Volunteering 2024

[stuie]

5 hours ago, nikkic said:

Is there a choice? Or is it pot luck? 

All the roles are run by different organisations. I work for Oxfam, usually on Gate C as a gate organiser - we’ll be checking your tickets, wristbands and pass outs on entry and re-entry. 

[nikkic]

Thanks all, very interesting. 

Bit of a bucket list thing to volunteer one year, spend a bit longer on the farm and experience it a different way. 

 

[stuie]

5 minutes ago, nikkic said:

Thanks all, very interesting. 

Bit of a bucket list thing to volunteer one year, spend a bit longer on the farm and experience it a different way. 

A lot of people don't go back but it's not for everybody.  I think you've got to be quite content that you've seen most things you really want to and not be phased by missing some stuff.  But the benefits and perks are there for sure. 

[Talcroft]

8 hours ago, nikkic said:

What kind of jobs do you all do as volunteers? 

Presuming it’s litter crew, wrist bands and bar work? 

 

Bar for me. Very easy work and lots in the heart of the action. Our charity bosses have changed though so no guarantee of a spot this year... Crossing everything for the ballot! 

[Robo97]

Long time lurker, first time poster!

Perhaps a slightly random question however, does anyone know if you'll require to have register for Glastonbury to allow for an Oxfam place?

[stuie]

6 minutes ago, Robo97 said:

Long time lurker, first time poster!

Perhaps a slightly random question however, does anyone know if you'll require to have register for Glastonbury to allow for an Oxfam place?

The ticket registration process is different to the Oxfam add a festival process.

You don't need to be registered to buy a ticket to be able to sign up with Oxfam.

[thewomble]

Sorry if it's already been discussed I've tried to skim through the last few pages but can't see, what time do oxfam applications open on the 1st? Had an email but it just says mid-morning

[balti-pie]

1 minute ago, thewomble said:

Sorry if it's already been discussed I've tried to skim through the last few pages but can't see, what time do oxfam applications open on the 1st? Had an email but it just says mid-morning

They'll probs announce the specific time via email and social media the night before, or maybe on the morning of - i'd expect it to be 10am or 11am though 

[stuie]

2 minutes ago, thewomble said:

Sorry if it's already been discussed I've tried to skim through the last few pages but can't see, what time do oxfam applications open on the 1st? Had an email but it just says mid-morning

Priority opened at 11am.   Probably safe to assume the same time, but that's not confirmed. 

[thewomble]

25 minutes ago, balti-pie said:

They'll probs announce the specific time via email and social media the night before, or maybe on the morning of - i'd expect it to be 10am or 11am though 

 

24 minutes ago, stuie said:

Priority opened at 11am.   Probably safe to assume the same time, but that's not confirmed. 

Thanks! Making sure I'm free around then.. Still a little on the fence about it not going to lie, but will log on and if I get a place on Thursday then it must be meant to be 🙂 Have asked a couple of friends if they fancied it but they aren't keen so will likely just be me. I'm pretty sociable though so not too much of a concern 😅

[jfaragher]

49 minutes ago, thewomble said:

 

Thanks! Making sure I'm free around then.. Still a little on the fence about it not going to lie, but will log on and if I get a place on Thursday then it must be meant to be 🙂 Have asked a couple of friends if they fancied it but they aren't keen so will likely just be me. I'm pretty sociable though so not too much of a concern 😅

Lots of people go on about how volunteering is better than being a ticket-holder, but it's not for everyone.  The reason I do it is because I'm guaranteed to be able to get to Glastonbury, and it saves me a lot of money - if I had the money and a guaranteed ticket I probably wouldn't volunteer if I'm being honest.

Having said that - being at Glastonbury and having to work a bit is better than not being there, and there are some decent perks to volunteering like having the secure camping with showers, (slightly) better toilets, reasonably priced catering (and some meal tickets), being able to come on the Monday (and park right next to the crew camp in the case of Oxfam) and getting access to the crew bars scattered around site.

