Volunteering 2022

[rbblue]

I've also been offered a place at WaterAid with the loo crew...I'm lucky enough to have a choice between loo crew with WaterAid or stewarding with Oxfam....decisions decisions!

I appreciate this is a first-world problem, and apologies to anyone who was unlucky.

[JohnEW]

On 4/5/2022 at 7:40 PM, Scrump said:

Anyone have any idea when wateraid will let potential volunteers know? Genuinely enjoyed worth pastures with them last summer (made a family holiday out of it!). Hoping to be at the full festival with them in June 🤞

The first emails went out yesterday afternoon (I'm in!), but they will be going out in batches through april so there's plenty of time yet if you haven't got one yet.

[Jay Pee]

39 minutes ago, rbblue said:

I've also been offered a place at WaterAid with the loo crew...I'm lucky enough to have a choice between loo crew with WaterAid or stewarding with Oxfam....decisions decisions!

I appreciate this is a first-world problem, and apologies to anyone who was unlucky.

I haven't done Oxfam but one thing I liked about WaterAid is despite some quite challenging roles, you are ALWAYS In amongst the fun even when working. You don't spend the whole shift staring into a long drop.

We were on shift during Kylie and got to experience some of that which isn't the same if you are out in a car park somewhere.

I can see the pros and cons of both roles but can only speak from experience on one of them

[rbblue]

23 minutes ago, Jay Pee said:

I haven't done Oxfam but one thing I liked about WaterAid is despite some quite challenging roles, you are ALWAYS In amongst the fun even when working. You don't spend the whole shift staring into a long drop.

We were on shift during Kylie and got to experience some of that which isn't the same if you are out in a car park somewhere.

I can see the pros and cons of both roles but can only speak from experience on one of them

That's my thinking really...were it not for the fact it's loos then it wouldn't be a choice! As uninspiring as that may be, the thought of spending 8 hours in a car park miles away from the action is worse!

[Stave]

Bearded Theory is available for Oxfam now if anyone wants it....!

[oakdown]

40 minutes ago, rbblue said:

That's my thinking really...were it not for the fact it's loos then it wouldn't be a choice! As uninspiring as that may be, the thought of spending 8 hours in a car park miles away from the action is worse!

For what it's worth, I'm not sure there are any Oxfam positions that would have you in a car park! They're mostly pedestrian and vehicle gates, so although you're not in the thick of it, you're still very much inside the festival/can wander off to a stage on your break if you fancy it. I was lucky enough to be next to the T&C fields last year so plenty of entertainment within walking distance. 

The few places outside of the fence that you could end up are on the entrance to the Oxfield and maybe at road crossings? But the vast majority of people will be on gates. 

[stuie]

5 minutes ago, Stave_1974 said:

Bearded Theory is available for Oxfam now if anyone wants it....!

Ah that's why my page checker just gave me a panic attack!! 😂

[jfaragher]

3 minutes ago, oakdown said:

For what it's worth, I'm not sure there are any Oxfam positions that would have you in a car park! They're mostly pedestrian and vehicle gates, so although you're not in the thick of it, you're still very much inside the festival/can wander off to a stage on your break if you fancy it. I was lucky enough to be next to the T&C fields last year so plenty of entertainment within walking distance. 

The few places outside of the fence that you could end up are on the entrance to the Oxfield and maybe at road crossings? But the vast majority of people will be on gates. 

You can end up on Red Route / Blue Route vehicle checks, which are a bit car-parky at times...

[philipsteak]

7 minutes ago, oakdown said:

For what it's worth, I'm not sure there are any Oxfam positions that would have you in a car park! They're mostly pedestrian and vehicle gates, so although you're not in the thick of it, you're still very much inside the festival/can wander off to a stage on your break if you fancy it. I was lucky enough to be next to the T&C fields last year so plenty of entertainment within walking distance. 

The few places outside of the fence that you could end up are on the entrance to the Oxfield and maybe at road crossings? But the vast majority of people will be on gates. 

Some gates are better than others. Gate D is so far from anything there's no point even trying to see stuff on your break never mind being in the think of it. Oxfam do get arena positions at other festivals, I just never seem to get them.

[oakdown]

1 minute ago, philipsteak said:

Some gates are better than others. Gate D is so far from anything there's no point even trying to see stuff on your break never mind being in the think of it. Oxfam do get arena positions at other festivals, I just never seem to get them.

Fair enough, suppose I've just gotten lucky so far then. Would still take a spot on any gate if it meant keeping away from the loos 😂

[rbblue]

19 minutes ago, oakdown said:

For what it's worth, I'm not sure there are any Oxfam positions that would have you in a car park! They're mostly pedestrian and vehicle gates, so although you're not in the thick of it, you're still very much inside the festival/can wander off to a stage on your break if you fancy it. I was lucky enough to be next to the T&C fields last year so plenty of entertainment within walking distance. 

The few places outside of the fence that you could end up are on the entrance to the Oxfield and maybe at road crossings? But the vast majority of people will be on gates. 

Thank you, that's useful to know!

[rbblue]

11 minutes ago, philipsteak said:

Some gates are better than others. Gate D is so far from anything there's no point even trying to see stuff on your break never mind being in the think of it. Oxfam do get arena positions at other festivals, I just never seem to get them.

This is my concern!

[incident]

35 minutes ago, jfaragher said:

You can end up on Red Route / Blue Route vehicle checks, which are a bit car-parky at times...

They can be, but for my taste they're also amongst the most interesting shifts as you get a good volume of traffic coming through (compared to some of the vehicle gates at the fence itself which even during peak times the quietest ones can go half an hour without seeing anyone), and it tends to be a lot of traders and artists rather than boring members of the public.

