Experience Glastonbury Festival’s iconic site in a new and unique way
WaterAid has opened applications to volunteer with them at Worthy Pastures – Glastonbury‘s one year only family-friendly campsite at Worthy Farm this summer.
With no Glastonbury taking place on Worthy Farm for a second consecutive year in 2021, Michael and Emily Eavis are inviting campers, for one year only, to experience the farm in a way they’ve never been able to before.
In contrast to Glastonbury Festival, Worthy Pastures is described to be a tranquil, laid back experience, so there won’t be any programme of live music. Instead, one could expect a back-to-nature atmosphere, with plenty of opportunities to sample local food, experience the magic of a Stone Circle sunset, relax around a communal campfire, and explore Worthy Farm.
With the opportunity to volunteer open to everyone, this could be the perfect way to experience volunteering with WaterAid for the first time, as well as a great chance for seasoned Glasto-goers to experience the Farm in a totally new way before the Festival returns in 2022.
Additionally, WaterAid has confirmed that in recognition of the experience gained from volunteering at Worthy Pastures, volunteers will benefit from priority status if they choose to apply for Glastonbury 2022 – as so to improve one’s chances of joining WaterAid next year – not to mention the obvious fact that volunteering with WaterAid means helping them reach everyone, everywhere with clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene.
WaterAid’s roles at Worthy Pastures will fall broadly into one of two areas:
The Joint charities area – WaterAid will be running an area along with their friends from Oxfam and Greenpeace, and are looking for volunteers who are confident talking to people about the charities’ work, and ready to get stuck in delivering activities. Ideally, volunteers will have some experience of working with children or young people (for example teaching or delivering workshops), and/or retail or customer service experience, as this role also involves running the WaterAid library, craft tent and shop area.
The Cleaning crews – WaterAid’s enthusiastic cleaning crews will be roaming the site, making sure the water points, showers and composting toilets are sparkling clean, whilst taking the opportunity to talk to campers about WaterAid’s work.
WaterAid notes that: as this is a new and developing opportunity, they are not asking applicants for any role preferences on the application form and state that they will email the full information on the role offered, if one’s application is successful. Furthermore, applications from people with additional accessibility requirements are welcomed, and where possible WaterAid will do their best to make any reasonable adaptations to their roles.
Shifts requirements and patterns:
WaterAid is recruiting teams of volunteers to join them for five to six days at a time:
- 20 July – 26 July
- 27 July – 2 August
- 3 August – 9 August
- 10 August – 16 August
- 17 August – 23 August
- 24 August – 31 August (NB this week includes an extra day)
Benefits and perks:
- A designated campsite, shared with volunteers from Oxfam and Greenpeace, complete with showers and permanent/composting toilets.
- Two free meals per day, so volunteers can fully experience the variety of local food vendors – hand-selected by the Festival’s markets team.
- The flexibility to leave the site when not on-shift and explore the local area, including Glastonbury Tor and rural Somerset
- The opportunity to gain priority status for Glastonbury 2022 – so considerably increasing one’s chances of being able to join our team for the Festival’s long-awaited return next year.
Bringing your children with you:
As Worthy Pastures is a family-friendly experience, WaterAid is currently exploring the option for volunteers to bring their children with them. This is not yet confirmed – but if it’s something you’d be interested in, email them at [email protected] and they will let you know as soon as we have further information to share.
When and how to apply:
Applications to join WaterAid at Worthy Pastures this summer will remain open on a rolling basis until they have filled all the volunteer teams.
Applications are taken through WaterAid’s official website, via an online application form.
WaterAid charity has been hand in glove with the Glastonbury Festival since 1994 – Back in 2006 the festival’s founder Michael Eavis and his daughter Emily visited WaterAid’s work in Mozambique. After which time the number of Wateraid volunteers at Glastonbury Festival kept on growing to a point that by 2016, Wateraid’s volunteers for the festival reached over 500 strong.
Meanwhile, following Glastonbury’s second consecutive cancellation in a row due to the coronavirus pandemic, the event’s three main charities – Oxfam, Greenpeace & WaterAid – have all written a love letter to the Festival, the volunteers, crews, supporters and musicians, expressing their feelings, appreciation and desire in a heartwarming love letter posted on the Festival’s official website (see below).
Glastonbury 2022 is set to take place at its natural home in Worthy Farm, Pilton, Somerset, from 22nd – 26th June 2022
