Festival Campaigners FAQs

Please read through the FAQs to find out essential information about campaigning at festivals with Oxfam. These will be updated throughout the festival season.

• Have you started recruiting campaigners yet?

  Campaigner applications are open in mid-March to mid-April. For more specific dates and updates please join our Oxfam Festival Campaigners Facebook group. If you are not selected to campaign and you have not applied to steward with Oxfam at festivals you will be informed by 1 May and refunded within a month.

• How long will it be before I find out whether I have been accepted ?

  When you have paid your deposit and submitted your application, you will receive two confirmation emails from Oxfam. The first email is to let you know we have received your application form and the second email is to let you know that your payment has been processed.

  If you do not receive an email about your deposit payment or the Oxfam payment email states that your deposit was not authorised, you must call 0300 200 1300 the next working day, with your credit or debit card to hand. We will try to process the deposit again for you over the phone. Please keep your confirmation emails safe.

  We then shortlist from all the applications we have received and will inform you whether you have been successful or not by 1 May.

  If your application has not been successful and you would then like to apply to steward with Oxfam instead you must contact us so that we can adjust your status on our application database, though there is no guarantee that there will still be spaces available at your desired festival.

• After I have made my payment, what happens to my money?

  It can take up to three working days for the money to leave your account, so please make sure the funds are available during that time. Your money will be held in a holding account until you have completed your last shift. Within a month of confirming that you have carried out all your shifts satisfactorily, we will attempt to refund you.

  Through this process, we will not be holding any bank or credit card details - these will all be held by WorldPay. All we will have is a transaction record stating that the money has been transferred to our holding account.

• How does the waiting list work?

  Once the positions are filled, you can put yourself on the waiting list by using the link on the webpage. If we are able to take more campaigners and decide to reopen any festivals, we will contact people directly to let them know.

• How many hours will I have to volunteer?

  Campaigners will usually be expected to complete four shifts, each shift lasting around six hours, and you'll get a break for lunch. Shifts may involve several different activities to keep them interesting.

• Do I need to complete any training to be a festival campaigner?

  Yes, we will hold three training sessions in May and attendance at one session is compulsory. The dates and locations of these training sessions are included in the Campaigner Application pack (PDF, 286 KB). We will also carry out an additional on-site training and team-building session before each festival opens.

• When will I get my deposit back?

  The deposit will be refunded directly back to the card that you paid it from, and we will aim to get all standard refunds back within a month of the last festival you have successfully completed.

  If your account closes before you have been refunded, you will need to let us know, so we can sort out an alternative way to refund you.

  If for any reason the payment is rejected by your account, there will inevitably be a delay as we will need to contact you to request bank account details to allow us to refund you into your bank account by BACS.

• What is the policy on cancellations?

  If you cancel before the festival, we will aim to refund you within a month of your last festival. If you are not stewarding or campaigning at any other festival, we aim to refund you - minus an admin fee - within three weeks of your cancelling your place. 

  If you cancel one festival before the cancellation date, you will lose £20 of your deposit.

  If you cancel two or more festivals before the cancellation date, on separate occasions, you will lose £20 deposit per cancellation, up to your full deposit. If you cancel two or more festivals before the cancellation date on the same occasions, you will only lose £40 of your deposit.

  If you cancel one or more festivals after their cancellation dates, you will lose your full deposit

  If you cancel one or more festivals after the cancellation date, but have a place at a future festival, we may contact you to assess your reliability for future festivals. If we decide to keep your place at a future festival and you work all your shifts, you will lose £40 of your deposit

  If you don't turn up to one or more festivals and don't contact the office to let us know, you will forfeit your full deposit, and be denied from applying to future festivals with Oxfam, and other Glastonbury festival volunteering organisations. If you are cancelling due to an illness, we will hold your deposit until we see a valid doctor's note.

  If you have to cancel, but have a friend willing to take your place, we're sorry but we are not able to transfer deposits from one campaigner to another. Your friend will need to apply independently.

  Cancellation dates

  
  
  

  Festival	Cancellation deadline
  Isle of Wight	16 May
  Glastonbury	30 May
  Latitude	20 June
  WOMAD	27 June
  Camp Bestival	4 July
  Leeds	25 July
  Reading	25 July
  Bestival	8 August

  
  
  
  

• Can I bring children to the festival?

  Oxfam's general policy on bringing children to festivals is:

  • Each working adult volunteering with us can bring two children under the age of 13, as long as they can arrange for childcare whilst they are working their shift. We will require you to fill-out a children's form, which we will post to you once we have received your application form.

  • No children can accompany their parents on shift.

  • No child is to be left unsupervised in the Oxfam camping area. If any campaigner's child is found to be disruptive or disturbing other volunteers you may be asked to camp elsewhere in the festival.

  • Any children brought onto site are the responsibility of their parents/guardians.

  • No child under the age of 18 can be involved in campaigning.

