As a member of the Site Decor – Make Team you are responsible for reading this Handbook
This handbook includes some key information for you. But also a list of actions for you to do now. Please do this as soon as possible, I would like the questionnaire information by the 26th June, so that we can prepare for your arrival.
The Site Decor Makers work together to make the large sculptural venue signs and decorative elements for stage sets and venues. Our aim is to enliven the site, making focal points and creating distinctive places and characterful venues.
You’ll be part of a team of around 15-20 volunteers and are the very first volunteer team to arrive on site, the whole festival will come alive over the days you are on site.
We work in our purpose built workshop in the peaceful grounds on the Boughton Estate, and have a conveniently located camping area nearby.
We typically have a varied team of makers with a diverse skill set. The team will include established makers with years of experience and others who are in sixth form. There will be opportunities for you to utilise your current skills and to learn from other makers.
We are here to help and guide you in your role. We are your first point of contact on site and in advance.
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Saga Site Decor Producer, Greenbelt staff |
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Helen volunteer admin and team support |
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Sue catering and team support |
Our expectations of you:
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Saturday 9th August |
Arrive between 11-2pm |
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Sunday 10th |
8-8.45 Breakfast |
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Friday 15th August |
8-8.45 Breakfast |
These are essential items, listed after years of organising this.
Please let us know if you would find sourcing any of these items difficult.
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CAMP SET UP |
Tent Warm bedding Camping chair (optional, if you are coming by train we’ll have chairs for you) Dressing Gown, Towel, wash things & flip flops for sink washing and shower. |
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EQUIPMENT |
Refillable water bottle Torch- there is no lighting on site at all at night. Phone charger and battery pack – please label these with your name. Snacks (there are no shops nearby, but car drivers often organise a supermarket road trip) Insect repellent |
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GENERAL CLOTHING |
Waterproof coat & trousers Sun hat Flip flops/crocs for the shower Underwear and socks for a week Comfortable and warmer clothes for the evenings on campsite Swim things- showers arrive on Wednesday- so whilst we have plenty of hot water in the barn we will probably go to a swimming pool on Monday evening to make use of the showering facilities. |
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WORKSHOP CLOTHING |
Knee length shorts or trousers in a thick cotton twill or denim along the line of these: https://www.diy.com/departments/tools-equipment/safety-workwear/workwear/work-shorts/DIY1136861.cat Tee shirts, long sleeves, sweatshirts that you are happy to get mucky in: T-shirts that cover shoulders, back and midriff, rather than vest tops, since they provide better protection of your skin when lifting etc Sturdy close-toed trainers/ walking boots (essential) Steel toed boots if you have them |
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Before 26th June |
Please fill in the questionnaire that is attached to this email it will mean that we are prepared for your arrival so things can be as smooth as possible. |
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Travel |
If you travel by train the nearest station is Kettering. You can book your trains now. Then you can tell us what time you would want to be collected. We try and collect everyone that needs it. |
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Parking and Caravan Permit |
You do not need a permit to park a car or caravan during Build Week. However you will need a car permit for the festival itself, or if you want to move your caravan away from the site decor campsite. You can now order for your free Car Parking or your Campervan/Caravan Pass. Please follow this link to our box office, then click continue until you get to the correct page, to order. Campervan/Caravan Passes require a deposit of £35 which includes space for an awning or a pup tent. You will need to use the discount code VOL25CAR for car passes and VOL25CVD for a campervan or caravan. If you are bringing a caravan, you only need the Campervan Pass, not the Car Parking Pass. |
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Tee Shirt |
COMING SOON. If you would like to do so, you can buy yourself a Volunteer T-shirt. It’s not compulsory, but it is always a popular addition to volunteer’s wardrobes. Volunteers get this t-shirt at the cost price of £15. Order now, and have delivered to your home. They will not be available on site. |
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Handbook |
Please take time to read through the Volunteer Handbook. It contains a great deal of helpful information, but is more focuses on volunteering during the festival itself. Even if you have volunteered before, please read through, as there are some changes for this year. If you need to print the text out, please scroll to the bottom of the page, and click the Print Handbook button |
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Wristband and Other Volunteer Support Package items |
If you return to site for the festival on Thursday 22nd You should go to VOLUNTEER RECEPTION located next to the WRISTBAND EXCHANGE in the orange carpark. Your wristband, vouchers for reduced price guide and drinks voucher will be there for you. If you are doing build week also, there are different instructions. |
If you are arriving by train the nearest station is Kettering. Where possible we will try to arrange for you to be collected from the station, or make you aware of other train users arriving at the same time
If you are arriving by private vehicle this is the address to use:
Greenbelt Festival, Near Home Farm. Boughton Estate. Kettering NN14 3AG
The What3Words for the entrance from Warkton Road is: https://w3w.co/sprouts.wreck.tractor
What3Words for arrival spot: https://w3s.co/prospered.basket.treetop
Look for the Orange Flag – stop here and collect hi vis jacket, and sign in.
