volunteer opportunities for attendees of Reading & Leeds festival

Festival goers who attended this year's Reading and Leeds Festivals are being given the opportunity to volunteer as helpers for charity Cradle, to visit supported projects with festival organisers Festival Republic covering travel, accommodation, food and all project related expenses. Working alongside Festival Republic and Cradle staff, the volunteers will experience first hand the work that is being done and why there is a need for it.

Cradle is a Non-Governmental Organisation, working with children and community development programs in Bosnia Herzegovina, Albania and Thailand. They work without prejudice in areas that have been defined by ethnic hatred, they remain with those who need assistance long after the reporters have moved on to new stories, they listen closely to the communities they work with, to ensure that they provide what is really needed, rather than what is easiest to give.

At this year's project in Bosnia & Herzegovina volunteers undertook a full-on programme of community work where each morning was spent decorating an extension to a family home. In the afternoons they helped out at other Cradle projects including a violin project in Mostar, an arts class at an orphanage, Lokomotiva handball team (an incentive to keep girls off the streets and safe from trafficking and drugs) as well as spending time with a Roma family. At the project in Thailand volunteers refurbished the library and canteen of a village school in Phang Nga; a region that was devastated in the tsunami. To read more about what was achieved on each of the projects and the positive impact this had on the local community, more information can be found on the volunteer blogs at here.

Plans for 2009 are well underway with week long volunteer opportunities taking place at a house building and refurbishment project in Albania and a school building project in Thailand in January and February.

To qualify for application for the 2009 Volunteers Project you must have attended Reading or Leeds Festivals 2008. You will be required to prove your attendance with either a wristband, ticket stub, ticket confirmation email, or other relevant proof of attendance.

Applicants don't need any specific experience or training, though practical skills may be an advantage, from painting and decorating to child care, teaching an instrument or sports skills. Most important all volunteers need to be keen, willing to get stuck in, be able to communicate well with people from different cultures and backgrounds and be open to a new experience. All volunteers invited to join the next year's projects are expected to document their experiences in order to write a full blog on their return.

More details about this year's Volunteer Projects and application forms will be available on the following URL's shortly - Cradle, or Festival Republic. For more information on the valuable work that Cradle do, see here.

All applications must be received by Monday 1st of December.

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