Stewarding:
Frequently Asked Questions 2009
General questions and the application process:
What information do I need to fill in my application?
What is stewarding?
How many hours will I have to work?
Which festivals can I apply for?
Have you started recruiting stewards yet?
What is the difference between a steward and a campaigner?
When is the closing date for application forms?
How do I apply?
What information will I need to apply to steward?
How do I upload a photo?
Why are you asking about Criminal Records Bureau(CRB) checks, and what do you mean by geographical areas?
How do I save and reload my application form if I come out of it?
What will happen to the information I give you?
How long will it be before I find out whether I have been accepted?
'I've not had any confirmation emails from you, but I thought my application had gone through OK'.
I haven't got my own email address so I always use my partner's, is that OK?
How many festivals can I apply for?
I've already applied but want to add another festival – how do I do that?
How does the waiting list work?
If I want to apply for more than one festival do I have to pay twice?
How old do you need to be to work as a steward?
Who can apply to volunteer to be an Oxfam steward?
Can I apply from abroad?
Why do you need to know my shift partner's date of birth?
Who can be my referee?
How many stewards do you need?
Do I need to wear a specific uniform?
I am a person with disabilities, can I still apply to steward?
Is it true that if I'm colour blind I can't apply to steward?
I am pregnant, can I still steward?
I would like to bring my 13 year old and 3 year old children, is this possible?
Can I bring my dog/cat/budgie/ferret/pet rat etc?
How can I get in touch with other people who are stewarding at the same festival as me?
What information do I need to fill in my application?
A valid debit or credit card
To pay your deposit of £175. We cannot accept payment by cheque or American Express. Your deposit will be refunded onto the same card at the end of the festival season, so ensure the account will still be active at the end of your last festival.
A diary
a) To help you book a Stewards or Supervisors training session, if needed.
b) To ensure you are available for the whole time we need you onsite at each festival.
Details of your transport to each festival
So we know how many car passes to order from the festival and (for some festivals only) how many buses to provide.
A photo
To be used on your new 2009 year long stewarding ID card, so ensure the photo is the same quality as you would use to apply for a UK passport. It needs to be a JPEG (.jpg) file type, less than 50kb in file size and no larger than 3.5 x 4.5 cm.
Shift partner’s details
The full name and date of birth of the people you want to work with so we can match you with them as shift partners.
Referee’s details
If you have worked at 1 festival for Oxfam, or have never stewarded for Oxfam, you need to provide details of a referee. (Their name, the Company / Organisation name, position held, daytime telephone number and email address).
Emergency contact details
In the unlikely event that you have a medical emergency onsite, we need the name and phone number of someone we could contact. This should not be someone with you at the festival.
Doctor’s details
These will only ever be passed on to medical personnel, in the above circumstance. If you have a medical emergency, we may be asked to provide your Doctor’s details (Doctor’s name, surgery address and phone number)
For priority applications only:
Your steward id (you will have received this in your priority application email).
What is stewarding?
In brief, a steward acts as the eyes and ears of the festival, you will be aware of something happening on the festival site first as people will come and tell you. Your primary role is to keep people safe and informed. General roles may include staffing gates, checking tickets and passes, patroling campsites and keeping an eye out for overcrowding and safety in the arena. You will not be cleaning loos, you will not be doing any security work i.e crowd control, expulsions etc, and you will not be talking to the public about Oxfam’s campaigning work.
How many hours will I have to work?
You will be required to work 3 shifts, each one is 8 ¼ hours long – usually one will be in the morning, one in the afternoon/evening and one overnight.
Which festivals can I apply for?
Please see the recruitment figures table on the front page for stewarding opportunities. Please note – you cannot apply to steward and campaign at the same festival, nor should you apply for more than one festival on the same weekend.
Have you started recruiting stewards yet?
Priority Applications will be open from Thursday 12 February 2009 for 1 week to anyone who has stewarded for us in 2006, 2007 or 2008. After that, any remaining places will be made available to the public on Thursday 19 February 2009. Applications for each festival will close as the festival fills.
What is the difference between a steward and a campaigner?
Oxfam is paid by festivals to provide volunteer stewards who are expected 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 able 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. In the past campaigners may have asked festival-goers to sign petitions, upload photos to our festival gallery or simply visit our marquee and get involved with Oxfam.
When is the closing date for application forms?
Applications for each festival will close as the festival fills, however, sometimes we need to re-open recruitment, so if you are interested in stewarding at a closed festival, please add your details to the waiting list, keep checking your email and also keep an eye on the website.
See How does the waiting list work?
How do I apply?
This year you will only be able to apply for stewarding on-line. If you don't have a computer, we recommend you go to your local library or internet café.
What information will I need to apply to steward?
Please make sure you are available for the full stewarding period specified. This will generally be longer than the dates a festival is open to the public. You will need to upload a photograph, know the names and dates of birth of any friends or family you want to work with, know how you are planning to travel to the festival, have your doctors details, have a referee's name and contact details (particularly email address) and have a credit or debit card available to pay your refundable deposit of £175. You may also need to select a training session, so having your diary will be useful!
