Are you interested in getting more involved in the Woodford Folk Festival? Have you got management skills? Administrative experience? Hospitality or retail management experience? Or a special talent that would shine in a leadership role?
Every year, the festival has approximately 140 department heads that manage different areas of the festival. This may or may not include volunteer management but as we are a volunteer-driven festival, it quite often does.
This year, we have a variety of leadership roles available, including some department heads, key offsiders and supervisors.
Department Heads take on the full responsibility for managing an area of the festival, including all pre-festival planning, volunteer management (from screening & placing to rostering, training, supervising and evaluating), and post-festival wrap up. Each department head is responsible for ensuring their department runs effectively, the volunteers are well supported, reports are submitted and meetings are attended. Organisers meet 4 times over the year as a large group (and they are fun gatherings on the festival site). There may also be meetings with related department heads but much of the planning does happen online or over the phone.
Key Offsiders normally are the Dept Heads ‘other half’, acting as dept head when the DH is taking a break. They may or may not share some of the pre-festival planning and post-festival wrap up. KO’s are also invited and encouraged to attend the organisers’ meetings, to participate in discussions and be up to speed on what is happening within the festival organisation.
Supervisors normally manage crews of volunteers and ensure they are supported in their roles. There is very little pre- or post-festival work in these roles, but it does require someone who is comfortable in a management position – a good motivator and solutions person would do well here. It is also a great way to try out being in a leadership role, as a stepping stone to being either a key offsider or dept head in the future.
Are you keen to give it a try and be part of building a community celebration?
We need:
- People who have been to the festival at least once, either as a patron or preferably as a volunteer.
- People with some previous experience in a leadership role, be it volunteer or professionally.
- People with a passion for the Woodford Folk Festival.
- People who are flexible, well organised and able to get the job done.
- People with a solutions mindset.
- People who have computer access and an active email address.
Our ideal leadership volunteer would be willing to commit to 3 years in the role they take on, as we know the first year is simply focused on learning the job, the second year is your chance to better the way you manage the department and how it operates, and the last year would be a year to mentor someone new to take over. Generally, it would be great if you were interested in getting more involved, that you consider a leadership role with this in mind. Of course, if you do well and want to stay on for longer, we would be happy to talk about a more ongoing commitment.
If you are interested in taking on a team leadership volunteer role, please contact McBride at volunteers@woodfordfolkfestival.com and include a copy of your CV. Don’t forget to read our Terms and Conditions for Volunteers before you send in your expression of interest.
