Solo Shelter Volunteers

[Fyre511]

I'm doing my first Shelter volunteer Glastonbury this year, I've just been accepted!

Anyone else volunteering for Avalon Bars solo this year that wants to crew up? Always good to know a few people before you arrive!

Cheers

[paddyclark]

You will enjoy it.  Some of the bars are manically busy,  Good Campsite and great showers. May do it again next year.

[jomilky]

37 minutes ago, paddyclark said:

You will enjoy it.  Some of the bars are manically busy,  Good Campsite and great showers. May do it again next year.

Got my shelter slot sorted too, over the moon. What fields did you camp in?

[gooner1990]

I'm doing it on my own (although i have some friends who will be at the festival on normal punter tickets)

[LadyP]

I’m doing it solo too, although I have friends there with tickets. Looking forward to it!! 

[paddyclark]

3 hours ago, jomilky said:

Got my shelter slot sorted too, over the moon. What fields did you camp in?

X Marks the Spot

 

[fuztownsend01]

My Brother is Working for Oxfam, Me with Shelter. Hopefully we get some shifts that dont clash!!

My other friend usually works as part of the paramedic team, but he isn't attending this year..

Billy-no-mates here!!

Will there be phone charging points in the Shelter campsite?

[glasto-worker]

7 minutes ago, fuztownsend01 said:

My Brother is Working for Oxfam, Me with Shelter. Hopefully we get some shifts that dont clash!!

My other friend usually works as part of the paramedic team, but he isn't attending this year..

Billy-no-mates here!!

Will there be phone charging points in the Shelter campsite?

yes there will be but make sure you mark your name and pass number on the back - I work for the WBC { Avalon broke from the WBC some years ago } and you would not believe how many phones are handed in - if you plug it in ' your best to stay with it ' but many don't - if people spot a phone is fully charged they will unplug it - below is what its like in the WBC tent so it will be the same in the Avalon tent.

[gooner1990]

3 hours ago, glasto-worker said:

yes there will be but make sure you mark your name and pass number on the back - I work for the WBC { Avalon broke from the WBC some years ago } and you would not believe how many phones are handed in - if you plug it in ' your best to stay with it ' but many don't - if people spot a phone is fully charged they will unplug it - below is what its like in the WBC tent so it will be the same in the Avalon tent.

Think I’ll stick with my power pack in the tent! 

[glasto-worker]

4 hours ago, gooner1990 said:

Think I’ll stick with my power pack in the tent! 

Depending on which Bar you may be lucky ' as they may also have a extension block in the back of the bar ' more likely in the rest area.Its wise to also have your name and pass number on any charger as you can imagine one charger looks like another charger  

My Team and I work in the WBC crew bar every year and 'every day' we pick up 5 {repeat Five} Smartphones and a few others handed in and some are very expensive and most don't have a  name on it and while we try - we cant log in so have not got a clue who the owner is.

we have them in a closed box - and they have to get a friend to ring their phone # and if it rings they get the phone once they show they can unlock it # - if its out of charge then they are stuffed and will have to bring a receipt to the office after the event to get it back.

I really cant get my head around it as if I owned a £1,000 phone I certainly would not leave it on a table and wander away and forget it. 

I am sure June { who runs the Avalon staff Bar } will have the same arrangement .

[gooner1990]

7 hours ago, glasto-worker said:

Depending on which Bar you may be lucky ' as they may also have a extension block in the back of the bar ' more likely in the rest area.Its wise to also have your name and pass number on any charger as you can imagine one charger looks like another charger  

My Team and I work in the WBC crew bar every year and 'every day' we pick up 5 {repeat Five} Smartphones and a few others handed in and some are very expensive and most don't have a  name on it and while we try - we cant log in so have not got a clue who the owner is.

we have them in a closed box - and they have to get a friend to ring their phone # and if it rings they get the phone once they show they can unlock it # - if its out of charge then they are stuffed and will have to bring a receipt to the office after the event to get it back.

I really cant get my head around it as if I owned a £1,000 phone I certainly would not leave it on a table and wander away and forget it. 

I am sure June { who runs the Avalon staff Bar } will have the same arrangement .

Ok thanks for the tip.

I can't imagine i'll be using my phone too much anyway as I will only have one group of friends to meet up with when I'm not on duty!

[amfy]

The best thing to do is to charge your charger at the tent rather than your phone. 

Obviously label it, but if you do lose it then you have only lost a £20 charger rather than an expensive phone.

Having the tea tent charging point as back up means that you don’t have to worry about your charger running out of charge! 

Last time ther I had a £40 Anker which may well have lasted the week anyway, but being able to top it up whilst I had my breakfast was handy. I also ended up starting my journey home with plenty of spare charge which was when I really wanted it.

[gooner1990]

Does anyone know what time the coach leaves Bristol on the Tuesday? (or when it has done in previous years)

[JamesPet3]

Also volunteering on my own! No idea what to expect but looking forward to meeting everyone :)

[NickAtGlasto]

I’m going solo ? I’ve been to the festival as a paying customer a couple of times but none of my friends were keen this year so I thought why not!

