Hello and welcome to all Saul Festival Support Staff Volunteers… old and new!
You are invited to the 11th Saul Canal Festival - 4th 5th 6th July 2008

Thinking Positive
The 2006 Festival was bright and brilliant. Sadly the 2007 Festival was cancelled due to freak floods.
Undaunted… we are doing it all again in 2008… and we will need your help!
By volunteering to help at Saul you will be playing a part in raising much needed finance for the UK’S most significant waterway restoration project. All surplus proceeds from the Festival will help to restore the waterway link between Britain’s two great rivers - the Severn and the Thames.

Festival Attractions
There are five distinct and complementary elements to the Festival.

1. Boat Gathering - A gathering for every type of boat afloat…Canal, River & Coastal
2. Folk on the Water Weekend - Music, theatre and artistes from far and near
3. Craft & Marine Trades Market - Craft and marine traders from around the inland waterways
4. Real Ale Bar - The Drum & Monkey, providing real ales from local breweries
5. Family Fun - Games, displays, boat trips, children's theatre and interactive exhibits

The Festival Needs 400 of us
To present such an array of activities and interest to our visitors requires a lot of input from many people.
The success and safety of our Festival in 2008 will once again depend upon a committed band of volunteers helping with the many tasks that need to be undertaken. There will need to be 400 of us!

Free Festival Entry for Support Staff Volunteers
Adult Support Staff Volunteers who register for two or more 2 hour shifts qualify for Free Festival Site Entry throughout the whole weekend. When you arrive on site, you will be issued with your own Support Staff Green T Shirt and a Support Staff Fast Track Entry Wristband. Wearing the T shirt and wristband will give you fast track access through the gates thereby avoiding the day visitor queues.
With your duties completed - or perhaps yet to be performed - you will have full access to the Festival.
(Does not include day time or evening concerts in the Folk on the Water Music Pavilion.)
It does include The Drum & Monkey Alehouse, Food Street, all daytime events and daytime music sessions in the Barge Sabrina Theatre & Oliver Cromwell Riverboat Hotel.

Phone a Friend
If you wore a Support Staff green T shirt in 2006, how about recruiting a friend, neighbour or family member to accompany you in 2008? There is plenty of room for "first timers". Previous experience is not required.

New for 2008
Camping is offered exclusively to Registered Support Staff volunteers (and/or Season Ticket Holders) at just £10 per adult.
If you need a Camp Site please indicate on your Support Staff Registration Form. When you send in the Registration Form please enclose your camping cheque payable to CCT (Trading) Ltd.

Folk Music Fans
Those of you who particularly enjoy the music element of the Festival will be pleased to hear that we have a first class line up for the 2008 Concerts in the Folk on the Water Pavilion. The majority of acts booked for the ‘2007 event that never was’ have been re-booked for 2008.
To comply with Local Authority licensing requirements, everybody - volunteers and the general public alike, (but with the exception of the nominated Music Pavilion Stewards) will need a Festival Weekend Season Ticket or Day Season Ticket Wristband. These can be purchased on line or by post.
See www.junctionevents.org.uk

Job Descriptions & Times
Descriptions of the duties that need to be undertaken appear by clicking here.
Times for the various jobs are described on the Support Staff Registration Form. You can obtain this in Adobe format by clicking here.
The range of duties and shifts will be displayed in a 'Daily Rota' format that can be found by following the links at the top of this page. The white boxes on these indicate an estimate of the number of volunteers needed for each duty/shift, and the Rotas will be updated regularly.

How the Rotas will Work
Each completed Registration form received will be allocated a Unique Identification Number that will be advised to the volunteer. This way we avoid using names on a public website.
This Unique Identification Number will appear in the grid square appropriate to the chosen day/duty/shift and the square itself will be in filled with a shade of blue. You will notice other squares on the grid are shaded orange and these indicate reserve/surplus squares.

Have a look at the Rotas on the Registration form to identify the duties you feel you can undertake.
Just complete and submit the form; then. Watch your Unique Identification Number appear in due course as if by magic! If your number already appears but you would like it to appear elsewhere then all you do is email scf-support@junctionevents.org.uk

Site Services
The Festival site at Saul has to be prepared and cleared. There are many tasks that involve physical labour. e.g. electrical, plumbing and assembly skills. All supervised by the experienced Site Services Manager and colleagues from Waterway Recovery Group.

