Post by silkenstress on Aug 3, 2016 14:09:38 GMT
Afternoon all. Well this was my first time going to WOMAD as an Oxfam volunteer. I mainly did it because I've run out of friends to drag with me to WOMAD! It was a great experience as I met some lovely people. Anyone can sign up to be a volunteer and there are organisations other than Oxfam. The advantage is that you get to attend a festival for free although it is an exhausting experience. You also have to be willing to forego the full festival experience you might otherwise have because you will be expected to work in exchange for your free ticket.
With Oxfam, if you volunteer as a steward, you have to sign up to do three 8 hour shifts. If you are an Oxfam campaign volunteer, then at WOMAD it was four 6 hour shifts. A shift can be at any time during the day or night. But if you are assigned a shift you don't want to do, you can find someone to swap with. Oxfam actually had "shift swap sheets" where you could put down which shifts you were looking to swap with your contact number. If you found someone to swap with, you just had to let Oxfam know so they could put in the new details on their computer.
Oxfam also give volunteers one free meal voucher per shift. The meal vouchers can be used with the Oxfam caterer. Unfortunately, this year's caterer at WOMAD was not the best. The experienced volunteers all kept going on about the food and the choices and how great the previous caterer was. Yeah, I really needed that level of detail whilst eating a meal I could only describe as "hot and filling which may have encountered some spices at a distance of around 15 miles"....! Luckily, we discovered that some of the traders were happy to give us discounts, or even a free meal in exchange for the meal voucher.
My first shift was Thursday from 8pm to 4am. I hated it! But my second and third shifts were both 12 noon to 8pm on Saturday and Sunday covering Siam and the open air stages whenever a band was playing. So I got to hear some great music on both days. Looking back, I think it would have been better for me if I had tried to find someone on the Monday shift to swap with. I enjoyed my Saturday/Sunday shifts but being on my feet for so long was exhausting so by Sunday night, I actually needed an earlyish night! Someone else swapped all of his shifts so he crammed them into Thursday and Friday. That left him free to enjoy the rest of the festival which was a good idea.
Oxfam also had a separate camping area right next to the crew camping. But it's only for volunteers so if you have friends you want to share with who aren't with Oxfam, you will have to camp in the public main camping areas with them. The toilets in our camping area were the regular portaloos. Sometimes they did run out of toilet rolls but I suspect less frequently than the main camp portaloos. Also, the Oxfam portaloos were much much cleaner that the other portaloos as there were fewer people using them. The showers were the same as the cubicle ones that you get in the glamping section so that was nice. There was also a large marquee filled with tables and chairs where you could have a sit down, eat and chat to other volunteers and the security folk. The marquee also had a table where you could charge your phone for free. There was also free tea bags, instant coffee, milk and hot water in urns for people both day and night.
For every volunteer Oxfam get, they get "x" amount of money from the festival. That money is then used for one of their many charitable projects. I can't recall the exact facts on this but I think each volunteer place filled, allows Oxfam to build 10 toilets somewhere. Of course it's not just toilets but other projects too, I just can't recall the details! Also, the more volunteers Oxfam can get, the more festivals they can add to their list.
There is a lot more info here for anyone who's interested:
www.oxfam.org.uk/stewarding
Also, there's a Facebook page too:
www.facebook.com/groups/oxfamfestivalsteam/
Oxfam normally ask volunteers to arrive the day before the festival opens. So for WOMAD, that meant arriving on site last Wednesday. I think though they can be flexible if they do not have enough volunteers. Also, when volunteering for a particular festival, you can say if you have to leave on the Sunday or if you can stay until Monday. I think some people at WOMAD actually stayed until Tuesday as they had shifts on Monday.
Del - if you are interested but can't commit for the whole weekend of a festival, I suggest you post the question on the FB page about whichever festival you're interested in. Someone is bound to tell you exactly whom to email to get an answer.
Now that I've done one festival as an Oxfam steward and I know what it's like, I'm considering doing more festivals with them this summer. I don't know if I'll enjoy these other festivals because I've never been to them - and none of them are WOMAD! But I'll get to experience them for free if I go as a volunteer. so I've got nothing to lose. Plus of course I'm making a contribution to charity so that's always good! Oh, I should add that you do have to pay a returnable deposit for every festival you sign up for. The cost is the same as a full festival ticket. But you get the whole lot back provided you actually turn up and complete all of your shifts. Oh and you have to be sober for all shifts Del!
