Volunteering as a transformative experience

As summer draws to a close, we’ve been taking a moment to reflect on our ever-growing Wild Rumpus community; those who volunteer their time and energy to help us bring our immersive environments to life.

Volunteers are at the heart of what we do

Our volunteers are at the heart of what we do, and our work wouldn’t be possible without them. But what is it really like to leave your ‘normal life’ behind and step into the sun-drenched, mud-splattered world of putting on a festival?

We could wax lyrical for hours on the brilliant outcomes of working at festivals, which our volunteers feedback to us every year: the regenerative effect of spending a whole weekend or more outdoors; the forging of new friendships and chance to reconnect with old friends; the satisfaction of working as a team; the feeling of being a small yet vital cog in a much bigger wheel, which turns to create something life-affirming and beautiful. ?

The joy of a diverse team

Our volunteers join us from all walks of life and backgrounds, from students to artists, teachers to insurance brokers. We’re interested in what impact volunteering has on those who usually work in the corporate world, so we caught up with Gatis, who volunteered at both Just So and Timber this year…

What is your ‘normal’ job, and what does your usual working day look like?

I usually work as an engineering service centre manager. My normal day involves customer and business meetings, people management, budget management, and sourcing/arranging engineering parts.

Did you find that spending time at our festivals helps you to switch off from your usual job??

My day-to-day job involves a lot of stress and urgency, and I’m usually in the office all day, so I really enjoyed being outside. It was refreshing to be interacting with people in a very friendly and relaxed environment.

We’re huge advocates of ‘nature connection’, and many of our volunteers speak about how much they enjoy spending time outdoors– was this your experience??

Yes – it felt so good being able to be outside all day and evening, to walk bare foot and simply do an enjoyable job, without pressure and stress.

How did you feel leaving the festival?

I got to Timber feeling tired from working all week at my usual job, but left feeling refreshed and in a better frame of mind than when I’d arrived.

For those whose work is usually all-consuming, volunteering is an opportunity to step away from the burn-out associated with checking emails and late-night messages and the stresses and worries of meeting deadlines. We see festival volunteering as a chance to put the outside world on hold for a few glorious days; an antidote to the pressures of your day-to-day life, and an opportunity to reset and emerge feeling refreshed.

Community Engagement

We’d love to engage more organisations and community groups as volunteers.?This year, we were joined for Just So by 12 colleagues from Atlanta Group insurance firm, a group of young people from the YMCA England & Wales , and a group of young ambassadors from Crewe Lyceum Theatre who participated in a creative takeover. A group came from DerbyCAN (Creative Arts Network) to Timber, and we also showed work from Littleover Community School through our partnership with S.H.E.D (the Social Higher Education Depot, a research and organisation space designed to engage, inspire and cultivate ideas and dialogue).

If you’re interested in volunteering for Wild Rumpus, either as a group or as an individual, get in touch with our Volunteer Manager, Rosanne, on [email protected]