FAQ

We require a deposit from all volunteers. This acts as a bond to ensure you turn up and undertake your role in line with our T’s and C’s.  This helps us to provide a reliable service to festivals and events, with whom we have a contract. Sadly, in the past when we have not taken a deposit a large number of people have not turned up for their shifts which has put unfair pressure on other volunteers. We set our deposit level slightly higher than ticket prices in order to avoid people using volunteering as a way into the festival with no intention of doing their shift, but don’t worry- the vast majority of our volunteers are awesome people who receive their deposit back swiftly after completing all their shifts.

As stated in our T’s and C’s we will return your deposit within a month of you completing all your shifts. If you have signed up to more than one festival with us this will mean your deposit is returned within a month of the last festival you volunteer at.

When you receive your deposit back you will get an email saying that your deposit has been partially refunded. This is because all deposits are subject to a 6% admin fee that is charged on all payments by our finance system. This is explained in our terms and conditions that you agreed to when you signed up to volunteer.

Everyone is also given the opportunity to donate all or some of their deposit to their chosen charity. We will return your deposit minus the 6% admin fee as well as any amount you have chosen to donate.

If you have cancelled any event with us this summer your deposit could also be subject to a minimum £20 cancellation charge as explained in our terms and conditions. This will have been discussed with you when you emailed us to let us know you’re cancelling your place.

Applications for each festival will close when the volunteering places at that festival are full. Applications work on a first come, first served basis. Your application is only complete when you have paid your deposit. Once your deposit is paid you will be alerted whether your application has been accepted within five days.

Yes you can! We are using the PAAM application system again this year so you can log back into your account and check that all of your details are correct HERE.

You must be 18 on the day you arrive on site for your first festival. You will need to provide valid photo ID to prove your age and right to work in the UK – if you do not provide ID you will not be able to volunteer. There is no upper age limit!

The deposit varies from event to event, and is set according to the price of a ticket on offer to members of the public. This varies from £50 to £250 depending on your choice of festival. You only need to pay one deposit and you can volunteer at as many festivals with My Cause UK as you like. The amount you pay is equal to the price of a ticket at the most expensive festival you want to attend.

You can only apply for volunteering online via the My Cause UK PAAM application system. You will need to create an account and complete one application form. Here you will tell us which festivals you wish to attend. Start planning your summer fun by applying HERE.

NO! This donation doesn’t come out of your pocket, or your deposit. It comes from a fee we receive from the festival or event you’re volunteering at. We return your deposit to you. You can choose to donate some of your deposit to charity and we can do this rather than returning your deposit to you however this is only done at your request.

No, you do not have to pay a separate deposit for each event. You have to pay the highest deposit amount of the events you attend. For example, should you wish to attend Love Saves The Day you will have to pay a £50 deposit. If you wish to attend Boomtown you will have to pay a £250 deposit. If you wish to volunteer at both, you have to pay a £250 deposit which will cover your attendance to both festivals.

No, your application is only complete once you pay a deposit. You can fill in your details and then return to pay a deposit at a later date, however volunteer places are allocated on a first come first served basis so we recommend paying your deposit as soon as possible.

Yes, you can pay for other people’s deposits and friends or family members are able to pay yours if they wish as long as you have their permission. Please note, a volunteer is personally responsible for the deposit paid against their application regardless of who has paid the deposit. Should a volunteer forfeit their deposit for any reason, My Cause UK are not responsible to reimburse the payee.

Following the UK’s departure from the European Union, we are only able to offer volunteering opportunities to people who have the legal right to work in the UK and can no longer accept applications from all EU/ EEA identity card holders.

If you hold either a UK or Republic of Ireland passport or identity card you have the automatic right to work in the UK.

Any European Economic Area/Swiss passport or a non-UK/EEA passport will require a valid visa showing your right to work/volunteer in the UK as acceptable proof.

We will require home office approval of your right to work, which you can obtain via https://www.gov.uk/prove-right-to-work

At My Cause UK we love watching our family grow and it’s great to see the future generation of volunteers enjoy festivals too. Naturally we are happy for you to bring your children along to residential events, providing the festival organisers allow children to attend the festival. However, there are a few rules that must be strictly adhered to:

You must check the individual festival website to see if your child needs a ticket and obtain this yourself if necessary (ages of adult and child tickets vary from festival to festival).

Whilst you are on shift you must ensure that your child is in the care of an adult volunteer who is on a different shift pattern to you, and we will need full details of who that adult will be in advance so we can ensure your shift patterns don’t clash. Under no circumstances can we allow a volunteer to have their child on shift with them.

In all cases we will need to know that you are planning to bring your child well in advance of the festival so you can complete our parental care form, please email us at hello@mycauseuk.com for further details. Please note, if you arrive at an event with your child, without giving us prior notice, this will be treated as a breach of your volunteer agreement, your volunteer place will be cancelled and your deposit forfeited.

