Volunteering info

Our volunteering roles give you a chance to try out new skills, gain experience, face fresh challenges, make friends, enjoy being part of a team and, most of all, have fun making a great festival happen.

There are oodles of ways to volunteer. We have lots of teams that volunteer over the weekend, or during the Build week before the festival opens. Some teams also plan and prepare during the year. 

We are happy to welcome deaf and disabled volunteers, and, where reasonable, will make necessary adjustments to ensure you get the best out of volunteering.

As well as appreciating the Greenbelt ethos and having the specific skills or experience needed for your role, we’re also looking for people who are:

• Reliable
• Enthusiastic
• Flexible
• Able to listen and share
• Team players with common sense
• Able to follow instructions.

You should also know your own limitations, take responsibility for yourself and adhere to our health and safety and safeguarding policies.

Most teams ask volunteers to commit to around 6 to 7 hours per day of the festival, which is 28 hours over four days. This might be split into two or three shorter shifts per day, depending on your team. And there’s still plenty of time for you to enjoy the festival, too.

If you volunteer in a pre-festival role, you will need to arrive on site between Sunday and Tuesday. If your role is over the festival weekend, your arrival day will be Wednesday or Thursday. The days of arrival are shown in each role description, and will be confirmed by your team leader, once you’ve been accepted as a volunteer.

Follow this for some FAQs

Before you apply you’ll need…

A unique email address
To complete your application, you will need to use a unique email address. Please note this cannot be shared with anyone else who will be applying, such as a spouse or partner, as it will not be accepted by the application system. (Please add volunteers@greenbelt.org.uk and caroline@greenbelt.org.uk to your email address book to ensure you to receive our confirmation emails and other important messages.)

An up to date digital passport-style photo
The image needs to be in jpeg (.jpg) format. The maximum file size you can upload is 5MB. Please ensure that it is in the style of a passport photo – facing front, recognisable as you. This photo will be used on your ID badge, if you need one on site, therefore it must be recent and reflect your current image.

Reference details
References are requested every three years, or if you are changing teams. You will need to provide details of two referees. Their names, the position held, daytime telephone number, email address and company/ organisation name. They should not be related to you and you must have known them for a minimum of 6 months. You should not know them only through contact at Greenbelt, and should not be a member of Greenbelt Staff or a relative.

Emergency contact details
You will also be asked to provide the name and phone number of a contact, who can be contacted during the festival in the event of an emergency.

There are a large number of volunteer roles. You can find more information here – https://app.sheepcrm.com/greenbelt/teams/. From here you will be able to apply for your chosen role.

If you volunteered in 2023, you should be able to reuse last year’s application. Please check your emails for more information.

Some of our volunteer teams are by invite only, because of the experience or specialism needed.

If you are invited to apply for one of these teams you will be sent a link to the application.

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 Festival Stewards, Cafes & Childrens teams).  If there is a different team you are interested in, please email volunteers@greenbelt.org.uk.

There is no upper age limit for volunteers.

Our 2024 Duke of Edinburgh Award spaces are now full. 

We’re a Residential Approved Activity Provider for the DofE. This means you can apply to volunteer on one of our Site Decor teams (see below) and have the time you spend with us count towards the residential requirements for your Gold DofE Award.

Eligible teams for DofE residentials:

• Site Decor – Make Week: create stage sets, festival decorations and more. Read the full role description and apply. 
• Site Decor – Build Week: install large sculptural signs, decorate venues, festoon the festival, and more. Get all the details and apply.

Supporting our Volunteers

Volunteers are essential to the success of the festival.  Greenbelt provides a Lounge for all volunteers to use during the weekend. Access is for volunteers only – think of it as you would a staff room in your place of work.  There is free tea/coffee and cold drinks, soup, toast, biscuits, fruit and comfy seats for you to enjoy as you take a well-earned break.

If you’d prefer to take a break with family and friends over the festival weekend, you’ll be able to meet up in the 24-hour Cafe or Tank Cafe at the entrance to the campsite.

If you have any questions, 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, or you can usually find one of the Volunteer Support team in the Volunteer Lounge. You can also talk to your team leader or the Greenbelt Volunteer Manager.

Food and drink

Greenbelt provides volunteers with a number of food vouchers – the number of vouchers depends on number of hours they are volunteering. You will still need to provide other food for yourself, whether cooking them or purchasing from food vendors.

When to arrive

Please see individual role descriptions for arrival days, as these vary depending on the team. Your team leader will confirm exact timings nearer to the festival.

(Please note that there will be no access to volunteers who do not need to be on site for their role during ‘build week’. The festival site and campsite will both be under construction at this time and access to toilet facilities and water will be 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.)

Parking

As a volunteer you will be able to park your car free of charge in the designated car park, but you will need to apply for a car parking pass. You will be able to use the car park for the duration of the festival weekend and for the days you need to be on site before and after the festival for your volunteering role.

Please use our Box Office to get your parking pass. You will need to use a promo code to enable the free pass. You will have been sent the code and instructions when your application was accepted. You will then receive an ‘order confirmation’ with a link to your ticket. Please print out the pass before setting off to site as you will need to write your vehicle registration number on your pass and display this in your vehicle.

If friends and family accompanying you are travelling in a second vehicle they will need to purchase a car parking pass from the Box Office for £10.

Most festival-goers and volunteers will camp onsite during the festival weekend. You’ll need a tent, sleeping bag and camping gear.

There will be an area of the campsite for volunteers – with spaces allocated on a first-come first-served basis.  You are welcome to use the general camping, or early curfew camping areas too if you prefer.

There will also be an area designated for volunteers with caravans, trailer tents or camper vans – this will be separate from the volunteer camping area but not far away.

Once you have been accepted as a volunteer, you will be sent an email confirming you space, which will also give you access to the codes to pay the deposit on a campervan pitch. 

Once again there will be compulsory training given by our training team, as well as your team leader(s). This training is for all, whether you are new to volunteering or have done so many times. There important details every volunteer needs to know before they are able to begin their role. The training is needed to keep both you and festival goers safe. Your team leader will let you know when this training is to take place.

Your Team Leader will send you all the information you need about your volunteering role.

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.

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, and are not allowed in to the back area.  Your children remain your responsibility during the festival. 

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.  

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.

Recruitment and references

As almost all of the volunteer roles at festival involve some contact with festival-goers, 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. References will be requested every 3 years, unless you decide to volunteer on a different team, or if we let you know we will need to take them up for another reason. 

If your volunteer role involves specific contact with children, young people and vulnerable adults or supervision of other volunteers with these roles, we may require you to complete an enhanced criminal records check by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). If this is necessary, you will be contacted in the months before the festival.

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 General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) 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 a criminal records check from the DBS.