Volunteering 2023

[Johnnyseven]

1 hour ago, Dejalves said:

I'd rather walk for 8 hrs than stand. 

Me too, standing is much harder on your feet than walking. When walking you foot spends most of the time in the air and not on the floor.

[This_Fields_Good]

15 minutes ago, Johnnyseven said:

Me too, standing is much harder on your feet than walking. When walking you foot spends most of the time in the air and not on the floor.

A brilliant piece of logic... 😄 but I think it may have more to do with flexing the muscles than how long gravity is defied !?!
Mind you - I've never even been to a podiatrist, let alone qualified as one...

[nicknoxx]

We didn't get tickets this year and at the last minute got the chance to volunteer for Aliens Carnival Club who patrol the lane the Helipad is on to keep celeb spotters away.  We got Friday 8am-2pm, Saturday 4pm- midnight and Sunday 8am-4pm which we later manged to change to Sunday midnight-8am Monday. We had to patrol the lane for about 6 of the 8 hours and got to sit for the remainder.  We had to make our own way to the lane which was 25 minutes walk from Gate B and about an hour from our tent.  We didn't get any induction, any shade, any food or water and had to ask a (lovely) householder if we could refill our water bottles. Only saw a few locals making their way to the site and couldn't hear any music so it was very boring.  We were promised a lift back to our van on Monday morning but that didn't happen.  Pretty disappointing experience really.

[stuie]

1 hour ago, Johnnyseven said:

Me too, standing is much harder on your feet than walking. When walking you foot spends most of the time in the air and not on the floor.

😂😂 surely standing on one foot at a time is the same as walking? 

[Johnnyseven]

2 hours ago, stuie said:

😂😂 surely standing on one foot at a time is the same as walking? 

Apart from you don't get to stretch out your walking muscles.

[deepkittycaz]

On 7/3/2023 at 10:53 PM, stuie said:

Another tip for next time, if you’re working near a lock up and want to head straight out after you finish a shift, take your clothes, deo, face wipes etc and some supplies and you can just dance off into the festival! I don’t know why it took me until this year to work this out 😂

Given I'm Lockups crew, that's easier than you think!

[deepkittycaz]

19 hours ago, rottencrotch said:

No worries at all - happy to share. 

They are ran by various different charities from across England/Wales. I volunteer for one of the CND's, and I think the others are Brighton Peace, and Friends of the Earth. 

I got on the crew through a friend being invited and taking me as her plus one. We were both based in Glasgow although she'd lived in Manchester for years previously, and it was one of her pals who worked with Manchester CND who asked if she was free and said she could take a pal. 16 years later and I'm still doing it (she attended a few, but had kids so stopped volunteering). So in my specific case it was really just down to luck and an invite. Now that I've been there a while, it's a lot of the same faces each year although there are often new people who I'd imagine are given spaces as they work/volunteer with the specific groups on each lock up. Essentially (probably like a lot of Glastonbury) it's a mix of who you know, and what you do. 

By getting involved with the charities you exponentially increase your chances of supporting their work at Glastonbury. I don't do much outwith of Glasto; pay my membership dues and keep in touch with the crew! 

As per RC's post, a lot of it is personal recommendation/ connection or being involved with the charity outside of Glasto.

And it's nice to see the same people year on year 🙂

 

Edited July 5, 2023 by deepkittycaz

[This_Fields_Good]

I see there has been a bit of a run on grabbing Oxfam places for this year's remaining festivals (there were 7 available yesterday, and now only Leeds and ArcTanGent)...

Now that Glastonbury is done, I wonder if this is people doing a second festival to get priority access to Glastonbury 2024 ?

I can understand that, but (unless global warming has put an end to it) we might be due the first muddy one since 2016 ?!? ⛈️

[philipsteak]

20 minutes ago, This_Fields_Good said:

I see there has been a bit of a run on grabbing Oxfam places for this year's remaining festivals (there were 7 available yesterday, and now only Leeds and ArcTanGent)...

Now that Glastonbury is done, I wonder if this is people doing a second festival to get priority access to Glastonbury 2024 ?

I can understand that, but (unless global warming has put an end to it) we might be due the first muddy one since 2016 ?!? ⛈️

Probably for a fair few. Also some just deciding they wanted an extra festival this year after enjoying Glastonbury so much (me last year. Didn't need it for priority either)

[This_Fields_Good]

1 hour ago, philipsteak said:

Probably for a fair few. Also some just deciding they wanted an extra festival this year after enjoying Glastonbury so much (me last year. Didn't need it for priority either)

I get what you're saying...
I didn't do this Glastonbury thru Oxfam, but I'm sorta keeping an eye out for a Latitude spot to appear !