/edit - and if you're the slightest bit sociable, you'll be fine on your own.  Whilst sometimes seeming a bit cliquey, the volunteers are in the whole a decent bunch, and happy to make new friends.

Edited January 29 by jfaragher

[Festival Sounds Podcast]

If you want a bit of context for what the volunteering experience is like, I recorded this episode with some students who use the Oxfam route 

 

Edited January 29 by Festival Sounds Podcast

[Festival Sounds Podcast]

2 hours ago, thewomble said:

 

Thanks! Making sure I'm free around then.. Still a little on the fence about it not going to lie, but will log on and if I get a place on Thursday then it must be meant to be 🙂 Have asked a couple of friends if they fancied it but they aren't keen so will likely just be me. I'm pretty sociable though so not too much of a concern 😅

I know lots of people who rule it out because they don’t want to spend any of their annual leave working. I totally get that.  It isn’t for everyone but like @jfaragher said, there are plenty of perks, it guarantees my place and it saves me £400+ each summer

[tarw]

14 minutes ago, Festival Sounds Podcast said:

I know lots of people who rule it out because they don’t want to spend any of their annual leave working. I totally get that.  It isn’t for everyone but like @jfaragher said, there are plenty of perks, it guarantees my place and it saves me £400+ each summer

If you work for a large company they may pay you for volunteering/ charity work. It’s worth checking you might save your a/l

[Leyrulion]

On 1/28/2024 at 12:32 PM, Talcroft said:

It did if you found the right route 😉

You're right about the wristbands though. There was a rumour that a bag of wristbands had been knicked from the Shelter field too. That whole process was open to abuse and getting the wrong people in the wrong places. But not sure how it could be improved. . 

The Oxfam wristbands were in a locked porta cabin that you had to show photo ID to get one. Pretty secure. Maybe that's another reason shelter aren't going back this year.

[jfaragher]

2 hours ago, Leyrulion said:

The Oxfam wristbands were in a locked porta cabin that you had to show photo ID to get one. Pretty secure. Maybe that's another reason shelter aren't going back this year.

They had them at registration last year, as far as I recall, but they were recording the names against the wristband IDs (they were Easy Pass Outs), so they could definitely 'block' them so you couldn't get into the festival if they wanted to.

[stuie]

2 hours ago, jfaragher said:

They had them at registration last year, as far as I recall, but they were recording the names against the wristband IDs (they were Easy Pass Outs), so they could definitely 'block' them so you couldn't get into the festival if they wanted to.

We definitely got ours from the oxbox portacabin on Monday afternoon, after registration. 

[Jay Pee]

49 minutes ago, stuie said:

We definitely got ours from the oxbox portacabin on Monday afternoon, after registration. 

We got ours (prior to 2023) at a kiosk near ped gate A on production of Wateraid letter, driving licence etc but last year we had to go to a farm near the end of Stickleball Lane not actually on site. It was a faff for quite a few but I would say zero chance of any angles being worked. 

Absolutely locked down tight.

[thewomble]

22 hours ago, jfaragher said:

Lots of people go on about how volunteering is better than being a ticket-holder, but it's not for everyone.  The reason I do it is because I'm guaranteed to be able to get to Glastonbury, and it saves me a lot of money - if I had the money and a guaranteed ticket I probably wouldn't volunteer if I'm being honest.

Having said that - being at Glastonbury and having to work a bit is better than not being there, and there are some decent perks to volunteering like having the secure camping with showers, (slightly) better toilets, reasonably priced catering (and some meal tickets), being able to come on the Monday (and park right next to the crew camp in the case of Oxfam) and getting access to the crew bars scattered around site.

/edit - and if you're the slightest bit sociable, you'll be fine on your own.  Whilst sometimes seeming a bit cliquey, the volunteers are in the whole a decent bunch, and happy to make new friends.

Yeah I can totally see why it wouldn't be for everyone, but as you say it's surely better than not being there at all?! Would be interesting to see the festival from a different perspective as well. The idea of getting there a couple of days before the crowds sounds great!