What3Word for the Campsite: Coming Soon
What3Words for the Site Decor barn is: https://w3w.co/heaven.intervals.moods
What3Words for the Festival Weekend entrance: https://w3s.co/sprouts.wreck.tractor
W3W is by the easiest way to locate the correct entrance to the site, so I encourage you to look at the website, and use this for navigation, rather than the address.
Information like this will also be uploaded to the whatsapp groups that I encourage you to join.
We have a dedicated campsite, which is convenient for both the Pre Festival and Festival time.
It however is not part of the main campsite.
For many of the team this camping area is regarded as a positive feature of volunteering.
However it is not a suitable place for inviting additional festival goers, so if you want to camp with friends or a wider group then you will need to move to the main campsite. You will need to find time to do this in the evening of Thursday.
It is not an option to camp in the main campsite away from the site decor campsite during Build Week.
We offer 3 meals per day to the Site Decor Team.
We have a kitchen space set up in the barn, which we collectively keep clean and tidy.
We accommodate dietary requirements as far as possible, so long as you have informed us on the questionnaire.
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Breakfast |
A breakfast buffet in the barn each morning- with a range of cereals, fruit, teas, coffee and juice. |
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Lunch |
Self serve sandwich and salad bar. |
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Evening meal |
One of our volunteers has taken the lead on making our evening meals this year, she cooked some brilliant currys/tagines/casseroles last year that were enthusiastically enjoyed. |
Regrettably, we are currently unable to offer electric car charging points. Please ensure you have enough charge for getting on and off site. Here are some nearby charging points.
For more information, visit www.greenbelt.org.uk/info/travel
Boughton House Estate is private property. The area of the estate being used by Greenbelt will be accessible to festivalgoers from 10 am on Thursday 22 August.
The Festival Village (where the programming and main venues are located) is separate from the Campsite. The Glade Arena (which is a section of the Festival Village) will open from 6 pm on Thursday 22 August and the whole Festival Village will open from 9 am on Friday 23 August.
At the end of the festival, the Festival Village will NOT be accessible to wristband holders on the morning of Monday 26 August. The Campsite will close at 12-noon on Monday 26 August. Please ensure you are packed up and off-site by this time.
We’ll be open to arriving Greenbelters from 10 am on Thursday 21st August
Thursday is yours – it’s Yourday. It’s all about arrivals, reunions and settling in. Getting parked up, set up and caught up. Take your time and get your campsite bearings through the day as tents go up and the sun goes down.
That isn’t to say that you’ll be left entirely to your own – and your crew’s – devices though. As we know, Jesus’ Arms are always open and Thursday evening (from 6pm) will be no exception. Not forgetting the Parched Pilgrim, our new bar in the campsite. There will also be a few other drinks and food vans and outlets open in the Glade arena and the Campsite Hub serving on that first night.
Obviously though, if everyone on site heads to the handful of food and drink establishments open on the first night, you might be waiting a while. We’d definitely recommend being able to feed your clan yourself that first night, as the festival proper – and all its amenities – will be up and running fully from Friday onward.
Friday will be our first full-fat festival day. The festival village opens at 9 am and programming starts shortly after.
Volunteers can purchase a Festival Guide from the Volunteers’ Lounge, from the Wednesday of ‘Build Week’. The Guide provides details of everything on the programme for the weekend.
You will be able to purchase a guide at the reduced price of £8.00, giving a discount of £4.00, if you use the discount voucher your team leader will give to you at your briefing/training. The discount voucher will be with the drinks vouchers you’ll also receive.
All volunteers are covered by Greenbelt’s liability insurance. Unfortunately, Greenbelt is unable to insure any personal items you bring with you to site, unless agreed in advance with the Event Manager. There is no secure storage provided at the festival. Please make sure your own insurance policy covers any items you decide to bring with you.
If you get approached to comment on something, or get drawn into anything on social media which starts to look like more than a little chat, please let Daisy Ghira (Greenbelt’s Digital Comms Officer) know (she can be reached through Control or via daisy@greenbelt.org.uk).
Please can you make sure that you have liked the OFFICIAL Facebook page (as well as the Unofficial one – if you want to see the chatter which goes on there). Just liking the Unofficial page doesn’t give you all the up-to-date information from the festival – such as line-up news, blogs, useful information etc.
If you can, please also follow us on Bluesky and Instagram. Please like, retweet and share information if you feel able to. The more people like and share things, the more likely they are to be put in people’s timelines.