    Children may be required to wear specific wristbands/laminates to identify them as children of volunteers.If you wish to bring your children, you need to ensure someone who is not campaigning with Oxfam will be able to look after them whilst you are on shift as volunteer shifts all run at the same time.

  • In addition, each working adult may also bring up to two children between the ages of 13-18 if they have purchased a festival ticket, to camp in the campaigner's Oxfam area. You will also need to indicate this on the children's form (PDF, 22 KB).

  However, please note that each festival's policy on bringing children is different. If you are thinking about bringing children please visit the festival's website to check their specific policy.

• I am a person with disabilities, can I still apply to campaign?

  Yes. Please indicate what your disability is on your application form and if you need us to adapt your job role.

• Do campaigners have to be onsite for as long as stewards ?

  We ask campaigners to arrive at least the day before the festival opens to the public, to help us set up and prepare our campaigning activities. The dates that we want people on-site for each festival are set out in the Campaigner Application Pack (PDF, 286 KB). Unlike the stewards, when the festival is open campaigners are only on shift during the day. The final shift will be on Sunday, and after the debrief and a bit of packing down you will be free to leave the site, or enjoy the last night in style!

  Campaigners will usually be expected to complete four shifts, each shift lasting around six hours, and you'll get a break for lunch.

• I have a live-in vehicle (campervan/caravan), can I bring that on-site?

  This varies from festival to festival. At some festivals live-in vehicles are allowed, but will be in the public campervan fields, at others, they will be in the Oxfam or general staff camping. Please note: many festivals have strict rules to define a campervan so please do not expect to be able to just sleep in the back of a car or transit van in the campervan field. If you bring a caravan, you will be directed to park your car in a separate car park once you have parked up.

  You must tell us that you will be bringing a campervan or caravan in your online application so that we can order any relevant passes for you.

• Are meals provided?

  You will be given one meal ticket per shift you complete, i.e four meal tickets. These will be redeemable at a specific caterer, generally crew catering provided by either the festival or Oxfam.

• When can I find out when my shifts are?

  Shift allocations tend to be carried out on the day we arrive at the festival, therefore you will be told what shifts you are doing when you arrive on site. This information will not be available via phone or by emailing us.

• Can I change my shift time?

  As all campaigners work the same shift times changing shift time is not possible. If you have any problem with being able to complete your shift you will need to talk directly to the Oxfam Campaigns staff onsite as soon as possible.

• Can I be a campaigner supervisor?

  This applies to stewarding only - we don't have these as we work in small groups decided onsite.

• Can I do my shifts with my friends?

  Campaigning places are allocated according to whether you meet the selction criteria. There is no guarantee that because you have a place, your friend will also have one, so please be prepared to be working with people that you don't know. We work in small groups decided onsite and we mix these up over the week so you'll be working with lots of different people.

• What is the difference between a festival steward and a campaigner?

  Oxfam is paid by the festival organisers to provide volunteer stewards to perform a vital service. The role of stewarding forms an integral part of the festival safety system, and failure to work our shifts or fulfil our duties can seriously compromise the safety and welfare of both the festival public and other workers.

  Oxfam is also asked to bring a number of voluntary campaigners to each festival who help co-ordinate and promote a variety of fun, interactive Oxfam initiatives, aimed at encouraging festival-goers to get involved with us and our campaigns. To find out more information about the role of a campaigner, please download our Campaigner Application Pack (PDF, 286 KB).

• What will happen to the information I give you ?

  Once we receive your application, the information will be stored on our database. We will use the information to allocate you to festivals and roles, and to facilitate your attendance at the festivals. We will share your names with the organisers of the festivals you are going to for them to issue relevant passes for volunteers to enter the festival and obtain car passes. For some festivals we will share your name and date of birth with the police to allow them to carry out PNC checks. You are asked to agree to this on your application form.

  If you have expressed an interest in finding out more about Oxfam, we will share your details with other departments within Oxfam. We will not share your personal information with anyone else.

• Where will I camp?

  You will be offered Oxfam camping in a separate area away from the public camping. You don't have to camp in the Oxfam camping. It is a bonus offered to Oxfam volunteers, but you can camp in the public areas, or anywhere else you might have arranged your own access to, if they are open when you arrive.

• Will I be able to camp with my family or friends?

  If your friends or family are Oxfam volunteers, you will be able to camp together. If you are planning to go to the festival with public ticket holders, or people working for other organisations on-site, they will not be able to camp in the Oxfam camping area, as these are secure areas requiring specific ID to get in. If you want to bring children, please email us at campaigning@oxfam.org.uk to check arrangements.

  You will experience difficulties if you travel to site with public ticket holders before the gates are open, as non-workers will not have access to festival sites before the gates open.

• Not found what you're looking for?

  Not found what you're looking for? Please contact us by phone: 0300 200 1300 or email: campaigning@oxfam.org.uk