Volunteering 2022

[THEBOILERMAN]

4 hours ago, garc1a said:

Me too, I'm that peeved I've sent an email back with my thoughts. It's All I can do, have the cheek to mention us hurrying up so we can book cheap transport to Bristol .. that window has long passed for us! 

Thought I had everything sorted, it's the way back that's screwed as my return train on Tuesday morning from Euston means I need to get to London somehow on the Monday .

 

Like you say, there were lots of people from round the country who do this, I reckon we ain't the only ones screwed over by this late announcement.

 

 

We have a minibus leaving Glastonbury Town on the Tuesday morning about 09:30 to Glasgow with 2 spare seats. message me if any good to you. Actually Garc!a if your`e Pedro you now the score 🙂

Edited May 7, 2022 by THEBOILERMAN
added info

[Dan Eazy]

Damn it, keep missing it. Got a mate who’s still looking. 

[garc1a]

43 minutes ago, THEBOILERMAN said:

We have a minibus leaving Glastonbury Town on the Tuesday morning about 09:30 to Glasgow with 2 spare seats. message me if any good to you. Actually Garc!a if your`e Pedro you now the score 🙂

Legend, brilliant. Ignore my last message, just seen your post... Sorting out accomodation the now. 

Thanks, be in contact soon and in a sunny somerset field 

[MrZigster]

Terrible decision by Shelter, especially if they previously advised London & Sheffield would be possible for their volunteers.

Any news on the training yet? Is that also going to be Bristol only? Or have they finally got the idea that it could all be done online these days, thereby saving everyone the hassle of arranging a whole day off (at usually quite short notice) and the expense of travel, all for a class that lasts two hours if that. Even if you've done it umpteen times before. It's always baffled me this. The whole thing can't be more than a few pages of A4 long and could be sent to everyone in an email for instance.

Always enjoyed volunteering with Shelter but I'd be panicking right now if I was going with them this year. I'm sure it must be way easier for most of the country to get to London rather than Bristoi. Why not centralise there? Do Shelter have a connection with Bristol? Truly can't get my head around this.

Definitely feels like a bean counter decision.

It's going to make volunteering very much more difficult if not impossible for me in the future if this is permanent.

[Leyrulion]

17 minutes ago, MrZigster said:

It's going to make volunteering very much more difficult if not impossible for me in the future if this is permanent

It will be interesting to see if it has knock on effects for volunteer numbers next year. There will be a limit where despite the popularity of Glastonbury it'll be too much hassle for anyone outside the SW.

[marathonsteve]

1 hour ago, MrZigster said:

Terrible decision by Shelter, especially if they previously advised London & Sheffield would be possible for their volunteers.

Any news on the training yet? Is that also going to be Bristol only? Or have they finally got the idea that it could all be done online these days, thereby saving everyone the hassle of arranging a whole day off (at usually quite short notice) and the expense of travel, all for a class that lasts two hours if that. Even if you've done it umpteen times before. It's always baffled me this. The whole thing can't be more than a few pages of A4 long and could be sent to everyone in an email for instance.

Always enjoyed volunteering with Shelter but I'd be panicking right now if I was going with them this year. I'm sure it must be way easier for most of the country to get to London rather than Bristoi. Why not centralise there? Do Shelter have a connection with Bristol? Truly can't get my head around this.

Definitely feels like a bean counter decision.

It's going to make volunteering very much more difficult if not impossible for me in the future if this is permanent.

Absolutely appalling decision by Avalon / Shelter if they didn’t mention it when Volunteers applied. There will be a lot of unhappy Volunteers working away behind the bars. It will have a knock on effect for years to come.

[MrZigster]

8 hours ago, Leyrulion said:

It will be interesting to see if it has knock on effects for volunteer numbers next year. There will be a limit where despite the popularity of Glastonbury it'll be too much hassle for anyone outside the SW.