[Pipine]

If I had holiday left I would totally be doing another festival,  but already got tickets to take the whole family to camp Bestival so I think I’ll have to stick with two festivals this summer.

[Leyrulion]

On 7/4/2023 at 1:46 PM, balti-pie said:

Little from column A, little from column B for me - i have a job that's about half and half, and i am a very enthusiastic sitter downerer. I bloody love a sit down. But even with decent hiking boots, with the amount of walking done as standard at glastonbury, and the kind of uneven stony ground found at gates and stewarding areas, its a recipe to have bloody knackered feet at the end of each shift.

Some volunteers - and i'm aligning myself very much with Stuie here - are perhaps a little more naive and inexperienced in these matters and expect to have a really easy eight hours spent having a nice chat with people, and are put out by having sore feet.

'But my feet hurt! how can i stand up and do the duties i'm completely aware of and have been trained and informed to undertake?' well . . . 

 

On 7/4/2023 at 3:32 PM, Dejalves said:

 

3*8 hours standing on top of all the trekking across site is probably more exercise than 95% of volunteers do in daily life. No doubt some are a bit lazy or naive but even as a active young-ish person, my lower back was suffering by Saturday, I'd rather walk for 8 hrs than stand. 

My gate wasn't super hectic. Even on Weds, after the initial rush plenty of 10+ min gaps with no movement. Might not work for the major gates but I don't see the harm in softening the language a bit.

Might be naive from me but I feel most volunteers/supervisors are smart enough to use their discretion and not take the piss i.e. sit if it's dead, stand if it's busy

I was a first time supervisor this year on Gate C and made a point of working with the other supervisor to try to rotate people out of standing positions where possible when they were clearly flagging.

We were fortunate because we had options for doing that over the gate. 

Some people just want to sit and hide for 8 hours, some want to get involved and be active. If you can work with that a bit it makes it easier for everyone.

Edited July 6, 2023 by Leyrulion

[Leyrulion]

Just reflecting on my week and it was really really fun. 

Monday and Tuesday were unexpectedly an absolute blast. I don't remember getting to my tent on Monday night. And Tuesday we actually had to queue to get into places in SE corner. 

Crew bars wise, what everyone has said is true. They're bouncing Mon, Tues but a lot quieter when the festival is on. Being in silver Hayes and having the ability to leave my group and go to the nice compost loos was a bonus.  

I enjoyed that it was the same people for all 3 shifts mostly, so you actually got to really know people over the week. Comparing who we saw and plans was great. 

Night shift went faster then I thought, someone brought a speaker and huge 3kg bag of sweets which was a life saver. 

I didn't particularly like the occasional kitchen caterer they had. By far the worst catering experience I've had with Oxfam. Small portions of relativity basic food. I know they have struggled with costs but a 500ish calorie chili with side salad after a night shift is not going to help you recover.  I hope they can find someone else for next year if they can't improve the offering. 

Met four tet briefly which was interesting. 

Being a first time supervisor was actually fun and I'd recommend it at Glastonbury if you can as you get to move around a bit more and there's a team leader on the gate I worked, so anyone being a genuine arsehole just got sent to him. 

Sunday shift finished early so we got to see all of Elton. I didn't use my supervisor authority much but glad I was able to let the guy with the Elton John tattoo sneak off a little early as well. "Just go whilst no one's looking". I hope he made it to the front.

Would recommend it as an option, certainly not the same as being at the festival as a punters but definitely a good 2nd!

[Skip997]

2 minutes ago, Leyrulion said:

Would recommend it as an option, certainly not the same as being at the festival as a punters but definitely a good 2nd!

I'd put it as a good first for numerous reasons which I've mentioned before.

[Leyrulion]

20 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

I'd put it as a good first for numerous reasons which I've mentioned before.

You're not a fully fair sample though because you're able to sort all your shifts so you're finished by Thursday! I'd put it first if I could guarantee that, showers and save £350.

[Skip997]

2 minutes ago, Leyrulion said:

You're not a fully fair sample though because you're able to sort all your shifts so you're finished by Thursday! I'd put it first if I could guarantee that, showers and save £350.

Fair point.

