About Volunteering
Volunteering is a great way to get involved at the festival – you can try out new skills, gain experience, face fresh challenges, make friends, enjoy being part of a team and most of all have fun helping to make Greenbelt happen.
There’s a whole host of volunteering opportunities available at Greenbelt. We have lots of different teams being kept busy over the festival weekend – along with other groups who meet together to plan and prepare during the year. There are also administrative roles for volunteers to take on in our London office, or you could support one of our teams by taking on doing some admin at home.
As well as appreciating the Greenbelt ethos and having any specific skills or experience needed for your role, we ask that you are reliable, enthusiastic, flexible, able to listen and share, a team player with common sense and the ability to follow instructions. You should also be able to recognise your own limitations, take responsibility for yourself and adhere to Greenbelt’s health and safety and safeguarding policies.
Most teams require volunteers to commit to around 7 hours per day of the festival, which is around 28 hours in total over four days. This might be split into two or three shorter shifts per day, depending on your team. There is still plenty of time for your to enjoy the festival too!
From us to you
Greenbelt offers volunteers entry to the festival for the weekend, in order to be able to complete your shifts, meals and snacks to keep you going during the hours you are on duty as a volunteer, a ‘handmade’ t shirt and a discount voucher to use in the g-store.
How to apply
Here is a list of all volunteer teams with their role on-site so you can see the breadth of teams at the Festival. There’s an application form for each team but if you’re still not sure where you’d fit best you can fill in a general application form and tell us a bit more about yourself in the section titled ‘occupation/skills’. Or drop us a line volunteers@greenbelt.org.uk: volunteers@greenbelt.org.uk or contact the office.
When to arrive
The festival opens to the public on Friday of the August Bank Holiday Weekend and runs until Monday evening.
Volunteer roles normally begin on the Friday of the weekend, but most volunteers need to be onsite by Thursday to attend training, briefing and welcome sessions.
Some volunteer roles run from the Monday at the beginning of the week of the festival – Early Birds, Site Vibing, Site Crew.
(Please note that the festival site can be accessed only by volunteers who need to be there for their role during ‘build week’. The campsite is under construction at this time and access to toilet facilities and water is limited. The area is not suitable for children and families and we recommend that volunteers do not bring children with them if their role is pre-festival.)
Accommodation
Most festival-goers and volunteers camp on the racecourse during the weekend. You’ll need a tent, sleeping bag and camping gear. There is an area of the campsite for volunteers – with spaces allocated on a first-come first-served basis.
There are other accommodation options – click here for more information »
Supporting our Volunteers
Volunteers are essential to the success of the festival. Greenbelt provides a lounge for all volunteers to use during the weekend. There is free tea/coffee and cold drinks, biscuits and comfy seats for you to enjoy as you take a well-earned break.
If you have a question, there’s also an information desk in the Volunteers Lounge, where seasoned volunteers will help you out and point you in the right direction.
If you’re feeling a bit isolated, or have a problem you’d like to chat through over the weekend, we also have a support team who will drop in to find out how things are going.
There are free showers for volunteers too!
Food and drink
Greenbelt provides volunteers with vouchers for food during the hours that they are volunteering. This adds up to around £7 per shift, which will get you a meal or a couple of snacks to keep you going during that time. Your food vouchers can be redeemed with any of the caterers onsite during the weekend. Many of them offer special deals for volunteers using vouchers which will make you a saving too!
Under 18s
Most volunteer roles are open to applicants who will be 18 years old at the time of the festival – though we do have opportunities for volunteers aged 16 and 17 (mainly in the stewards’ team).
We will be releasing an updated Guide for Volunteers aged 16 and 17 soon. Click here to see our downloadable information form from 2012»
Or contact us for more details volunteers@greenbelt.org.uk: volunteers@greenbelt.org.uk
There is no upper age limit for volunteers.
Recruitment and references
As almost all of the volunteer roles at festival involve some contact with festivalgoers, our volunteers represent Greenbelt. We ask all volunteers to provide details of two referees. Your referees should be people who know you well, who can let us know about your character and your suitability for the role you have applied for.
Some volunteer roles with specific contact with children, young people and vulnerable adults will require you to complete an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau Check.
Data protection
The details you supply on your application form will be held securely and confidentially by Greenbelt and only used in relation to your application or to contact you about matters relating to the festival.
Your details will be forwarded to the volunteer who leads the team you wish to join and they will be in touch with you with further details of your volunteering role.
We comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 and take all reasonable care to prevent any unauthorised access to your personal data.
Equal Opportunities
Greenbelt welcomes volunteer applications from all sections of the community and aims to treat everyone equally.
You can let us know if you consider yourself to have a disability, impairment, learning disability, medical or mental health condition which may affect the kind of volunteering role you are able to apply for. Let us know too if you have particular support needs, like large print materials or wheelchair access.
Rehabilitation of Offenders
Having a criminal record will not necessarily prevent you from volunteering. Greenbelt will take into account only unspent and pending convictions which are relevant to the role you are applying for when assessing your suitability for that role.
Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974) ex-offenders are requested to declare any unspent or pending convictions when applying for voluntary roles.
Voluntary roles with specific contact with children, young people and/or vulnerable adults will also require an enhanced CRB check.
Preparing our volunteers
Your Team Leader will send you all the information you need about your volunteering role. There will also be a team briefing or training session that you will need to attend before the festival begins. Most of these briefing sessions take place in the days leading up to the festival weekend. Your Team Leader will provide you with the details.
The Volunteers Co-ordinator will also send you a copy of the Volunteer Handbook. This will give you lots of general information about volunteering and what’s available for volunteers – and will include a map of the festival site, to help you to find your way around.
Please let your Team Leader know if you change your address in the time between sending in your application and the festival.
Volunteering as part of a group
Volunteers often come along to the festival and volunteer with their friends, or as part of a group. We try to accommodate requests to be on the same team or the same shift as people you know. Please tell your Team Leader when you apply and they’ll try to help out.
If you’re already a volunteer and you have a group you’d like to bring along with you, please encourage them to get involved.
Childcare
Volunteers can bring children with them to the festival, but for legal and safety reasons children must not accompany volunteers while they are on duty. Your children remain your responsibility during the festival.
Greenbelt offers reduced rate tickets for family and friends as a way of supporting volunteers with childcare. Once a volunteer has been accepted onto a team, click here for costs and further details.
Some teams operate in the week before the festival is open to the public. The festival site is being built during this time and, as safety is the priority, must not to be accessed by anyone who is not required as a volunteer or member of staff. The campsite is also under construction during this week and is unsuitable for children and families.
Developing skills and changing teams
Greenbelt encourages experienced volunteers to take on additional responsibility and share their knowledge with other teams. Quite a few of our volunteer roles require previous knowledge and experience of the festival. So please let us know if you’d like to try a different team or if you feel that you’d like to take on a new challenge.
Information Sheet for Volunteers aged 16 & 17
Page last updated 13 May 2013