If you are a priority applicant and wish to apply from Thursday 12 February 2009, then you will also need your Steward ID, which we will have emailed to you if we have identified you as a priority applicant.
How do I save and reload my application form if I come out of it?
At the bottom of each of the web pages there is a save for later button, you can click this button wherever it appears during the application process. Then close your browser.
Saving your form uses cookies, so you can only save one application form at a time. Do not save your form on shared or public computers, because if someone else tries to write a stewarding application on the same computer, they will get access to your information, and you will lose your form.
To reload your partially completed application, you will need to go back to www.oxfam.org.uk/applications/festivals. Click on the steward button, then move to the bottom of the page that appears and click on "load from before". Your saved application should reappear.
Once you have started the process, you can save a partially completed application for up to 30 days, as long as you use the same computer and same browser when continuing with your application. Saving your application does not submit it, and festivals may become full during the time you take to complete the form, so to ensure a place at your chosen festival, it’s best to complete your application in one go and submit it with your deposit payment as soon as possible.
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 be sharing your names with the organisers of the festivals you are going to for them to issue relevant passes for stewards 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.
How do I upload a photo?
To upload your photo, click on the browse button, then navigate to where you have saved the photo on the computer and click OK.
Please note if the photo is too big, more than 4.5 cm (height) and 3.5 cm (width), the form will not accept it. You will need to resize or crop your photo, see below for details.
Guidelines on acceptability and size
Please read the Identity & Passport Service photo guidelines (pdf) for providing an acceptable photograph.
Guidelines on resizing your photo:
A guide to cropping images in MS Paint (video)
A guide to cropping images in Photoshop
If you are using other image editing software, please refer to their guidelines on cropping and resizing images.
Why are you asking about Criminal Records Bureau(CRB) checks, and what do you mean by geographical areas?
CRB checking tends to be for a designated geographical area. We have taken quite a lot of guidance on this from our volunteering and legal teams, and basically what we will have to do this year, if we want to have stewards doing the child escort and any other responsibilities that need a CRB check, is to select people and get them advance CRB checked ourselves (obviously with their permission). We decided to leave the CRB check question on the application form as this will help us to make selections against people that have had experience of working with children and have passed a CRB check in the past.
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 a confirmation email from Oxfam to let you know we have received your application form. This will include your training details, if you booked onto a training course. You will then receive a second email from WorldPay to let you know that your payment has been processed.
If you do not receive the WorldPay email or WorldPay tell you that your payment was not successful then your place is not secured and you will need to call us on 0300 200 1266.
'I've not had any confirmation emails from you, but I thought my application had gone through OK'.
Firstly check your Spam/Junk folder, as the email(s) may be there. You should then add these addresses to your contacts so that future emails will be accepted into your Inbox.
If the email is not there, but you received a Confirmation page, which stated your WorldPay transaction number, then your application and payment will have been received. You can double check this by emailing stewards@oxfam.org.uk.
If you didn't receive a Confirmation page with a WorldPay transaction number, then please call 0300 200 1266 to discuss.
'I haven't got my own email address so I always use my partner's, is that OK?'
Our computer systems will not send two emails to the same address, so if two stewards apply using the same email address, one person will not receive emails about their application or about attending festivals they have applied for. If you share another steward's email, please set yourself up with a free yahoo or hotmail account for the purposes of this application, or ask a non-stewarding friend to let you use theirs. Please use a different email address for each person who applies.
How many festivals can I apply for?
As many as you like, as long as they don't clash. There are some weekends where two or more festivals are running simultaneously.
I've already applied but want to add another festival – how do I do that?
You need to go back into the application form, use the button “previous applicant” and enter your first name, last name, email address and date of birth so that the form will recognise you and bring up your previous application. Check through each stage to ensure that all of your contact information is up to date, if you have changed any details with us in the office via phone or e-mail, they will not be reflected on your form and need to be updated.
On Stage 3 you will need to resubmit your declaration about unspent criminal convictions.
When you get to Stage 4, click on the name of the festival you want to apply for. Fill in all the relevant information and click Submit. (Repeat this for each festival application that you are adding).
Continue through the rest of the stages of the application form, including the training section. If you have already booked a place on a training session on your previous application, please tick “I have already attended a training session in 2009”. If you did not book a training session on your previous application, please tick “I can't attend any of the courses, they are all full or have already taken place.” Do NOT change or book a training session during a re-application as this will not come through to our records.
On Stage 7 you will be able to review and submit your application. If your application for further festival(s) has been successful, you will receive a confirmation email from Oxfam with the names of the festival(s) you have just added.
How does the waiting list work?
If a festival fills up, you can add your name to the waiting list on the Festival dates page of our website (before the start of the application form). If a festival is full and we have started a waiting list, the words “waiting list” will be displayed. Click on them and fill in your name and email address. You will not receive confirmation of this, so please only add your details once for any festival. Your details will be stored on a separate database, and if for any reason we get a high drop-out rate, or we are asked to provide more stewards at that festival, we will send an email to let you know when we are re-opening applications for that festival. You will then be able to apply for that festival as soon as applications open again to the general public. The email we send gives you advance warning that applications will be opening again, so that you can apply as soon as it is re-opened, but does not give you prioirty. If you are really keen to work at a certain festival, keep the dates free, as places may become available anytime up to the week before. If we only have a few spaces available, we may choose to contact experienced stewards off the waiting list, rather than everyone on the waiting list.