If you do engage with a conversation and it turns tricky, please let Daisy know asap. Any complaints about the festival should be directed to her as well; you don’t have to deal with them. Similarly, any words of praise and awe about our Festival would also be good to send her way for us to use in social media etc.
Finally, our hashtags etc for this year is: #GB25 so please use it if you can.
We work hard to make Greenbelt as sustainable as possible and need your help in this.
Please recycle everything in the correct bins, turn off things that don’t need to be using power and encourage all your team to do the same. Before the festival, remind your volunteers to bring a re-usable water bottle/coffee mug to site and help us drastically reduce the amount of packaging used at Greenbelt.
We have finally managed to source plastic-free ID badges, after many years of searching. We will still continue as last year, with not all volunteers having an ID badge. The Festival-maker wristband will give all volunteers access to the production area, as far as Front Desk, and the Volunteer Lounge. If you need access to other parts of the site, or if your role means you’ve needed to have a DBS check, you will still be issued with an ID badge.
As usual, we will be collecting in lanyards and hi-vis so that they can be used again next year. Hi-vis can be returned to Volunteer Information, if you don’t need it once the festival has opened. You can also return it to a steward as you leave site. It would be really helpful if you could close the velcro on the hi-vis, before you return it. If everyone does this, it saves them all getting stuck together in the washing machine!
Please do not share photos of the festival site on social media (including on the Unofficial Greenbelt Facebook page) until the festival opens. We want everyone to have the chance to get that first look themselves.
You may be asked to comment on items on the programme, particularly about contributors who may be speaking on topics which could be controversial. However innocent this may appear, you may be speaking to a journalist who may take your comments as being made on Greenbelt’s behalf. Please direct any requests of this kind to Daisy Ghira (Greenbelt’s Digital Comms Officer), who can be reached on radio or through Control.
Thursday 21st August, 16.00 in The Jesus Arms. Before you get caught up with everything that your volunteering role involves, there’s an opportunity to meet up with the Greenbelt Volunteer community – to stop for half an hour, take a breather and think about the weekend ahead, the part you’re about to play in making a great festival happen and the chance to be inspired by a couple of our contributors.
After the welcome, the Jesus Arms will be open for an hour for volunteers only. The general public will be allowed into part of the Village, including the Jesus Arms, from 6pm.
On Thursday 21st at 6pm you’re invited to a celebratory meal for all Site Decor volunteers. We will make a WhatsApp group to coordinate this during make week.
Pre- festival support
While there is no formal Volunteer Support team on site during Make and Build Week. If you’re feeling a bit lost, over tired or overwhelmed – please speak to Beverly, Lena or Helen in the Site Decor Team.
Support During the Festival
If you have a problem you’d like to chat about – big or small, personal or practical, if you’re feeling a bit lost, over tired or overwhelmed – we have a team to help you out. The Volunteer Support Team will call into your venue during the weekend to find out how you’re getting on or you can contact them via the Volunteers’ Lounge info desk. Members of the Volunteer Support team wear purple hi vis jackets.
As well as the specific support for volunteers we also have the Festival Wellbeing, who are based in the Festival Village. Team members, who wear pale blue hi-vis, will be available for anyone, should they feel overwhelmed by something they have listened to onsite, or if they just need someone to talk to. The team will be based near the information point.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
If you need Personal Protective Equipment for your volunteer role (ear plugs, hi- vis jacket, hard hat etc) – you will be issued with these by your Team Leader. For your own safety, please make sure you use what you’ve been issued with and follow any instructions given. Extras are available from Front Desk.
To support you in your role Greenbelt (we provide 3 meals per day on Monday- Thursday and on Monday. This is a combination of team catering and crew catering, plus vouchers for a celebratory meal on the Thursday) offers a package including food vouchers to contribute to a meal or snack for each six to seven-hour shift completed, discount vouchers for the Festival Guide, Jesus Arms drink voucher, discounted talks voucher, free showers, training and briefing and support for your role and – of course – entry to the festival.
There will, again, be a limited-edition Greenbelt 2025 Volunteer t-shirt that you will be able to buy. More details of this will be sent out in July.
As well as all that, you’ll be able to develop new skills, make new friends, face a fresh challenge, make your own contribution as part of a team – and hopefully have fun too!
We work hard to make volunteering opportunities open to everyone and try to match people to the roles which will suit them best. We listen to your feedback and make improvements wherever we can. We aim to provide a positive and friendly atmosphere in each team, so that you’ll enjoy your weekend as much as you can. Greenbelt wouldn’t happen without you.
As Greenbelt campers, please help to ensure you leave no trace of your visit. Please continue to be particularly vigilant about small items such as tent pegs, which can be hazardous to animals.
Please check this webpage in the run-up to the festival for latest updates.