Volunteering 2023

[March Hare]

14 minutes ago, ced221_ said:

interested on the oxfam intel, how do we know they are likely from 26th? do applications open for a second time normally?

Huge amounts of info in the thread already for Oxfam

[marathonsteve]

On 4/21/2023 at 2:34 PM, Aragorn said:

not sure yet as I only got the deets through last night 🙂 

Your deets must have specify a team maybe

 

[Havors]

2 hours ago, ced221_ said:

interested on the oxfam intel, how do we know they are likely from 26th? do applications open for a second time normally?

Because the deadline for cancelling your glasto place without losing all your deposit is the 26th. So will be a few people cancel before they lose their money. 

I hope.... haha because I need a place. 

[Leyrulion]

2 hours ago, ced221_ said:

interested on the oxfam intel, how do we know they are likely from 26th? do applications open for a second time normally?

The cancellation deadline for Oxfam is Tuesday midnight. So assuming some stewards got tickets those spaces will go back online. It's a manual process so not guaranteed to happen on Wednesday.

[efcfanwirral]

Got tickets for this year, but now I'm considering applying for a non-glastonbury Festaff festival or two this year, as I don't have much expectation of getting through as often as I have done previously. Will read back through this thread in the near future to try to get as much info as possible on it all

Edited April 24, 2023 by efcfanwirral

[wairey]

Morning! I'm volunteering with Oxfam for the first time after a couple of years with general admission. My mates all got standard tickets and it would be great to know a couple of other friendly volunteers! DM me if you're also going solo 😊 (Will, 26 and Bristol based)

[stu1988]

Does anyone have experience of volunteering with FMS? I’m a community first responder and im debating joining up!

[stuie]

6 minutes ago, stu1988 said:

Does anyone have experience of volunteering with FMS? I’m a community first responder and im debating joining up!

Not directly, but two of my friends are paramedics and they work for them every festival. They have to do 2 x 12 hour shifts per festival and they have a lovely campsite with power hook ups just outside gate B. We all travel together on the Monday until the following Monday and enjoy all of the other crew perks and bars. They absolutely love it!

[stu1988]

That’s great, thanks for the heads up, I did message them but they wouldn’t answer any queries until I had applied! 

[ced221_]

Does anyone have experience volunteering with shelter? I seem to be still be able to pay my deposit for volunteering with them after originally missing the email. I'd love to hear an overview of the experience as a whole before signing up.

Also, this is hyper specific, but due to a disability, I wouldn't be able to do full night shifts (i.e., ending at 5am). Do we know how flexible they are in terms of shift patterns/does anyone else have experience volunteering with additional requirements? I've emailed them but thought I'd check here in the meantime!

[amfy]

12 hours ago, efcfanwirral said:

Got tickets for this year, but now I'm considering applying for a non-glastonbury Festaff festival or two this year, as I don't have much expectation of getting through as often as I have done previously. Will read back through this thread in the near future to try to get as much info as possible on it all

If you are free for the right dates, there are definitely spaces for 2 festivals with Oxfam this year which would give you priority to volunteer for Glastonbury (& all the other festivals) next year.

[amfy]

3 hours ago, ced221_ said:

Does anyone have experience volunteering with shelter? I seem to be still be able to pay my deposit for volunteering with them after originally missing the email. I'd love to hear an overview of the experience as a whole before signing up.

Also, this is hyper specific, but due to a disability, I wouldn't be able to do full night shifts (i.e., ending at 5am). Do we know how flexible they are in terms of shift patterns/does anyone else have experience volunteering with additional requirements? I've emailed them but thought I'd check here in the meantime!

When I worked for Shelter only one bar ended at 5am and that was Stonebridge. 
None of the others went anywhere near that late - ending about midnight.

[Jay Pee]

The loyalty scheme is well and truly active for most of the charities now. WaterAid are on the bandwagon of "do more shit with us and increase Glastonbury chances"

[amfy]

5 hours ago, wairey said:

Morning! I'm volunteering with Oxfam for the first time after a couple of years with general admission. My mates all got standard tickets and it would be great to know a couple of other friendly volunteers! DM me if you're also going solo 😊 (Will, 26 and Bristol based)

You’ll be fine. You will soon get to know tent neighbours and shift buddies & there is a crew bar pub crawl on Tuesday night which definitely helps loosen everyone up! Welcome aboard!

[svphie]

3 hours ago, ced221_ said:

Does anyone have experience volunteering with shelter? I seem to be still be able to pay my deposit for volunteering with them after originally missing the email. I'd love to hear an overview of the experience as a whole before signing up.

Also, this is hyper specific, but due to a disability, I wouldn't be able to do full night shifts (i.e., ending at 5am). Do we know how flexible they are in terms of shift patterns/does anyone else have experience volunteering with additional requirements? I've emailed them but thought I'd check here in the meantime!

I've volunteered with them twice in a row now, this year I got a ticket.

First year I worked on bandstand bar B which is tiny and was super easy (albeit pretty boring). latest I had to work was like half past midnight.

Last year I was in a vastly different position and was on Stonebridge, which is a massive bar. someone mentioned above its open until 5am but luckily the latest I was on was just one 3am shift (got to leave at 2.30 as it was dead).

Both times I loved it overall (I haven't done Glastonbury with a ticket so had nothing to compare it to!), Stonebridge was exhausting but most of the time it wasn't rammed like I expected. was quite entertaining with a great view and got to talk to loads of people. my legs were killing most of the time but was able to grin and bear it.

