Volunteering 2024

[tarw]

17 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

It’s every where

 

Interestingly though, there was noticeably less at Shambala this year and I only saw 3 nitrous balloons all weekend 

I’d definitely agree about Shambala. Didn’t see any nitrous at all and those who were on coke stuck out because there were so few of them 

[Leyrulion]

24 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

It’s every where

 

Interestingly though, there was noticeably less at Shambala this year and I only saw 3 nitrous balloons all weekend 

I don't think I saw any open drug taking at Shambala. People were definitely on it. 

 

3 hours ago, efcfanwirral said:

 

Just to expand on that - example, a teenage girl who quite clearly is very overwhelmed wants to come onto the platform because the tent is full, is there with her friend who is clearly caring for her, and she's bawling her eyes out because she's missing her favourite artist, and is becoming increasingly agitated.  They didn't sign up for the accessibility passes, but our orders are "no wristband no entry" and we have to stick with them. Surely you need someone trained in sensitively dealing with such situations around? 

 

A certain part of this should come from supervisors with experience telling stewards to use discretion when available. 

E.g. if that platform wasn't full the steward should have felt empowered to bend the rules slightly and give them space. 

 

At Glastonbury you're actively encouraged to come to a consensus decision with the other supervisors if stewards escalate something to you if there are margin cases. E.g. we let in a family of 5 where the mum had lost the pass out, everyone else had it. 

Is it a route in to be abused, I guess, but also it's also much more likely that the mum genuinely didn't get/lost a pass out. 

Edited September 5 by Leyrulion

[incident]

2 minutes ago, Leyrulion said:

A certain part of this should come from supervisors with experience telling stewards to use discretion when available. 

E.g. if that platform wasn't full the steward should have felt empowered to bend the rules slightly and give them space. 

 

At Glastonbury you're actively encouraged to come to a consensus decision with the other supervisors if stewards escalate something to you if there are margin cases. E.g. we let in a family of 5 where the mum had lost the pass out, everyone else had it. 

Is it a route in to be abused, I guess, but also it's also much more likely that the mum genuinely didn't get/lost a pass out. 

 

A problem can be (and FR festivals particularly are terrible for this) that at some festivals the supervisor / stewards are very much not given that discretion, and are being overly monitored by the festival to check that they're doing things "right".

 

I'm not the only person who basically has taken a blanket decision not to work the big FR events (maybe an exception for Wilderness, as that feels more relaxed) because of an overbearing feeling that you* simply aren't trusted.

 

*by which I mean, all volunteers

[Pinhead]

2 hours ago, incident said:

 

A problem can be (and FR festivals particularly are terrible for this) that at some festivals the supervisor / stewards are very much not given that discretion, and are being overly monitored by the festival to check that they're doing things "right".

 

I'm not the only person who basically has taken a blanket decision not to work the big FR events (maybe an exception for Wilderness, as that feels more relaxed) because of an overbearing feeling that you* simply aren't trusted.

 

*by which I mean, all volunteers

Yes we're audited quite closely at some to the extent that there are 'pretend cases' where concession is attempted.

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

4 hours ago, Skip997 said:

It’s every where

 

Interestingly though, there was noticeably less at Shambala this year and I only saw 3 nitrous balloons all weekend 

 

What was it like at Glasto this year for nitrous?

[philipsteak]

4 hours ago, Skip997 said:

It’s every where

 

Interestingly though, there was noticeably less at Shambala this year and I only saw 3 nitrous balloons all weekend 

 

Now you mention it I don't remember seeing it anywhere.

[StoneCircle]

28 minutes ago, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

 

What was it like at Glasto this year for nitrous?

 I didn't see any but I didn't go into the Kings Meadow this year. I did buy a couple of flowers for my garden made from spent cartridges though! 

[Skip997]

1 hour ago, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

 

What was it like at Glasto this year for nitrous?

Saw a couple of lads selling balloons at Genysos (sp).

[marathonsteve]

You must  having a laugh

 

 

 

 

 

[MEGATRONICMEATWAGON]

10 hours ago, StoneCircle said:

 I didn't see any but I didn't go into the Kings Meadow this year. I did buy a couple of flowers for my garden made from spent cartridges though! 

Those are so cool! And a really good idea from whoever thought that up

[duke88]

15 hours ago, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

 

What was it like at Glasto this year for nitrous?

