In our second podcast of 2010 we take a look at the volunteering dynamic which drives Greenbelt – the handmade Festival.

We talk to Linda Watson, The Festival's volunteer coordinator, about her role and working with so many volunteers, Chris Parker, Site Manager for the Children’s Festival area, Saga Arpino, heading up the Festival’s Site Vibing Team, Luke Warner, a volunteer in the Box Office Team, and Stuart and Karen Radcliffe, husband and wife volunteers in the Festival’s Operations Team.

Click here to download the .mp3 podcast file (27.2MB)

Or stream the audio using the player below.

Timings – so you can dip in and out if you want to:

00.00 – 00.50 – Intro

00.50 – 03.25 – Linda Watson, Greenbelt’s Volunteer Coordinator

03.25– 05.55 – Chris Parker, Site Manager for the Children’s Festival area

05.55– 10.00 – Saga Arpino, head of the Festival’s Site Vibing Team

10.00 – 12.30 –Luke Warner, Festival Box Office volunteer

12.30 – 16.20 –Stuart and Karen Radcliffe, Festival Operations Team

16.20 – 17.55 –Linda Watson, Greenbelt’s Volunteer Coordinator

17.55 – 19.33 –Outro

Resources and links

How to get involved

Volunteering Generally

Apply

FAQs The Teams

Match your skills to the teams

Volunteer Profiles

Children's Festival Team

Site Vibing – Making Days – Make bunting!

The Soundtrack

• Together – Rob Mooney
• Paradise Circus (Gui Boratto Remix) – Massive Attack
• Together – Kin
• Music Box - The Low Anthem
• A very short sample from Together – Dr. Israel
• Psyche – Massive Attack
• March of the Volunteers – Monkey
• Ticket Taker – The Low Anthem
• Together – Music from the BBC Series
• A History of Scotland - BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
• Better Together – Live feat. G. love – Jack Johnson
• Join Together – The Who

Credits

• Narrated by Grace Wroe and Garry Rutter
• Mixed and Edited – bigJohn Noble
• Written and Executive Produced by Paul Northup
• Co-production – bigJohn Noble
• Narration recording – Iain Archer
• Field Recording – Paul Northup

The Bible tells us many things about Jesus, but on one topic it is sadly lacking – namely, "What sort of iPhone Apps would He download?"*

However, it's not too outlandish to imagine that He might like something like The Jesus Comic, an iPhone app that tells the story of His life.

The twist is that the story is told through snazzy orange-hued cartoons, and using only minimal text. The creator of The Jesus Comic, Jason Ramasami, intends this app not to be a replacement for reading the Bible, but a prompt for discussion amongst families, youth-groups and comic fans. The cartoon depictions are sometimes literal, sometimes oblique, and sometimes symbolic.

As a way of using arts to explore faith, as well as a great sideways look at stories that we know so well, The Jesus Comic is a very Greenbelt-y idea, so why not check it out and let us know what you think in the comments below?

It's available from the iPhone Apps Store, and you can check out more information at The Jesus Comic website, Facebook group and Twitter page.

* He wouldn't need Shazam, for example, due to omniscience.

Those of you looking forward to Shrove Tuesday and Lenten abstinence – there must be some of you out there – will be interested to hear that Greenbelt is hosting the launch of Andrew Rumsey's book of Lent readings "Strangely Warmed: Reflections on God, Life and Bric-a-Brac".

Andrew is Vicar of Christ Church Gipsy Hill. He's a Third Way contributor and a Ship Of Fools columnist. His book is a collection of daily pieces for the forty days of Lent, and is a wry and witty look at everyday aspects of the world that provoke questions of faith – the advertising slogan, the bus journey, the church jumble sale… "Strangely Warmed" aims to present serious doctrinal points in a lighthearted way, and to allow people to enjoy reflecting on faith.

And he's already amassed some fans… Ian Hislop has described the book as "witty, erudite, eloquent and thoughtful", and Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham has said it is "like Spike Milligan doing Thought For The Day".

The event is on Thursday 18th February at 6.30pm, and will take place at All Hallows On The Wall, London Wall, London, EC2M 5ND (click here for a map). Andrew will read from the book, there will be some live music, and there will also be a glass of wine or two to tempt you from your post-Ash Wednesday sobriety.

If you can't make the event, though, don't worry! We'll hopefully have some video content with Andrew at the event up on the website soon.

There are several organisations with offices in the same building as Greenbelt, one of which is Stamp Out Poverty. Stamp Out Poverty are an organisation which campaigns on development finance, primarily looking at ways that financial institutions can generate money for the developing world; money to fund vaccination and treatment of disease, and to eradicate poverty.

One way proposed by Stamp Out Poverty is the Tobin Tax, named after Nobel Laureate James Tobin, which suggests a tax on currency transactions worldwide. The idea being that a small tax (0.05% or so) on global transactions could raise hundreds of billions of pounds in funds for development both globally and within the UK.

Now, they've joined with a dizzying list of other organisations, given the Tobin Tax a snappy new name – The Robin Hood Tax, and roped in Bill Nighy and Richard Curtis for this brilliant video…

Despite the fact that Bill Nighy backing a campaign could persuade me to get excited about most things*, the Robin Hood Tax is at worst a thought-provoking idea, and at best a radical way to make a real difference to the world's most vulnerable people.

What do you think? Will it work?

Read more about it and consider doing something to support the campaign, and Greenbelt's neighbours!

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* Which was fine when he was being a rogueish newspaper editor, but less fine when he was being a Nazi. And a squid-faced pirate.

If you haven't watched this yet, you really should…

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.