Volunteering 2025

[stuie]

4 hours ago, Skip997 said:

Green Traffic lives on, looks like I’ll be back on the farm this year for the 40th anniversary of my first Glastonbury 

Nice one! Congrats 🙂 

[Paul ™]

15 hours ago, gfa said:

:

👀Hotbox is basically an arms length company of Festival Republic - the only fests they offer volunteering for are related to it etc. 🙂

 

Absolutely not, Mark started Hotbox after leaving DCSS and has no links to FR other than they work at those events.

 

14 hours ago, chuckles07 said:

If they are going to try that I don’t think it will be with Hotbox.  I have observed them at quite a few festivals over last few years (eg Leeds, Latitude, Wilderness) whilst volunteering with Oxfam and they, Hotbox, are a shambles. Unclear roles, minimal supervision, mainly seems to be wandering around wearing a tabard. However I can imagine it’s an easy way of working at a festival so there are lots of people interested.

 

Simply not true, they have a very clear role at every event, most of their roles are literally to roam either campsites or the arenas offering assistance.

 

Led by experienced supervisors and management, they also get briefed by the campsite/zone management directly employed by FR.

 

 

[CharlotteB]

My critical waste deposit has been received 🙏🏻 

[philipsteak]

2 hours ago, Paul ™ said:

 

Absolutely not, Mark started Hotbox after leaving DCSS and has no links to FR other than they work at those events.

 

 

Simply not true, they have a very clear role at every event, most of their roles are literally to roam either campsites or the arenas offering assistance.

 

Led by experienced supervisors and management, they also get briefed by the campsite/zone management directly employed by FR.

 

 

 

Roaming roles are funny ones. Looks like you aren't really doing anything but your job is to look out for stuff and be available. 

 

Having said that, I've definitely seen roaming stewards from all providers, including Oxfam and Hotbox, who genuinely aren't doing anything.

[Paul ™]

2 hours ago, philipsteak said:

 

Roaming roles are funny ones. Looks like you aren't really doing anything but your job is to look out for stuff and be available. 

 

Having said that, I've definitely seen roaming stewards from all providers, including Oxfam and Hotbox, who genuinely aren't doing anything.

Exactly, Oxfam, Hotbox, MyCause/Ethical, Festivall (Now Occasionall Group) etc all have similar job roles at some events.

I manage campsites and have various other roles at a lot of festivals, and indeed as long as they are briefed to carry out their roles as and when, a lot of it is just customer service and a face for people to approach if needed.

[incident]

4 hours ago, Paul ™ said:

Simply not true, they have a very clear role at every event, most of their roles are literally to roam either campsites or the arenas offering assistance.

 

Led by experienced supervisors and management, they also get briefed by the campsite/zone management directly employed by FR.

 

Sorry but I've also come away with the perception that Hotbox appear to be a shambles, albeit based on having worked adjacent to them a couple times at Latitude so not a huge range of experience to draw from.

 

The part that struck me most is that the people I talked to seemed to have no idea / instruction on how to escalate anything. Which should be been something front and centre in their briefing.

[chuckles07]

4 hours ago, Paul ™ said:

 

Absolutely not, Mark started Hotbox after leaving DCSS and has no links to FR other than they work at those events.

 

 

Simply not true, they have a very clear role at every event, most of their roles are literally to roam either campsites or the arenas offering assistance.

 

Led by experienced supervisors and management, they also get briefed by the campsite/zone management directly employed by FR.

 

 

 

You are a lot closer to management i guess. I have only experienced them in ‘the field’ as it were, and they seem to be much less organised than you suggest when it comes to actually doling anything other than wander around.

[stuie]

Hotbox is of no interest to me.  It's just another company making profits from people's voluntary work.  Voluntary work should have a charitable objective, in my opinion.  Possible exceptions for work experience or career development.

[CharlotteB]

5 hours ago, philipsteak said:

 

Roaming roles are funny ones. Looks like you aren't really doing anything but your job is to look out for stuff and be available. 

 

Having said that, I've definitely seen roaming stewards from all providers, including Oxfam and Hotbox, who genuinely aren't doing anything.

