends did it this year and enjoyed it. Of course they would rather have an ordinary ticket so we will try that first, but if not I'm definitely going for a volunteering space and would be really excited to see that side of the festival too! 🙌🏼

[deadponyclub]

what's the best volunteering option for someone who can only stay between Thursday and Monday?

[stuie]

44 minutes ago, deadponyclub said:

what's the best volunteering option for someone who can only stay between Thursday and Monday?

I don't think that there are any. 

You'll generally be expected to be on site, set up and signed in and briefed before gates open. 

There may be some opportunities but they will be by word of mouth - like carnival clubs or CND etc.

[giantkatestacks]

2 hours ago, deadponyclub said:

what's the best volunteering option for someone who can only stay between Thursday and Monday?

You used to be able to do that with recycling but this year lots of people had Thurs morning shifts which of course means being on site weds. Plus of course you need to be introduced for that.

[deadponyclub]

36 minutes ago, giantkatestacks said:

You used to be able to do that with recycling but this year lots of people had Thurs morning shifts which of course means being on site weds. Plus of course you need to be introduced for that.

ok so sounds like you can get some volunteering work that would require you onsite from Wednesday to Monday that might work for me!

Edited September 22, 2023 by deadponyclub

[Johnnyseven]

On 9/22/2023 at 8:40 AM, deadponyclub said:

what's the best volunteering option for someone who can only stay between Thursday and Monday?

Maybe Shelter? Aren't their bars only open from Thursday? You might need to be onsite from Weds though.

[deadponyclub]

31 minutes ago, Johnnyseven said:

Maybe Shelter? Aren't their bars only open from Thursday? You might need to be onsite from Weds though.

thanks, anyone on here volunteered for Shelter before and can confirm this?

[incident]

2 hours ago, Johnnyseven said:

Maybe Shelter? Aren't their bars only open from Thursday? You might need to be onsite from Weds though.

Avalon (Shelter) have most of their bars open Wednesday, it's the WBC whose bars are more likely to be the high volume ones around the big stages and so may open later.

In previous years Avalon/Shelter have also required you arrive on site on their provided coaches which go from Bristol on the Tuesday - though I think they did relax that for this year and allowed a limited number of people to make their own plans. Either way I'd be very surprised if they were keen on a late arrival from a first timer. It's just a complication that they don't need.

As a general rule of thumb - organisations tend to be more willing to accommodate late arrivals / early departures for people they know and trust, which is why I suspect this search is probably going to be futile. The only real chance is if there's a personal recommendation to join a suitably accommodating crew like maybe Recycling, or one of the local groups that provide on site stewarding - but those opportunities are very rare especially if you don't already have an "in".

[deadponyclub]

1 hour ago, incident said:

Avalon (Shelter) have most of their bars open Wednesday, it's the WBC whose bars are more likely to be the high volume ones around the big stages and so may open later.

In previous years Avalon/Shelter have also required you arrive on site on their provided coaches which go from Bristol on the Tuesday - though I think they did relax that for this year and allowed a limited number of people to make their own plans. Either way I'd be very surprised if they were keen on a late arrival from a first timer. It's just a complication that they don't need.

As a general rule of thumb - organisations tend to be more willing to accommodate late arrivals / early departures for people they know and trust, which is why I suspect this search is probably going to be futile. The only real chance is if there's a personal recommendation to join a suitably accommodating crew like maybe Recycling, or one of the local groups that provide on site stewarding - but those opportunities are very rare especially if you don't already have an "in".

appreciate the feedback, and hoping that I may be able to find my 'in' at some point between now and next June!

[dondo]

On 9/22/2023 at 8:40 AM, deadponyclub said:

what's the best volunteering option for someone who can only stay between Thursday and Monday?

 

On 9/22/2023 at 11:31 AM, giantkatestacks said:

You used to be able to do that with recycling but this year lots of people had Thurs morning shifts which of course means being on site weds. Plus of course you need to be introduced for that.

This year there was some recycling crew roles that were Friday to Monday but not as many as previously.  And as I've quoted you need to be introduced to get a spot. 

[Leyrulion]

On 9/25/2023 at 7:25 PM, deadponyclub said:

appreciate the feedback, and hoping that I may be able to find my 'in' at some point between now and next June!

Tbf now is the time to be trying to sort it, no one will take you on but if you can make a connection now there's a possibility someone might pick you off a reserve list at the last minute.

[Chazwozza]

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread - I’m going to work on getting a place with oxfam, starting now before the post-ticket-sale-failure rush!

[stuie]

21 minutes ago, Chazwozza said:

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread - I’m going to work on getting a place with oxfam, starting now before the post-ticket-sale-failure rush!

You can register your interest now but you can't apply until next year.  Even experienced stewards with priority status can not apply until February time.