[glasto-worker]

7 minutes ago, JamesPet3 said:

Also volunteering on my own! No idea what to expect but looking forward to meeting everyone

You will meet people on your Shelter/Avalon training day 

The odds are that all your shifts will be in the same bar so you may not know anyone at the start but by the end you will.

There will be many who have never worked behind a bar and the bar Managers know that.

At the start be selective in who you take orders from - just pick Customers well over 25 so you cant be pulled up for not asking for ID as that will be what they are looking for as some servers are very reluctant to ask for ID from anyone.

Its not like a Pub - there will not be a queue where you can pick out who is next - once you get some confidence then pick younger ones but make sure you check for ID.

in a Busy bar you will find the time flies past and no matter how big the queue gets ' just go at your own speed ' 

If you end up in a quiet bar { it wont remain quiet for long } it gives you time to chat to the Customers provided there is no one waiting .

its a good deal hence why I have been a Volunteer 30 years - sure there will be times you will wish you had a different shift but that is the price you have to pay.

[Rob0510]

I am also doing the shelter vulunteeering for the 1st time. Can anyone give an overview of the different bars and any they preferred working in? 

 

[glasto-worker]

6 hours ago, Rob0510 said:

I am also doing the shelter vulunteeering for the 1st time. Can anyone give an overview of the different bars and any they preferred working in? 

 

there is no point because ' you wont get the choice ' - you would have to be in it for many years before they give you the choice.

I have worked in 70% of them { when they were ran by the WBC } I would pick The Cockmill due to its location in the Acoustic area or The Park bar as it may be close to that new Pier - the one I would avoid ' if they still have it ' is the Pimms Bus as its very cramped inside.

But if you are new its all down to luck.

[marathonsteve]

You will be told your shifts on the way down there by coach.

[gooner1990]

23 minutes ago, marathonsteve said:

You will be told your shifts on the way down there by coach.

Do you know roughly what time the coaches leave on the Tuesday?

[Rob0510]

3 hours ago, glasto-worker said:

there is no point because ' you wont get the choice ' - you would have to be in it for many years before they give you the choice.

I have worked in 70% of them { when they were ran by the WBC } I would pick The Cockmill due to its location in the Acoustic area or The Park bar as it may be close to that new Pier - the one I would avoid ' if they still have it ' is the Pimms Bus as its very cramped inside.

But if you are new its all down to luck.

Thanks. I had a brief look but couldn’t seem to find a definitive list for all the bars that Avalon run? Any ideas.

[marathonsteve]

You dont have a choice as Glasto said as far as that goes.

 Some bars have paid staff and some bars are all volunteer except for the managers. However One particular bar is half and half which did not go down well with the volunteers working it as we had the shit shifts,

[MrZigster]

Edit: Can't believe I typed so much. I'm getting excited.



I will be there solo for Shelter again this year.



This will be my fourth time volunteering with them (previously did 2011, '14 & '16).



I can honestly say that one of the best things that has ever happened to me is getting my foot in the door with this (thanks to @StoneCircle sending me a link last minute one year).



Fail on ticket day? Never mind. It seems I now have this fallback.



I've previously worked at Cockmills in The Acoustic field ('11), a Magners Cider place between Pyramid and Other ('14) and the Thatchers Craft Cider Bar on Williams Green ('16). The cider places were great. So quiet that we were fighting over customers (not literally). Cockmills was busy but close to the camp and has a cool bar manager, I did a few hours there in '16 as they were busy and we were not (you may well get moved mid shift to cover things like this).



Saying that though, Thatchers won't be there this year and I'm wondering if there will be any cider only places this year as the new companys blurb said something about their product being available pretty much everywhere. Given how quiet those places always were I'm wondering whether they're giving up on that particular type of bar model.



My nightmare would be Stonebridge I think. Always banging busy, miles from camp, up a huge hill (I'm getting on a bit), and it's own noisy stage (I could hardly hear U2 in 2014 after DJ Yoda played in the Magners bar. Wear those earplugs people).



Swings and roundabouts really. As GW said, if it's quiet, time can drag. If it's busy, time flies past. Sound advice from GW all 'round there. Especially regarding go at your own pace.



My top tip: To any volunteers who never have worked front facing retail before. You don't need to do any subtraction to work out change. Just keep adding up to whatever money you've been given ('cause you have been adding up the bill in your head as you've been pouring the pints haven't you!). The amount of people who start getting in a flap on their first order, trying to work out £20 - £8.23 or whatever. Just look at the till draw and go £8.23 -> £18.23 -> £19.23 -> £19.73 -.£19.93 ->£19.98 -> £20. Simples. (that was a good practice).



Ok they have tills but they are (generally, iirc) not item specific and if you get a big order you won't be able to keep going back and forth adding stuff up , because other staff need to use it.



Or use your phone/take a calculator I guess.



Thinking about it, cashless payment has really taken off during the fallow year. That could make things well different.



Above all. Have Fun.



 

Edited March 31, 2019 by MrZigster

[MrZigster]

I edited one word and the spacing went wild.

 

[Rob0510]

Thanks so much for all this information it is getting me really excited already. My partner has a ticket for the festival so with regards to camping is there ever an exception where she would be able to stay on camp in my tent? Or if I would be allowed to stay with her on site?