 

7 hours ago, marathonsteve said:

Absolutely appalling decision by Avalon / Shelter if they didn’t mention it when Volunteers applied. There will be a lot of unhappy Volunteers working away behind the bars. It will have a knock on effect for years to come.

Didn't they also make a mess of their recruiting in 2020? Giving away more positions than they actually had available, leading to people thinking they'd got a place and then being told a mistake had been made, iirc?

Again, I'd be furious. Disappointed would be an understatement.

It's always seemed a bit shambolic/back of a fag packet scenario when I've done it previously. Seems things can get worse.

Good point out from @marathonstevethat the no London or Sheffield travel thing may be an Avalon decision and nothing to do with Shelter.

 

[marathonsteve]

3 hours ago, MrZigster said:

 

Didn't they also make a mess of their recruiting in 2020? Giving away more positions than they actually had available, leading to people thinking they'd got a place and then being told a mistake had been made, iirc?

Again, I'd be furious. Disappointed would be an understatement.

It's always seemed a bit shambolic/back of a fag packet scenario when I've done it previously. Seems things can get worse.

Good point out from @marathonstevethat the no London or Sheffield travel thing may be an Avalon decision and nothing to do with Shelter.

 

We stopped volunteering for them when we were put on a bar with people who were getting paid and they had the better shifts whereas 2 of our 3 shifts were till 3 in the morning. A No Brainer.

[deepkittycaz]

21 minutes ago, marathonsteve said:

We stopped volunteering for them when we were put on a bar with people who were getting paid and they had the better shifts whereas 2 of our 3 shifts were till 3 in the morning. A No Brainer.

Surely getting paid = more responsibility? That seems very unfair.

[Jay Pee]

As i have said to a few folk since first volunteering with WaterAid, it may be largely working as the Long Drop SAS but they really value the volunteers and really look after them.

I am possibly wearing rose tinted spectacles having only volunteered with them but i cannot relate in anyway to some of the weird things I read on here about volunteer well-being and management.

Big up the WaterAid Festival Managers.

[stuie]

7 minutes ago, Jay Pee said:

As i have said to a few folk since first volunteering with WaterAid, it may be largely working as the Long Drop SAS but they really value the volunteers and really look after them.

I am possibly wearing rose tinted spectacles having only volunteered with them but i cannot relate in anyway to some of the weird things I read on here about volunteer well-being and management.

Big up the WaterAid Festival Managers.

I've got to say, Oxfam are bloody decent too.  They really look after their volunteers and run a happy ship. 

Shelter were already piss poor in my estimation after they gave me a place for 2020, then took it away again after being over subscribed. But this change of travel arrangements so close to the festival is unbelievable. 

 

[Jay Pee]

2 minutes ago, stuie said:

I've got to say, Oxfam are bloody decent too.  They really look after their volunteers and run a happy ship. 

Shelter were already piss poor in my estimation after they gave me a place for 2020, then took it away again after being over subscribed. But this change of travel arrangements so close to the festival is unbelievable. 

 

Fair one.  And yes, one of my good "Festival Friends" is an Oxfam linchpin and he is sound.  Apologies for any misplaced generalisations.

[Jay Pee]

Question for a new volunteer who has got in touch with me.  

What day do they start running the shuttle bus from Castle Cary to Site? Does it only start on Wednesday? Are there options other than taxi if arriving at castle Cary on Monday?

[incident]

17 minutes ago, Jay Pee said:

Question for a new volunteer who has got in touch with me.  

What day do they start running the shuttle bus from Castle Cary to Site? Does it only start on Wednesday? Are there options other than taxi if arriving at castle Cary on Monday?

Assuming it's not changed this year the shuttle bus runs Monday, just on a (much) lower frequency to the public days.

The other important consideration is whether the shuttle bus going is suitable for them - the bus only goes to Gate A, so if they need to go to Gate B (or worse, C) for accreditation then it can make it very awkward getting there as they'll have a long walk and can't use the most direct routes.

[Jay Pee]

4 minutes ago, incident said:

Assuming it's not changed this year the shuttle bus runs Monday, just on a (much) lower frequency to the public days.