If anyone has any questions, don't hesitate to post it here. I might even reply
. Or just ask those crazy volunteering addicts on the FB page! x
With Oxfam, if you volunteer as a steward, you have to sign up to do three 8 hour shifts. If you are an Oxfam campaign volunteer, then at WOMAD it was four 6 hour shifts. A shift can be at any time during the day or night. But if you are assigned a shift you don't want to do, you can find someone to swap with. Oxfam actually had "shift swap sheets" where you could put down which shifts you were looking to swap with your contact number. If you found someone to swap with, you just had to let Oxfam know so they could put in the new details on their computer.
Oxfam also give volunteers one free meal voucher per shift. The meal vouchers can be used with the Oxfam caterer. Unfortunately, this year's caterer at WOMAD was not the best. The experienced volunteers all kept going on about the food and the choices and how great the previous caterer was. Yeah, I really needed that level of detail whilst eating a meal I could only describe as "hot and filling which may have encountered some spices at a distance of around 15 miles"....! Luckily, we discovered that some of the traders were happy to give us discounts, or even a free meal in exchange for the meal voucher.
My first shift was Thursday from 8pm to 4am. I hated it! But my second and third shifts were both 12 noon to 8pm on Saturday and Sunday covering Siam and the open air stages whenever a band was playing. So I got to hear some great music on both days. Looking back, I think it would have been better for me if I had tried to find someone on the Monday shift to swap with. I enjoyed my Saturday/Sunday shifts but being on my feet for so long was exhausting so by Sunday night, I actually needed an earlyish night! Someone else swapped all of his shifts so he crammed them into Thursday and Friday. That left him free to enjoy the rest of the festival which was a good idea.
Oxfam also had a separate camping area right next to the crew camping. But it's only for volunteers so if you have friends you want to share with who aren't with Oxfam, you will have to camp in the public main camping areas with them. The toilets in our camping area were the regular portaloos. Sometimes they did run out of toilet rolls but I suspect less frequently than the main camp portaloos. Also, the Oxfam portaloos were much much cleaner that the other portaloos as there were fewer people using them. The showers were the same as the cubicle ones that you get in the glamping section so that was nice. There was also a large marquee filled with tables and chairs where you could have a sit down, eat and chat to other volunteers and the security folk. The marquee also had a table where you could charge your phone for free. There was also free tea bags, instant coffee, milk and hot water in urns for people both day and night.
For every volunteer Oxfam get, they get "x" amount of money from the festival. That money is then used for one of their many charitable projects. I can't recall the exact facts on this but I think each volunteer place filled, allows Oxfam to build 10 toilets somewhere. Of course it's not just toilets but other projects too, I just can't recall the details! Also, the more volunteers Oxfam can get, the more festivals they can add to their list.
There is a lot more info here for anyone who's interested:
www.oxfam.org.uk/stewarding
Also, there's a Facebook page too:
www.facebook.com/groups/oxfamfestivalsteam/
Oxfam normally ask volunteers to arrive the day before the festival opens. So for WOMAD, that meant arriving on site last Wednesday. I think though they can be flexible if they do not have enough volunteers. Also, when volunteering for a particular festival, you can say if you have to leave on the Sunday or if you can stay until Monday. I think some people at WOMAD actually stayed until Tuesday as they had shifts on Monday.
Del - if you are interested but can't commit for the whole weekend of a festival, I suggest you post the question on the FB page about whichever festival you're interested in. Someone is bound to tell you exactly whom to email to get an answer.
Now that I've done one festival as an Oxfam steward and I know what it's like, I'm considering doing more festivals with them this summer. I don't know if I'll enjoy these other festivals because I've never been to them - and none of them are WOMAD! But I'll get to experience them for free if I go as a volunteer. so I've got nothing to lose. Plus of course I'm making a contribution to charity so that's always good! Oh, I should add that you do have to pay a returnable deposit for every festival you sign up for. The cost is the same as a full festival ticket. But you get the whole lot back provided you actually turn up and complete all of your shifts. Oh and you have to be sober for all shifts Del!
If anyone has any questions, don't hesitate to post it here. I might even reply
. Or just ask those crazy volunteering addicts on the FB page! x 
