Open Road is a Health and Wellbeing Charity with over 30 years of experience providing substance misuse and welfare services. We offer enhanced and specialist welfare provision in the local communities via our SOS buses and at Festivals across the country. Our main aim is to keep people safe by reducing the harms caused by alcohol and other drugs. We also aim to promote positive mental wellbeing and sexual health and to reduce the risk of STI and BBV transmission.
Festival Welfare Volunteers required:
Open Road has a range of volunteer roles available and are looking specifically to recruit people with drug & alcohol, mental health, young people, safeguarding, clinical and sexual health experience to offer support and advice in the form of brief and crisis interventions. We provide travel expenses and cover food for the duration of the festival in addition to event ticket in exchange for one shift each day of the festival. You will also be provided with car parking and camping passes (for weekend festivals). You would be required to provide your own camping equipment. When not on shift you will be able to enjoy the festival.
What do I need to become a volunteer?
Experience: Due to the nature of the work and the limited time we have on site to deliver in depth training, we require volunteers to have some kind of formal work or voluntary experience that can be evidenced by references in either:
- Drug and alcohol support
- Mental health, sexual health or health promotion
- Medicine, nursing, first aid
- Youth Work, community education
- Social Care or social work
- A related field e.g. education, housing support etc
Qualifications/training:
Our volunteers generally have qualifications in areas such as social care, counselling, psychology, nursing, drugs and alcohol, mental health and safeguarding but this is not essential where people have relevant training through work or volunteer placements.
Other requirements:
Ideally, we would seek to recruit people with current DBS check, however we can support in getting DBS if required. All volunteers are required to have an up-to-date DBS to volunteer.
I want to help out, but I don’t have any experience or training:
As part of our team, we are able to provide some space to those looking to gain experience in the field so would encourage you apply if you are interested in support the welfare work, we undertake. We do also at some festivals provide lost property service. Volunteers support this element of the service do nor require formal qualification. All applicants need to be over 18.
Dates currently recruiting for:
Wilderness Festival – 4 -7 August 2022 – Cornbury Park, Oxfordshire
We require volunteers to be able to work at least 2 days during the event.
If you are not able to support the above event but wish to be considered for future festivals ( we are hoping to announce further festivals/ events in the coming weeks) or would like more information regarding volunteering on our SOS buses please contact: Joni.thompson@openroad.org.uk.