The other important consideration is whether the shuttle bus going is suitable for them - the bus only goes to Gate A, so if they need to go to Gate B (or worse, C) for accreditation then it can make it very awkward getting there as they'll have a long walk and can't use the most direct routes.

Thanks mate. Useful gen

[dondo]

55 minutes ago, Jay Pee said:

Question for a new volunteer who has got in touch with me.  

What day do they start running the shuttle bus from Castle Cary to Site? Does it only start on Wednesday? Are there options other than taxi if arriving at castle Cary on Monday?

Who are they volunteering with?

I know that with recycling crew you chose which gate you do your accreditation at i.e. Gate a if arriving by public transport and gate b if driving.

Information hasn't been updated yet for this year but for last festival it said that on the Monday and Tuesday staff buses from Castle Cary were running from 0900  to 2230 at approximately 60 minute intervals 

[Jay Pee]

6 minutes ago, dondo said:

Who are they volunteering with?

I know that with recycling crew you chose which gate you do your accreditation at i.e. Gate a if arriving by public transport and gate b if driving.

Information hasn't been updated yet for this year but for last festival it said that on the Monday and Tuesday staff buses from Castle Cary were running from 0900  to 2230 at approximately 60 minute intervals 

Useful again. Thanks. WaterAid and as you say, I was accredited at Ped Gate a in 2019.

Glastonbury. So many variables

[Isaaclk]

On 4/5/2022 at 3:47 PM, March Hare said:

Sooo… new thread, Oxfam Stewards, which shift pattern are you hoping for?

note: no guarantee this is the actual shift patterns

A, B or C please. Only act i need to see over the weekend is Kendrick!!

[blue6field]

3 hours ago, Isaaclk said:

A, B or C please. Only act i need to see over the weekend is Kendrick!!

My only must see is Macca! I’ll swap you if if it comes to it!

[stuie]

6 hours ago, Isaaclk said:

A, B or C please. Only act i need to see over the weekend is Kendrick!!

 

3 hours ago, blue6field said:

My only must see is Macca! I’ll swap you if if it comes to it!

My only must see is Diana so I’m sure between the 3 of us we can work it out, if you’re interested! 😀

[stuie]

Just now, stuie said:

 

My only must see is Diana so I’m sure between the 3 of us we can work it out, if you’re interested! 😀

Didn’t even mean to get that song reference in there! 😂

[blue6field]

9 minutes ago, stuie said:

Didn’t even mean to get that song reference in there! 😂

It’s a sign!

[amfy]

When I volunteered for Shelter in 2017 I lived in Birmingham & none of the pick ups were particularly convenient but about equidistant, so I went for Bristol because at least it was on the way to Glastonbury.

Train fares to London are also more expensive than travelling to anywhere else, it is just one of those weird anomalies in rail pricing.

Nonetheless, I contacted them & asked if they’d consider putting on a slightly later coach from Bristol, to enable people travelling from a distance to avoid peak fares or overnight hotels, and they actually did this so I managed to travel down on an off peak fare. I thought they were brilliantly flexible and considerate! (Other than the whole having to go on a coach thing in the first place but that’s just how they get you in)

Its incredible to see that they can be this dismissive of their volunteer’s logistics this year! I’m amazed at the arrogance of it.

Edited May 10, 2022 by amfy
Typo

[balti-pie]

It feels like one of those disastrous missteps that gets revisited (hopefully before the festival, like now, so people can change their plans) or at the end of the summer where they apologise profusely, realise theyve dropped a bollock, and change it back for next year and going forward. Its a really idiotic thing to destroy everyone's goodwill for the sake of the price of a couple of coaches. 

[Isaaclk]

6 hours ago, stuie said:

 

My only must see is Diana so I’m sure between the 3 of us we can work it out, if you’re interested! 😀

Haha i'm going with a big group of people so would have to find shift swaps for all of us or a least half i reckon. Will keep you guys in mind though if it comes to it!