My only concern would be the night shift, I've never done one in my life and I do like my sleep 😂 other than that not scared of a bit of hard work though

 

[Aragorn]

1 minute ago, thewomble said:

Yeah I can totally see why it wouldn't be for everyone, but as you say it's surely better than not being there at all?! Would be interesting to see the festival from a different perspective as well. The idea of getting there a couple of days before the crowds sounds great!

My only concern would be the night shift, I've never done one in my life and I do like my sleep 😂 other than that not scared of a bit of hard work though

 

 

I did recycling crew for the first time last year after 13 years as a punter, I actually gave my ticket up last year in order to volunteer.  I absolutely loved it - I did post festival shifts.  This year the post festival shifts were 4 days instead of 3 so I went for during festival shifts so will see how I get on with that.

The best thing for me was exploring Monday/Tuesday before all the punters got in and having a quieter campsite to go back to in Toms field to escape the carnage for awhile. 

I actually said to Dondo on here when we met Tuesday at the Crew Bars that I preferred it when all the ticket holders were not there.  Ha ha.  I am introvert by nature though 😄

[Funkyfairy!]

2 hours ago, Aragorn said:

 

I did recycling crew for the first time last year after 13 years as a punter, I actually gave my ticket up last year in order to volunteer.  I absolutely loved it - I did post festival shifts.  This year the post festival shifts were 4 days instead of 3 so I went for during festival shifts so will see how I get on with that.

The best thing for me was exploring Monday/Tuesday before all the punters got in and having a quieter campsite to go back to in Toms field to escape the carnage for awhile. 

I actually said to Dondo on here when we met Tuesday at the Crew Bars that I preferred it when all the ticket holders were not there.  Ha ha.  I am introvert by nature though 😄

I adore it before the punters get there , the Monday and Tuesday are brilliant, it just feels special, theres time and room to wander and check out whats new , and crew bars add to the fun 🙂

[Skip997]

2 hours ago, Aragorn said:

I actually said to Dondo on here when we met Tuesday at the Crew Bars that I preferred it when all the ticket holders were not there.  Ha ha.  I am introvert by nature though 😄

 

1 minute ago, Funkyfairy! said:

I adore it before the punters get there , the Monday and Tuesday are brilliant, it just feels special, theres time and room to wander and check out whats new , and crew bars add to the fun 🙂

You're both far from alone

[giantkatestacks]

16 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

 

You're both far from alone

Yeah absolutely. For whoever was asking about the different teams - I think the makeup is different between them as well. So recycling are a bit more old school Glastonbury and frankly skew older. There is a lot of chatting on shift about the trade union movement etc.

My feeling is that Oxfam and bars are younger but oxfammers and Avaloners jump in...

[incident]

1 minute ago, giantkatestacks said:

Yeah absolutely. For whoever was asking about the different teams - I think the makeup is different between them as well. So recycling are a bit more old school Glastonbury and frankly skew older. There is a lot of chatting on shift about the trade union movement etc.

My feeling is that Oxfam and bars are younger but oxfammers and Avaloners jump in...

Would say Oxfam can be very varied.

You definitely have a large number of University age students who're doing it as a cheap option, but you also have a decent sized contingent of retirees who've bought a campervan and are looking for a way to use it, often hopping between multiple festivals across the summer. And quite a few in between.

[Skip997]

Just now, giantkatestacks said:

Yeah absolutely. For whoever was asking about the different teams - I think the makeup is different between them as well. So recycling are a bit more old school Glastonbury and frankly skew older. There is a lot of chatting on shift about the trade union movement etc.

My feeling is that Oxfam and bars are younger but oxfammers and Avaloners jump in...

My experience is from working and hanging out with the SE corner and Green fields crew. Massively old school overall, and their kids have been brought up the same.

A lot of these folks have been working the festival since the early 90's. It's like a annual meet up for old mates.

Many will have been on site for weeks and become very comfortable with the situation. Then all of a sudden 10's of thousands turn up and "disturb" the status quo.