I did spend a few years during which I had shifts during the weekend, including the notorious Glade crossroads 11pm to 3am shift. It was complete chaos, I loved it. This shift has now been handed over to security.

Even in them days I would have chosen working over being a punter.

[Leyrulion]

6 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

Fair point.

I did spend a few years during which I had shifts during the weekend, including the notorious Glade crossroads 11pm to 3am shift. It was complete chaos, I loved it. This shift has now been handed over to security.

Even in them days I would have chosen working over being a punter.

Tbf I think if I had an in I'd prefer doing some of the directions and traffic around SE corner and railway. Would make the shift go faster!

[Johnnyseven]

41 minutes ago, Leyrulion said:

Night shift went faster then I thought, someone brought a speaker and huge 3kg bag of sweets which was a life saver. 

This sounds like the chap who gave me a lift to the festival, were you on shift pattern D at PGC?

 

42 minutes ago, Leyrulion said:

I didn't particularly like the occasional kitchen caterer they had. By far the worst catering experience I've had with Oxfam. Small portions of relativity basic food. I know they have struggled with costs but a 500ish calorie chili with side salad after a night shift is not going to help you recover.  I hope they can find someone else for next year if they can't improve the offering. 

I concur with this, they seemed desperate for us to support them instead of eating outside the Oxfield but why would I want to give them my money if they're providing such measly portions. They charged for cutlery and plate, which in itself is fair enough, but the plate they provided was about the size of a saucer! I had my own plate of course but the portion still didn't fill it. 

[Festival Sounds Podcast]

I used my vouchers for three Oxfam caterers breakfasts which I was happy with and the portions were great. Didn’t have anything from the main lunch or evening menu. Had a couple of pizzas which were really nice.

[Johnnyseven]

1 hour ago, Festival Sounds Podcast said:

I used my vouchers for three Oxfam caterers breakfasts which I was happy with and the portions were great. Didn’t have anything from the main lunch or evening menu. Had a couple of pizzas which were really nice.

To be fair, the breakfast was ok - apart from when they were missing an item and they didn't offer something else instead.

[Leyrulion]

8 hours ago, Johnnyseven said:

This sounds like the chap who gave me a lift to the festival, were you on shift pattern D at PGC?

Yes! Ollie was his name! An absolute star. 

Not been put down as a supervisor yet but really should have been. Don't know how we'd have coped 4am Saturday morning without his speaker and loads of sweets.

Edited July 8, 2023 by Leyrulion

[amfy]

7 hours ago, Leyrulion said:

Yes! Ollie was his name! An absolute star. 

Not been put down as a supervisor yet but really should have been. Don't know how we'd have coped 4am Saturday morning without his speaker and loads of sweets.

Sounds like I was a supervisor on your gate too. Ollie doesn’t want to be a supervisor, but if I was asked for feedback, I’d say he’s a brilliant person to put alongside an inexperienced supervisor. He managed to be someone who knew absolutely everything without ever being patronising! (I didn’t want to be a supervisor but ticked the box by accident!) it was a brilliant team! 

[Jay Pee]

This is really quite special and brought a tear to my eye.  Its the Craig Charles show from Wednesday this week.  You will need to be able to access iplayer / BBC Sounds to hear it.  if you forward to 2hrs 40mins, he interviews Nova Twins who were one of THE sets of the festival but straight after that is a poem about the workers.  Trust me, it is pretty emotive and well worth a listen if you had some sort of work role.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001n53p?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

[bob323]

3 hours ago, Jay Pee said:

This is really quite special and brought a tear to my eye.  Its the Craig Charles show from Wednesday this week.  You will need to be able to access iplayer / BBC Sounds to hear it.  if you forward to 2hrs 40mins, he interviews Nova Twins who were one of THE sets of the festival but straight after that is a poem about the workers.  Trust me, it is pretty emotive and well worth a listen if you had some sort of work role.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001n53p?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

thanks, I enjoyed that

[Jamie 2194]

On 7/6/2023 at 1:43 PM, Pipine said:

If I had holiday left I would totally be doing another festival,  but already got tickets to take the whole family to camp Bestival so I think I’ll have to stick with two festivals this summer.

We are doing camp bestival this year as well, been doing festivals since i was 17 (now 48) taking our little man (2) to his first festival. We have done the last 10 Glastonbury’s (missed this year to repurpose funds for other things) but already booked at Windenlake for next year. Hoping the little man has a ball a CB.