Well, this was what we collected from San Remo on Thursday morning on the Recycling Crew…

 

[StoneCircle]

8 hours ago, MEGATRONICMEATWAGON said:

Those are so cool! And a really good idea from whoever thought that up

 

They were from the tools Tools For Self Reliance stall in Green Futures. It's my husband's favourite stall, never leaves without buying something. They know the dude who makes them, his local council dump site saves the cartridges for him. 😊

[dondo]

On 9/6/2024 at 12:47 PM, duke88 said:

Well, this was what we collected from San Remo on Thursday morning on the Recycling Crew…

 

Ye. I saw a few piles like that when working on recycling crew.  They had a truck that was going round collecting just them

[mandana]

Just read the whole of this thread over a few days this week. So much insight and hints and tips shared. Thank you!

I hope to volunteeer at some point, initially messaged the critical waste team but that sounds like its a bit more challenging to get in with them.

 

One thing I hoped to ask about is about do volunteer crew have to use walky talkys or things like that. I am quite deaf, and might struggle with these - I guess it might be more team leaders or supervisors who have these though.

 

I am also interested in which org - Oxfam or Water Aid might be more on it with reasonable adjustments?

 

[tarw]

14 minutes ago, mandana said:

Just read the whole of this thread over a few days this week. So much insight and hints and tips shared. Thank you!

I hope to volunteeer at some point, initially messaged the critical waste team but that sounds like its a bit more challenging to get in with them.

 

One thing I hoped to ask about is about do volunteer crew have to use walky talkys or things like that. I am quite deaf, and might struggle with these - I guess it might be more team leaders or supervisors who have these though.

 

I am also interested in which org - Oxfam or Water Aid might be more on it with reasonable adjustments?

 

From my experience only one person in each group has a radio. You will always be in groups of two for safety so you probably won’t have to use one. 
Deafzone have some volunteers at the festival and provide services there. You might want to contact them for advice if you suffer from hearing loss. 

[mandana]

21 minutes ago, tarw said:

From my experience only one person in each group has a radio. You will always be in groups of two for safety so you probably won’t have to use one. 
Deafzone have some volunteers at the festival and provide services there. You might want to contact them for advice if you suffer from hearing loss. 

Thanks Tarw, appreciate this, glad to hear it would be in a group format. Yes I have seen the deaf zone tent and their incredible interpreters too, always impressed by their performances - the only thing is I am not a BSL user, more a lipreader. Have done level 1 but can't afford to take on the next one (about £3-500 depending where you learn). Worth checking in with them too though so I will drop them a line.

Edited September 18 by mandana
adding detail

[stuie]

50 minutes ago, mandana said:

Just read the whole of this thread over a few days this week. So much insight and hints and tips shared. Thank you!

I hope to volunteeer at some point, initially messaged the critical waste team but that sounds like its a bit more challenging to get in with them.

 

One thing I hoped to ask about is about do volunteer crew have to use walky talkys or things like that. I am quite deaf, and might struggle with these - I guess it might be more team leaders or supervisors who have these though.

 

I am also interested in which org - Oxfam or Water Aid might be more on it with reasonable adjustments?

 

 

I've only worked with Oxfam, not WaterAid but I'm confident that Oxfam would be able to provide you with a good position that works with your hearing loss. 

 

Well done on reading the whole thread - it's a lot to take in and also a lot of chat mixed in with the info. 

 

Best of luck! 🙂 

[mandana]

42 minutes ago, stuie said:

 

I've only worked with Oxfam, not WaterAid but I'm confident that Oxfam would be able to provide you with a good position that works with your hearing loss. 

 

Well done on reading the whole thread - it's a lot to take in and also a lot of chat mixed in with the info. 

 

Best of luck! 🙂 

Thanks stuie, thats good to know, and yes there have been highs and lows in this thread 😆

[andymk]

On 9/6/2024 at 12:47 PM, duke88 said:

Well, this was what we collected from San Remo on Thursday morning on the Recycling Crew…

 

This was Friday morning’s pile

[StoneCircle]

11 hours ago, andymk said:

This was Friday morning’s pile

 

No wonder I didn't spot any this year, I thought they looked like this! I live a sheltered life in West Cornwall is my excuse. 😊

[MilkyJoe]

9 hours ago, StoneCircle said:

 

No wonder I didn't spot any this year, I thought they looked like this! I live a sheltered life in West Cornwall is my excuse. 😊

Those are the small ones that fit into the standard creamers that you get in restaurants and kitchens. The pics above are like standalone aerosols.