We are not able to support parents bringing children to any of our one day events as without fail we require all volunteers to be on shift at the same time.

Please email us at hello@mycauseuk.com if you have any further questions.

If an event cancels for any reason, we will communicate this with you directly by email, and then cancel your position at this event. If you don’t have any further events that you are registered to volunteer at, then you will be returned your deposit in full, less the standard administration fee of 6%.

We can process your cancellation at any stage however this will all be less the 6% administration fee and any cancellation charges that are applicable, as outlined in our Cancellation Policy.

We are always working closely with our festival partners to ensure that the safety of our volunteers and staff are at the heart of our planning. Specific COVID related requirements for festivals, volunteers and staff will always be communicated well in advance of an event.

In the unfortunate event that you have a positive COVID test result in advance of attending an event, or, if there is a legal requirement that you are asked to Self Isolate then you will not incur a cancellation fee. You will however be asked to offer evidence to support this.

When you apply to volunteer at an event on our website, please make sure you read all of the information available for that event, it will tell you when you need to arrive and how long you need to be onsite for. Please ensure you are available for the dates required and note that this often includes being available on the Monday following the event for weekend camping festivals.

All of our volunteers wear one of our beautiful pink hi vis tabards while on shift. If you’re volunteering in a bar role, you may be requested to wear one of our T shirts instead. Other than that we ask that you wear closed toe shoes – no sandals / flip flops / bare feet, and make sure that you’re prepared for all weather conditions. We LOVE fancy dress too!

No, it is your responsibility to arrange your own transport. For some events there may be free shuttle buses available and information on this can be found on the festival specific pages. We will also email you all the information you need before the festival. If you decide to drive to a festival please ensure you have indicated this on your application. Wherever possible we will arrange free parking in a staff car-park but we can only do this if we have details of your car registration in advance.

Yes! You need to provide your own tent (s) and all other camping equipment. Our campsite has access to showers, toilets and our crew marquee with tea, coffee, and mobile phone charging points!

Yes, for our weekend camping events you’ll be given one meal ticket per shift. We will also try to provide catering for day events but you should check the festival specific page for more information. Wherever we go we always make tea, coffee and drinking water available.

Yes! You can volunteer as a group, but must make sure you put the full names of your friends on your application exactly as they have spelt their name on their application. We can’t guarantee that your roles will be in the same location but we will try our best to ensure that you will be working at the same times so you can enjoy your time off together.

Shifts are allocated on a random basis as we find this the fairest way for everyone to have as much time to enjoy the festival line up as possible. We do offer you the opportunity to swap shifts with other volunteers, (giving you a better chance of seeing your favourite band!) however this is only at weekend events!

We allocate shifts on a random basis and do not give you your shifts until you arrive on site. We won’t be able to tell you when your shifts will be exactly, but we will always tell you the maximum possible hours you will be required to volunteer when you apply and ensure you have as much time to enjoy the festival as possible!

This varies from festival to festival, so please check the festival specific info. Feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions about this. Under no circumstances should you bring a live in vehicle to an event without getting prior authorization from the team at HQ first!

All of our positions will get you a crew wristband that allows you to enjoy the event when you are not working. This includes free tea and coffee, snacks and around the clock support from our amazing team of volunteer managers. For weekend camping events you will also get perks like a free meal ticket for each shift worked, access to a dedicated crew camping area with hot showers, phone charging points and lots more! These crew wristbands will get you access to all areas relevant to the position and responsibilities allocated, however this doesn’t encompass an Access All Areas pass.

Before you sign up

My Cause UK volunteering opportunities are open to everyone. We aim to create an environment that realises, challenges and utilises everyone’s skills. While it can be demanding, should you have any specific access requirements or health conditions, you can discuss this with us in advance or you can provide details on the relevant section of your PAAM profile when you sign up.

Before you sign up for an event, please have a look at the specific roles that we are undertaking at the festival. You can see this on each festival information page. If you have any questions about the roles please get in touch with us directly at hello@mycauseuk.com

When you are setting up your profile on PAAM, you will have the opportunity to detail anything that you think we should be aware of. Entering your medical and/or access information will not have any impact on your volunteering place, it will simply prompt us to get in touch with you so we can discuss whether we should put anything in place to ensure you can have the best experience possible. If you have forgotten to fill this in, or have been recently made aware of a reason why you may need assistance on site then please get in touch with the team at hello@mycauseuk.com

When you’re joining us at a festival, it is essential that you inform us of any relevant physical or mental health conditions so that we can best support you to volunteer safely.

Access requirements

My Cause UK welcomes deaf and disabled volunteers, and is dedicated to making festival volunteering as accessible as possible. If you have any access requirements, make sure you provide this information in your PAAM profile when you sign up and we will get in touch to make sure we’ve understood correctly and to ensure we know how to best support you on site.