But yeah, can also feel removed from the festival at times. At least with Blue Gate you can easily nip back to the Oxfam Field for some food during your break.

[Jay Pee]

1 hour ago, oakdown said:

Fair enough, suppose I've just gotten lucky so far then. Would still take a spot on any gate if it meant keeping away from the loos 😂

I don't think it's just me but you quickly become immune to it. The human mind is incredibly versatile at adapting quickly. Also, if you encounter anything off the scale you lock it off and call in the SAS of toilet cleaning.  I know it's hard to win people over if they have not done loo crew before but many go back for more.  

I actually got quite philosophical about it all and it kind of changed my outlook on the developed world and how pampered and generally shite we are. We get angsty about having to use a long drop for a couple of minutes for several days  out of our year and complain about a dirty toilet that would be considered luxury elsewhere.

It changed my outlook so much I am now on the WaterAid speakers network.  I was in two primary schools in our area last week taking the assembly with the WaterAid key themes. I ain't a teacher i hasten to add. Ex battle hardened serviceman

 

Edited April 7, 2022 by Jay Pee

[clarkete]

1 hour ago, Jay Pee said:

I don't think it's just me but you quickly become immune to it. The human mind is incredibly versatile at adapting quickly. Also, if you encounter anything off the scale you lock it off and call in the SAS of toilet cleaning.  I know it's hard to win people over if they have not done loo crew before but many go back for more.  

I actually got quite philosophical about it all and it kind of changed my outlook on the developed world and how pampered and generally shite we are. We get angsty about having to use a long drop for a couple of minutes for several days  out of our year and complain about a dirty toilet that would be considered luxury elsewhere.

It changed my outlook so much I am now on the WaterAid speakers network.  I was in two primary schools in our area last week taking the assembly with the WaterAid key themes. I ain't a teacher i hasten to add. Ex battle hardened serviceman

 

... I even changed my surname. 

[Scrump]

3 hours ago, Jay Pee said:

It changed my outlook so much I am now on the WaterAid speakers network.  I was in two primary schools in our area last week taking the assembly with the WaterAid key themes. I ain't a teacher i hasten to add. Ex battle hardened serviceman

 

This is so awesome to hear! Good for you😃

[Beerqueen]

Natural Event Poo Crew have spaces - they do the compost toilets and seem like a really friendly bunch.  You can also request to have shifts around any act you particularly want to see and can come in your own car (that's what put me off about bar work) and come early and stay late if you want.

poocrew2@naturalevent.co.uk

Edited April 8, 2022 by Beerqueen

[jfaragher]

22 hours ago, Jay Pee said:

I actually got quite philosophical about it all and it kind of changed my outlook on the developed world and how pampered and generally shite we are. We get angsty about having to use a long drop for a couple of minutes for several days  out of our year and complain about a dirty toilet that would be considered luxury elsewhere.

And even more so in the context of having the kind of experience (5 days of fun at Glastonbury) that is an unthinkable luxury for the majority of people in the world.  

Having experienced some truly spectacular* toilets in less-developed countries as well, I can confidently say that the average long drop is pretty nice by comparison as well.

*spectacular may be wrong word here... 

[Leyrulion]

23 hours ago, rbblue said:

This is my concern!

Being on a quiet gate isn't necessarily a bad thing. If you've bounced out of the SE corner 90 minutes before your 8 hour shift starts you might be glad you don't have much to do.

If you've a nice supervisor you might also be able to get a quick nap in (although that is absolutely not endorsed officially)

[jfaragher]

3 minutes ago, Leyrulion said:

Being on a quiet gate isn't necessarily a bad thing. If you've bounced out of the SE corner 90 minutes before your 8 hour shift starts you might be glad you don't have much to do.

If you've a nice supervisor you might also be able to get a quick nap in (although that is absolutely not endorsed officially)

I've had a solid 30 min disco nap in my break before now...

[Jay Pee]

On 4/7/2022 at 5:46 AM, sirjonnyp said:

Great to hear that you got in again Jay. That Saturday shift in 2019 was brutal, the SH toilets near other were so bad. Always fun when the sun bakes the shite on to the toilet 😄

Hi mate,

Thanks, this passed my by the other day.  Are you heading over?  Are you somewhere exotic still or back in UK?

[March Hare]

On 4/5/2022 at 4:24 PM, abiwish said:

Anyone successfully bagged an Oxfam place popping back up? Am checking all the time but no luck so far

I have one friend still trying to get in and hasn’t seen anything yet

[stuie]

6 minutes ago, March Hare said:

I have one friend still trying to get in and hasn’t seen anything yet

@abiwishI have a page tracker on it.  It's gone off a few times this week with other Beautiful Days and 2000 Trees but on Tuesday morning got an alert and managed to select Glastonbury and Steward and continue, but then it said 'Role not available' so I think I just missed one. 

If I get one I'll post on here the second after.

[March Hare]

36 minutes ago, stuie said:

@abiwishI have a page tracker on it.  It's gone off a few times this week with other Beautiful Days and 2000 Trees but on Tuesday morning got an alert and managed to select Glastonbury and Steward and continue, but then it said 'Role not available' so I think I just missed one. 

If I get one I'll post on here the second after.

Have to be so fast! Must be a few people using the monitoring approach 

[Alex DeLarge]

2 hours ago, stuie said:

@abiwishI have a page tracker on it.  It's gone off a few times this week with other Beautiful Days and 2000 Trees but on Tuesday morning got an alert and managed to select Glastonbury and Steward and continue, but then it said 'Role not available' so I think I just missed one. 

If I get one I'll post on here the second after.

Hi mate, thank you so much for this. My partner has missed out and I'm gutted for her.