I imagine they'd be flexible if you let them know your needs. Last year on Stonebridge they were very willing to switch shifts around to keep people happy when we arrived (probs cos big bar and loads of extra staff and don't want people straying).

Edited April 24, 2023 by svphie

[svphie]

18 hours ago, Johnnyseven said:

Re Shelter, I just emailed summerfest@shelter.org.uk asking if they might have vacancies and got this reply - so there may still be a chance.

 

A bit different from last year! Soon after the resale I emailed Shelter asking for a spot (I volunteered the year before) and within a few hours I was sorted and signed up.

I wonder if they were able to have more volunteers than usual to avoid last min covid dropouts disasters

[balti-pie]

32 minutes ago, Jay Pee said:

The loyalty scheme is well and truly active for most of the charities now. WaterAid are on the bandwagon of "do more shit with us and increase Glastonbury chances"

It suits both parties. The charities get more guaranteed hours from volunteers, as well as them being a known and reliable entity, which is much better than a raft of unknowns, some of whom are going to leg it and not do their shifts - and the volunteers get to go to the things they want to be at.

Oxfam lowering their deposit to regulars is a right winner as well, £170 being tied up for a few months is far preferable to £340 for me and many others im sure

[Aragorn]

On 4/21/2023 at 9:36 AM, Curlygirl said:

Yes I have. What team are you on? I'm team 1. We basically cleaned up the campsites Tues - Thursday, 8-5pm with a lunch break. Its hard work but rewarding x

Am on Team 2 🙂

[Johnnyseven]

9 minutes ago, svphie said:

A bit different from last year! Soon after the resale I emailed Shelter asking for a spot (I volunteered the year before) and within a few hours I was sorted and signed up.

I wonder if they were able to have more volunteers than usual to avoid last min covid dropouts disasters

I don't know about that tbh, just hoping I can get on someone's volunteer list for this year. Didn't think i'd be as upset as I am about not having a ticket. I've tried Shelter now, sent an application to Event Bars and will be keeping an eye out on Oxfam - fingers crossed something comes up.

[incident]

9 minutes ago, balti-pie said:

Oxfam lowering their deposit to regulars is a right winner as well, £170 being tied up for a few months is far preferable to £340 for me and many others im sure

It's actually one of those ideas that is obvious when you think about it and amazing they never did it before.

Given that Oxfam return 100% of the deposit to you, but will still have to pay card transaction fees, it almost certainly saves them a bit of money in overheads as well.

[ced221_]

23 minutes ago, svphie said:

I've volunteered with them twice in a row now, this year I got a ticket.

First year I worked on bandstand bar B which is tiny and was super easy (albeit pretty boring). latest I had to work was like half past midnight.

Last year I was in a vastly different position and was on Stonebridge, which is a massive bar. someone mentioned above its open until 5am but luckily the latest I was on was just one 3am shift (got to leave at 2.30 as it was dead).

Both times I loved it overall (I haven't done Glastonbury with a ticket so had nothing to compare it to!), Stonebridge was exhausting but most of the time it wasn't rammed like I expected. was quite entertaining with a great view and got to talk to loads of people. my legs were killing most of the time but was able to grin and bear it.

I imagine they'd be flexible if you let them know your needs. Last year on Stonebridge they were very willing to switch shifts around to keep people happy when we arrived (probs cos big bar and loads of extra staff and don't want people straying).

Thank you so much - this is super helpful! Glad to hear you got a ticket this year! Could I ask what the camping area was like too - is it super noisy being behind SE corner or generally OK (i.e., what you'd expect from camping at a festival)? I normally camp a few fields back from the park/arcadia

[svphie]

10 minutes ago, Johnnyseven said:

I don't know about that tbh, just hoping I can get on someone's volunteer list for this year. Didn't think i'd be as upset as I am about not having a ticket. I've tried Shelter now, sent an application to Event Bars and will be keeping an eye out on Oxfam - fingers crossed something comes up.

had a group of 6 mates last year who were able to get spots with festaff (might be wrong there) pretty late on in late April maybe even May. fingers crossed!

Edited April 24, 2023 by svphie

[svphie]

7 minutes ago, ced221_ said:

Thank you so much - this is super helpful! Glad to hear you got a ticket this year! Could I ask what the camping area was like too - is it super noisy being behind SE corner or generally OK (i.e., what you'd expect from camping at a festival)? I normally camp a few fields back from the park/arcadia

the camping area is good, there are a fair few showers (have long queues in the morning), and the canteen is actually pretty decent and a relief when you don't wanna queue for an hour for a meal in the festival. I found the SE corner noise a bit annoying and repetitive at times but with earplugs I was okay! generally I'm sure it's quieter than normal camping as people behave themselves more and got shifts to do the next day etc and smaller groups/people on their own (like me).

[Johnnyseven]

12 minutes ago, svphie said:

had a group of 6 mates last year who were able to get spots with festaff (might be wrong there) pretty late on in late April maybe even May. fingers crossed!

I'm signed up with them too, no Glasto available on their website and they say applications are closed - maybe it's like with Oxfam that you just have to keep an eye out on their website and it might appear?

Edited April 24, 2023 by Johnnyseven

[Leyrulion]

What are the possibilities of getting off site on the Tuesday by public transport and doing a booze run to a supermarket? 

Presume it's Shepton Mallet is the closest? Just thinking ahead to how much I might need to bring in with me.

Edited April 24, 2023 by Leyrulion