There are many measures we can take to provide support, such as allocating you to specific accessible roles, providing a closer parking space, or bringing a Personal Assistant (PA) onsite. Please note that My Cause UK are not able to cover personal volunteer expenses incurred by any volunteers when traveling to, from, or around festival sites.

If you do not declare a condition which could affect your volunteering experience, My Cause UK may not be able to provide the support you need. Please send us any relevant information as soon as you can so that we can facilitate a seamless experience.

All advertised roles and positions, as well as shift times are current estimates based on our clients requirements. We reserve the right to amend these at any point based on the changes in our clients requirements.  You have the opportunity to cancel at any time, and your deposit will be returned in full less the 6% transaction fee and any cancellation charges outlined in our Cancellation Policy (if applicable).

PLEASE NOTE:

All event cancellations outside of the initial 7 day cooling off period are subject to a minimum £20 cancellation fee.

You have the opportunity to cancel your event at any time, and your deposit will be returned in full less the transaction fee, and any cancellation charges outlined in our Cancellation Policy (if applicable)

With the ever changing national response to Covid-19. We reserve the right to change this policy at any point. We will communicate this to all volunteers in the case of any changes to guidelines that our clients, the government or any parties change. 

If you have any MEDICAL REASON that means you are unwell and feel unable to undertake volunteering. We fully encourage you not to attend the event. You will not be penalised so long as you keep us informed with as much notice as possible. Simply follow the steps outlined in our Cancellation Policy. Please note, simply being a “no show” to an event or a shift at an event without giving prior notice through our official channels as outlined in the cancellation process will result in the forfeit of your deposit. 

You are welcome to cancel at any point if your circumstances change, however, please note the following:

Our cancellation deadlines are 5 weeks before the first onsite date of any given festival. This is the last date that you can cancel your volunteering position with us without losing your full deposit. 

We also have a 7 day cooling off period for all applications.

For example, on May 1st you apply to volunteer at a festival where the event start date on PAAM is 10th July, between May 1st and May 8th you can cancel without any additional admin fees. Between May 9th and June 5th if you choose to cancel, our standard cancellation fee of £20 will apply, regardless of the reason for your cancellation. From June 6th up to the event start date, if you cancel your place you will forfeit your entire deposit for that event.

For cancellation of more than one event before the cancellation deadline, provided you cancel them all on the same occasion, you will be charged £20 per event canceled up to a maximum of £40 – so if you needed to cancel 4 events, provided you do this all at the same time you would only be charged £40. However if you cancel 4 events on 4 separate occasions you would be charged £20 each time you cancel, up to your full deposit amount.

For last minute applications to events, within 7 days of the event start date, the cooling off period does not apply and you will forfeit your entire deposit if you do not attend the event.

For cancellations that occur after the cancellation deadline that are due to ill health or bereavement, My Cause UK may at their discretion choose to waive the full deposit forfeit and instead only charge the standard £20 cancellation fee. In all cases, evidence must be provided, such as a fit note from your GP.

In all cases, you must inform us of your cancellation via email to cancellations@mycauseuk.com in addition to cancelling your position on PAAM.

PLEASE NOTE:

All event cancellations outside of the initial 7 day cooling off period are subject to a minimum £20 cancellation fee.

To cancel your position, you MUST email cancellations@mycauseuk.com with the email heading CANCEL followed by the festival name:

e.g. CANCEL BOOMTOWN with details of why you are cancelling.

PLEASE NOTE CANCELLING YOUR POSITION ON PAAM WITHOUT EMAILING US DOES NOT CANCEL YOUR POSITION.

Please make yourself familiar with the cancellation dates for all events before applying to festivals with My Cause UK.

If an event cancels for any reason, we will communicate this with you directly by email, and then cancel your position at this event. If you don’t have any further events that you are registered to volunteer at, then you will be returned your deposit in full, less the standard administration fee of 6%.

We’re always on the lookout for new events to work with, drop us a message via our contact us page and we will certainly get back to you.

With My Cause UK your volunteering can help raise money for any registered charity you like! We ask for a charity registration number on your application to ensure we donate to the right cause.

My Cause UK is a registered Not For Profit Community Interest Company (registered in England and Wales – 10662964). The organisation was formed to help provide a platform for all charities to raise money at festivals across the UK by providing volunteers, while allowing people to access some great festivals without having to pay for a ticket. We work by arranging a fee with festival organisers to provide a team of volunteers to fulfil a specific service at their event such as ticket scanning and wrist-banding. This fee covers the recruitment, training and management of the team of volunteers as well as overheads such as insurance, catering and other logistical costs. Once our team have completed their assignment and payment has been received from a festival, we donate a share of the fee that we have charged to each of the charities that our volunteers have nominated.