Stop Press.......Volunteer Meet Up on Thursday 24th May at 6pm at the bandstand in Leazes Park.........Main Volunteer briefing - 9.30am on Saturday 2nd June....followed by a weekend of festivalling!
"Volunteering for the Newcastle Green Festival means.....you not only get to meet loads of lovely people, but you become part of the whole thing........not just a consumer, but a creator."
Interested? - email
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to find out more.
What's involved in volunteering? Need more information? Read on........
1 park, 2 music stages, 10 marquees, 30 bands, 50 portaloos, 100 stalls, 200 wheelie bins, 1000 emails and 20,000+ visitors..........completely organised, managed and run by a huge team of volunteers!
Way before anyone tried to label us as "Big Society" brand names, thousands of people (just like you!) have helped put the annual green festival together - and this year is no exception! No sooner than Diddley Squat had jumped off the lakeside stage last year, the planning for 2012 began. Since then, hundreds of people have been involved in the preparation of the festival, putting in anything from a few minutes of free advice to 100s of hours of dedicated and detailed planning. Lots of local organisations also get involved - putting in time and effort to set up the stalls and activities on offer over the weekend.
The festival weekend starts on the Thursday when the marquees are erected and the green festival crew gets on with the huge job of setting up the park. By Saturday morning the site is a buzz of activity as the stall holders arrive and the festival comes to life. The volunteer team is swelled by a stewards crew (all those bods in yellow jackets!) who help with all the assorted jobs on the festival site......wonder where your waste beer can went? ask a steward - they will probably have sorted it out at our recycling point. Almost all the performers, bands and activities donate their time for free to put on the best show for nothing but the love of doing it.
The reward for all this hard work? Seeing lots of lovely people coming down and enjoying the best free festival in the country (ok we are biased - but its true!). Being part of a brilliant team is perhaps the biggest reward for us all - there will be a lot of tired but happy volunteers wandering around the park on Sunday evening feeling like a job well done!
Would YOU like to get involved? Green Festival Needs YOU!
Newcastle Community Green Festival is a 100% voluntary organisation. It is led by a core management committee, organised by a larger planning committee and wouldn't happen without the help of hundreds of people on the weekend itself.
A team of volunteers is needed to help out over the weekend including:
- Stewarding
- Site Crew
- Planning
- Area Coordinators
- Charity Collectors
In return for volunteering, you will meet lots of like-minded people, get some yummy food cooked by our special volunteer caterers and have lots of fun in the process! We are also happy to fill in volunteer records and certificates if needed.
For more infomation on how to get involved, email Si on
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Here is our FAQ guide to volunteering:
- When is the Newcastle green Festival? Green Fest is on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd June and is an all-day event.
Please could you let us know if you plan to help on the Saturday, Sunday or both days - drop an email back and then we know when to expect you and how many of you are coming.
We would like those people volunteering the Saturday to come down to the park for a general briefing at 9.30am at the bandstand. We then need lots of help for the Saturday morning rush. We would expect to be finished for the day at 8pm. This sounds like a long day but do not worry - we will give you a big break in the middle to enjoy some free volunteer food, catch a few bands, have a wander round the festival and generally chill out in the lovely park. All we ask in return is that you come back and help some more once your break is over - especially as we need lots of help at the end of the day - more hands = light work!
On the Sunday the same thing happens again except we will start again with a briefing at 10.30am at the bandstand and again be finished at about 8pm (fingers crossed).
If you are planning on doing both days - brilliant! If you can only do one day then still brilliant!! And if you can't make some part of the day then don't worry - you will still be brilliant if you give us a few hours of your time.....our busiest times are between 10am-1pm and 5pm-8pm so if you can make these that would be most helpful. Of course, we would really love you to help all weekend so if you do have the time free then we will be very very happy to keep you busy - its really good fun to be part of the team all weekend as you get to know everyone and have a good laugh as well as put in some good effort for a great cause.
- What about the Friday and Monday?
We are setting up the festival on the Friday before and we will be packing up on Monday. If you are able to come and help for all or part of these days could you let us know. We need a good team of people to make the festival look beautiful and set up all the infrastructure. On Monday we need to do the reverse and also return the park to normality (we always try to make sure we give her back cleaner and greener than when we arrived)....
Both days we will start at 9am and finish after 8pm......even if you can only spare an hour to come help we would really appreciate it! when you come head up to the bandstand and find someone in a green fest jacket then ask for Si or Caroline - they will find us for you.
To give us an idea of numbers please could you reply to this email saying when you can come. Then its just a matter of turning up. Once arrived we will book you in with a short sign in sheet and give you an induction. Please try to come at 9.30am on Saturday and 10.30am on Sunday for our big briefing.
Of course if people want to come help and haven't contacted us previously then that's fine - just meet us in the park - but it really helps us to know in advance (and stops us getting nervous that no one will turn up) so please nudge your friends to drop us an email.
- What am I going to be doing?
Things that we hope you will be doing include:
- setting up the site (putting up fences, banners, decorations etc.)
- Looking after the people traffic - we need people at the gates of the festival welcoming people in (and stopping the cars) and then directing them around the site
- recycling, picking up the litter, emptying the bins (and encouraging visitors to put their litter in the bins)
- checking that all the areas are running smoothly
- keeping an eye-out for anyone misbehaving (but you don't have to approach or stop anyone - we have security for that)
- helping with all and sundry tasks that may crop up (in previous years we have needed people to help on stalls, act as stage hands, look after unicycles, etc etc)
- wear sensible clothing and sturdy shoes (no sandals please!)
- in return for your efforts we will give you a free meal (yum yum) but you may want to bring some extra snacks
- we also will provide tea/coffee/etc but a water bottle is useful to keep you hydrated
- suncream and a hat! (wishful thinking perhaps)
we will equip you with a high-vis jacket and a map/programme so you know what is going on. We have space to store bags etc. but we have no secure storage facilities for valuable items and cannot be held responsible for loss or theft - so leave valuables at home!
- How old do I need to be to volunteer?
For regular stewarding you must be at least 18, there is no upper age limit!
If you are under 18 please let us know as we may have some specific roles you can get involved with.
You can steward, although we suggest that you consult with your midwife, and get them to sign to say they support your decision to attend the festival. There are considerably more health & safety issues related to pregnant volunteers, and the facilities we need to provide to fulfil our duty of care.
If you are going to be more than four months pregnant at the festival, please let us know so that we can discuss any reasonable adjustments that we may need to make to your role onsite.
Any children that are brought to the festival must have a legal guardian onsite.
Each adult steward may bring up to two children between the ages of 13-18 with them.
Each adult steward can bring two children under the age of 13, as long as you can arrange for childcare whilst you are on shift.
Please let us know in advance if you intend to bring any child(ren) with you.
- Anything else I can do to help?
We need more helpers! (did I mention this already.....) Invite your friends along to help and get the word out - the more the merrier!
Need to know more?
Any questions just email us back and we will let you know. Or drop me a text on 07976553856
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See you soon!
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