 

Definitely 🤣 

Do you remember the Green Police? That must've been the biggest doss. 

[Crazyfool01]

41 minutes ago, CharlotteB said:

 

Definitely 🤣 

Do you remember the Green Police? That must've been the biggest doss. 

Really good those 🙂 and yeah I’d imagine mostly fun but might have attracted some fall back from those caught with trousers down 

[philipsteak]

2 hours ago, CharlotteB said:

 

Definitely 🤣 

Do you remember the Green Police? That must've been the biggest doss. 

 

And they got to hang out in a big group..
I've done campsite patrols in a pair before where nothing at all has happened and me we've run out of conversation really early on.

Painful.

[giantkatestacks]

Application complete! Whoop!

[CharlotteB]

4 hours ago, philipsteak said:

 

And they got to hang out in a big group..
I've done campsite patrols in a pair before where nothing at all has happened and me we've run out of conversation really early on.

Painful.

 

Yeah, in the recycling crew everyone has their had down working, just trying to get the shift done by the last shift 😅

[Paul ™]

10 hours ago, incident said:

 

Sorry but I've also come away with the perception that Hotbox appear to be a shambles, albeit based on having worked adjacent to them a couple times at Latitude so not a huge range of experience to draw from.

 

The part that struck me most is that the people I talked to seemed to have no idea / instruction on how to escalate anything. Which should be been something front and centre in their briefing.

 

10 hours ago, chuckles07 said:

 

You are a lot closer to management i guess. I have only experienced them in ‘the field’ as it were, and they seem to be much less organised than you suggest when it comes to actually doling anything other than wander around.

Having worked with both Hotbox and Oxfam on multiple events over many years, I know who I would rather have working alongside me.

[Paul ™]

10 hours ago, stuie said:

Hotbox is of no interest to me.  It's just another company making profits from people's voluntary work.  Voluntary work should have a charitable objective, in my opinion.  Possible exceptions for work experience or career development.

Many volunteers from Hotbox go on to supervise and manage at events, Campsite Managers, Arena Managers and many other positions. 
It's no different to hiring interns to do those roles, people who want a step up in the industry do exactly that.

[stuie]

3 minutes ago, Paul ™ said:

Many volunteers from Hotbox go on to supervise and manage at events, Campsite Managers, Arena Managers and many other positions. 
It's no different to hiring interns to do those roles, people who want a step up in the industry do exactly that.

 

Ah I see... thanks for the info.  I did say exceptions for career development etc. but I wasn't aware that happened with Hotbox, being a relatively new player and all. 

[CharlotteB]

So many moving parts!

[Paul ™]

7 hours ago, stuie said:

 

Ah I see... thanks for the info.  I did say exceptions for career development etc. but I wasn't aware that happened with Hotbox, being a relatively new player and all. 

Hotbox have been around for a long time, started in 2003 by Mark

 

https://www.hotboxevents.com/about-hotbox

[sedra]

For Oxfam early shifts do you have to be on site on  Saturday or Sunday or either? 

[Leyrulion]

56 minutes ago, sedra said:

For Oxfam early shifts do you have to be on site on  Saturday or Sunday or either? 

I think it's Saturday as the shifts are Sunday, Monday, Tuesday.

[philipsteak]

It is.

Not that I know from personal experience unfortunately

[Leyrulion]

4 hours ago, philipsteak said:

It is.

Not that I know from personal experience unfortunately

Great shifts to get but a long time in a tent if you do. 

[CharlotteB]

I remember working after the festival once in the recycling centre. That was such a long haul. Brilliant, but testing. A fantastic experience for my younger self, but a no go nowadays 

[Paul ™]

Oxfam, from my experience last year, had early shifts on some of the gates.. Sun/Mon/Tue then off for the weekend.... not a bad number. 

[Someoni]

11 minutes ago, Paul ™ said:

Oxfam, from my experience last year, had early shifts on some of the gates.. Sun/Mon/Tue then off for the weekend.... not a bad number. 

Finishing up on the Tuesday then you get a festival ticket ready for wed opening? That's a belter if so!