Volunteering 2025

[philipsteak]

11 hours ago, Pinhead said:

Not too bothered by the solitude. Aggressive crew are another matter. At Boomtown one year I was doing the main gate into the Downtown in the AM after it had finished and the take down crew got so f**ked off with the rule about driving round to get to the main stage that they literally rammed us out of the way with their truck...

 

Bloody hell. 

I've had nothing close to that bad but I've said many times that crew can be the absolute worst people to deal with. The self importance and entitlement some of them have is off the scale.

I remember hearing something similar to your experience over the radio at Glastonbury one year at one of the vehicle gates.

[philipsteak]

11 hours ago, Pinhead said:

I have only ever, in 20 years of working for Oxfam, been given them. And that was last year at Bearded, which actually only meant 1 shift before opening (the other 2 after customers arrive). This is a first then for all intents and all the more surprising at Glasto, which I confess I haven't stewarded since 2011.

 

Yeah I've only ever had one, at Latitude so similar situation. Was really last minute as it was a late request by the festival but I also ended up not having a night shift as a result of it which was nice. And I think I remember correctly that my second shift was the Thursday so only really lost one day of the festival proper. 

[mandana]

On 13/06/2025 at 15:02, dutchbikes said:

Yeah think I’ve done that. But Ill double check each section again.

It might be different with a last minute place, but mine said "congratulations your application is complete" on the summary page when you log in.

[Leyrulion]

15 hours ago, Pinhead said:

Is the earlies selection process truly random or do they gravitate towards experienced returning stewards to some extent?

I have heard it's partly entirely random that stop rumours that it is just mates/long timers that get to go early.

 

It's not entirely random as there are some experienced people they want there early but those experienced people are also randomly chosen, if that makes sense? 

 

So like 20% random from those with experience they need and the rest random from everyone else. 

[giantkatestacks]

35 minutes ago, mandana said:

It might be different with a last minute place, but mine said "congratulations your application is complete" on the summary page when you log in.

I think it only does that when payment cleared though on CW side?

[dutchbikes]

1 hour ago, mandana said:

It might be different with a last minute place, but mine said "congratulations your application is complete" on the summary page when you log in.

I think my crew account has not fully updated yet, but I've had confirmation via email, so everything's all good 🙂

[mandana]

1 hour ago, dutchbikes said:

I think my crew account has not fully updated yet, but I've had confirmation via email, so everything's all good 🙂

Oh thats brilliant - congratulations on getting it all sorted 🙂

[MaxB]

Hey, does anyone have a link to this year's oxfam whatsapp they could dm, thanks!

[sloan97]

2 hours ago, MaxB said:

Hey, does anyone have a link to this year's oxfam whatsapp they could dm, thanks!

Also looking for this 🤞

[irnkrtn]

On 16/06/2025 at 21:43, Pinhead said:

Not too bothered by the solitude. Aggressive crew are another matter. At Boomtown one year I was doing the main gate into the Downtown in the AM after it had finished and the take down crew got so f**ked off with the rule about driving round to get to the main stage that they literally rammed us out of the way with their truck...

Agree - workers leaving on Monday last year was the worst shift. Some big trucks were being moved off site and other stall holders were trying to leave before the time they had been advised. We had a lot of aggressive swerves around us just driving through fields and it all culminated in a guy hitting one of our team with his car. It wasn’t even an altercation, the guy was just standing there on his radio checking when we could move people. 

[Pinhead]

35 minutes ago, irnkrtn said:

Agree - workers leaving on Monday last year was the worst shift. Some big trucks were being moved off site and other stall holders were trying to leave before the time they had been advised. We had a lot of aggressive swerves around us just driving through fields and it all culminated in a guy hitting one of our team with his car. It wasn’t even an altercation, the guy was just standing there on his radio checking when we could move people. 

Did they stick you on there without anyone from security to back you up? Have found at smaller festivals at least you are unlikely to have a member of security with you, though this might be different with Glasto as they have more such resource to draw upon.

[Pinhead]

Has anyone received their early shift car pass sticker from Oxfam yet?

[Helsbels]

9 hours ago, MaxB said:

Hey, does anyone have a link to this year's oxfam whatsapp they could dm, thanks!

Would also like this if possible. Cheers

[irnkrtn]

20 minutes ago, Pinhead said:

Did they stick you on there without anyone from security to back you up? Have found at smaller festivals at least you are unlikely to have a member of security with you, though this might be different with Glasto as they have more such resource to draw upon.

No security - we were on site traffic in the Green Fields and it was perfectly fine until about 3pm when people were getting angry. Security got there in seconds though and detained the guy. 

[Pinhead]

5 minutes ago, irnkrtn said:

No security - we were on site traffic in the Green Fields and it was perfectly fine until about 3pm when people were getting angry. Security got there in seconds though and detained the guy. 

Would have thought the Green Fields crowd would have been more mellow about it all tbh!

[sedra]

1 hour ago, Pinhead said:

Has anyone received their early shift car pass sticker from Oxfam yet?

Yes got mine yesterday. 

[midlifecrisis]

7 hours ago, sedra said:

Yes got mine yesterday. 

Do you have to wet it to stick it to your windscreen?

[philipsteak]

3 minutes ago, midlifecrisis said:

Do you have to wet it to stick it to your windscreen?

I usually just use a bit of blue tac 

[Pipine]

Congrats to those getting late volunteer places.. it really is the best feeling.  Have a great festival. 

[sedra]

3 hours ago, midlifecrisis said:

Do you have to wet it to stick it to your windscreen?

No just put in in view of the window on top of the dashboard. 

[upstream]

14 minutes ago, sedra said:

No just put in in view of the window on top of the dashboard. 

In all my previous years I would laminate it and use blue tack - last year on the VG 5 they stopped me took it away from me and I had to wait for 20 mins whilst they got permission to reissue me with a new one which they then stick in my windscreen themselves. Id been through that gate about 5 times already so was a little surprised  - It was the first time its happened to me but that may be their new MO. not the stewards fault  they're  doing what they were told to do it was all very friendly but I wasn't getting through with it not stuck to windscreen

[rwhitehouse13]

14 hours ago, Pinhead said:

Has anyone received their early shift car pass sticker from Oxfam yet?

Mine just arrived!

[GiffGath]

I'm volunteering this year for the 4th time! Does anyone know of any useful crew short cuts? I'm only aware of the cut through past the medical centre to get to PG-B avoiding muddy lane, but reckon there must be a load of others I'm not aware of!

[mandana]

6 minutes ago, GiffGath said:

I'm volunteering this year for the 4th time! Does anyone know of any useful crew short cuts? I'm only aware of the cut through past the medical centre to get to PG-B avoiding muddy lane, but reckon there must be a load of others I'm not aware of!

oo I didnt know this one so thanks for sharing, I will explore when on site

 

[LeeHC]

6 hours ago, midlifecrisis said:

Do you have to wet it to stick it to your windscreen?

I always just wrap in cling film, usually enough to stick it..

 

(Worked on punter ones too which bitter experience led me to discover are near impossible to get off...)