If I want to apply for more than one festival do I have to pay twice?
No, one deposit will automatically be carried over until you have worked the last festival you have applied for. If you apply to steward at one festival and campaign at another, you still only need to pay one deposit. You can apply for as many festival as you like when you complete your application. After that, if you apply for a second festival, you will not be asked for a second deposit as long as we have received your first deposit, which can take up to 3 working days. This one deposit will be held for each festival, and refunded within a month of you satisfactorily completing your last festival of the season.
How old do you need to be to work as a steward?
You must be 18 when you arrive onsite for your first festival, but you can attend training aged 17. There is no upper age limit!
Who can apply to volunteer to be an Oxfam steward?
You need to be an Oxfam supporter (volunteer, past steward, regular donor etc) or provide a reliable reference.
You may be police checked for suitability.
Can I apply from abroad?
Certain visa restrictions apply, if you are not an EU citizen and do not have a working visa please contact the Festival Office to check whether you can volunteer at a festival.
Why do you need to know my shift partner's date of birth?
With so many stewards now on our database, we have quite a few with the same names. To make sure you are paired up with the right person, we need this additional piece of information.
Who can be my referee?
Similar to applying for a job, we don't want you to give your mum or your housemate. We would consider a college lecturer, employer, or someone who knows you in a formal capacity to be appropriate. Your referee will be emailed with a proforma to return to us stating their relationship to you, and whether they consider you to be suitable to act as an Oxfam steward. If we fail to get a satisfactory response, we will contact you.
How many stewards do you need?
This varies from festival to festival. For the latest numbers please click on the Dates tab on the stewards homepage.
Do I need to wear a specific uniform?
Stewards will be asked to wear a high-visibility Oxfam tabard, which we will supply. This needs to be over your clothes and any bags you are carrying so you are visible at all times. Apart from that, you will need to bring practical clothes to suit different times of day and weather conditions. Sturdy shoes and a waterproof coat are essential!
See Do I need to bring any special clothes?
I am a person with disabilities, can I still apply to steward?
Please indicate what your disability is on your application form, if you need us to adapt your job role. There are a small number of roles at the festivals that do not require you to stand for long periods.
We work in liaison with an organisation called “Attitude is Everything” who “improve disabled people's access to live music” at Glastonbury, Leeds and Reading festivals, and recruit stewards to work with us. For further information about them, please check out www.artsline.org.uk/attitude or contact stewards@oxfam.org.uk to discuss your needs. If you have a medical problem which requires medication/specific treatment, please highlight this with us also, so we can ensure that the facilities you require are available on site.
Is it true that if I'm colour blind I can't apply to steward?
No. We need to know if you are colour-blind because we have had problems in the past with asking people who are colour blind to check tickets. If you do have colour blindness, please let us know, so we can allocate you to a role that does not require you to differentiate colour variations, or spot for forgeries. There is a place to state this on the application form.
I am pregnant, can I still steward?
You can steward, although we would request that you consult with your midwife closer to the time of the festival, 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 workers, and regarding the facilities we as your temporary employer would need to provide. Therefore, if you are going to be more than 4 months pregnant at the festival, please call the stewards office 0117 9166483 so we can discuss your needs.
I would like to bring my 13 year old and 3 year old children, is this possible?
See festival specific FAQs, however our general policy on children is:
- Each working adult can bring 2 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 steward’s child is found to be disruptive or disturbing other stewards 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 stewarding work.
- Children may be required to wear specific wristbands/laminates to identify them as children of stewards.
- If you wish to bring your children, but need to work opposite shifts to your partner, we can arrange this, so please contact us at the stewarding office stewards@oxfam.org.uk
In addition, each working adult may also bring up to 2 children between the ages of 13-18 if they have purchased a festival ticket, to camp in the stewards area. You will also need to indicate this on the children's form.
Can I bring my dog/cat/budgie/ferret/pet rat etc?
Most festivals are pet-free zones, so please do not bring animals on site. You will not be able to bring a pet into the car park for fear that they may be left in the car. The RSPCA are always on alert at festivals.
How can I get in touch with other people who are stewarding at the same festival as me?
Data protection states that we can’t put you in touch with other stewards, but there are opportunities to talk to other stewards, arrange lift shares and get handy tips on the stewards forum: http://www.oxfam-stewards.org.uk/forum. This also applies if you have met someone at a festival but didn’t exchange contact details at the time. If you fancy someone you are working with, make sure you get their number before the end of your shift!
What is "denied status"?
A few people are placed on the “denied list”. If you have “denied status”your application will not be accepted.
The possible reasons for this are: you did not complete your shifts, you did not show up at a festival where we were expecting you and didn’t let us know, you are a “serial canceller” and have never actually worked a festival, or we felt that you did not comply with Oxfam’s terms and conditions on site.
If you have “denied status” and feel that this is unfair, please contact stewards@oxfam.org.uk.