Tradeshow Preparation & Management
The pitches to be occupied by the stallholders have to be marked out, primarily on Thursday through Friday. The traders have to be welcomed and guided to their allotted pitch. A certain amount of 'pitch size & position policing' has to be carried out. Once they are settled into their trading spaces any apparent trader tension subsides. We then try to cater for their welfare needs; sole traders in particular, for example by offering to watch their stall for comfort breaks, or obtain refreshments for them during the trading day.

New Camp Site
Following last year's cancellation through flooding we have transferred the campsite area to the west of the canal. We now have 16 acres of pastureland that has never flooded!
The pitching areas need to be marked in advance. Not individual pitches just the areas. The campers then need to be welcomed, checked in and supervised as the set up camp.

Boat Moorings
Moorings have to be marked, boats of the same size & type have to be identified and moored abreast where possible. This information will have been advised to the boaters before their arrival. Thereafter you will be responsible for the general well being of the boaters.

The duties mentioned so far are those that involve work and preparation before the Festival opens to the public.

Now, brief details of the jobs that need to be performed once the Festival is open to the public.

Car Park
You will be involved in the smooth safe flow of traffic into and out of the public car park.

Entry Gates
Again there will be no 'evening gates' in 2008!
Between 10am & 5pm you will be one of the team who staff the six Pay Gates. You will responsible for collecting entrance fees from our visitors. Once they have paid the adult visitors are offered a Festival Lucky Programme which gives them the opportunity to win a cash prize of £50

New for 2008 - Wristband Collection Office
For security reasons no wristbands will be despatched by post prior to the Festival. All wristbands will be held on site to be personally issued & fitted when the purchaser registers their arrival.
To receive and be fitted with their wristband the purchasers will need to produce their Wristband Purchase Receipt plus one other form of identification (e.g. signature or photo ID) at the Wristband Collection Office. The Wristband Collection Office will be open from 12noon - 8pm all weekend.
You will be one of the team meeting & greeting our wristband customers and then fitting them with the new tamper proof Season Ticket Wristbands. You will meet Boaters & Campers as well as Day Season & Weekend Season Ticket purchasers.

Festival Information Desk
You will be a patient, smiley sort of person, able to deal with a whole range of queries from lost and found property and children to local and Festival site directions.

Music Pavilion Stewards
Licensing requirements demand that the Music Pavilion be stewarded throughout. The Pavilion will be licensed to hold 1000 people during the performances. We will need one steward for every 250 persons present in the Pavilion!

Bar Staff
The overwhelming success of the Drum & Monkey Alehouse at previous Festivals is due to the excellent efforts of many volunteer bar staff. We have responded to their feed back and 2005 saw a much improved cooling system and bar servery. Most of those who have volunteered in the past simply love the buzz and the thrill of the occasion. Why not join them? Training is given; prices are kept as simple and as rounded as possible. Therefore, 'I can't add up' is not an excuse!

Bar Cleaning Team
To assist in collecting glasses, washing glasses and keeping the bar stocked and ready for our thirsty customers

Children's Activities
Family fun is an important element of the Festival. We employ some professional entertainers and also provide a range of water themed activities for the younger children requiring gentle adult supervision!

Bridge Marshals
There are 2 swing bridges on the Festival site and both of them need to be swung on a regular basis.
You will supervise the smooth flow of pedestrians and need to be aware of restricted access when, for example, a wheelchair or a child's pushchair needs to cross.

Ice Cream Sales
You've guessed it - helping to staff the Cotswold Canals Trust's ice cream trailers, one of the main money-spinners at the Festival.

Cotswold Canals Trust's Sales Stand
Another excellent money spinner; you will be selling souvenirs and signing up new members.

Lavender Boat Crew
An early morning boat trip on the glorious Gloucester-Sharpness Canal with the added attraction of loading a waterborne rubbish skip with bags of... well. rubbish!

Flexi Team
Want to help and not worried what you do & when? Then this is the one for you.
Shift Times - Note - Music Pavilion opens at 6pm on Friday 4th July

Duties With Specific Time Slots
Drum & Monkey Bar Staff	10:45 - 13:30		13:30 - 16:00		16:00 - 19:00		19:00 - 21:30		21:30 - 00:30
Music Pavilion Stewards	11.45 - 15:00		15:00 - 18:30		18:00 - 21:30		21:00 - 00:30
Entrance Gates	09.30 - 11.30		11.30 - 13.30		13.30 - 15.30		15.30 - 17.30		17.30 - 20.00
Wristband Collection Office	10:00 - 12:00		12:00 - 14:00		14:00 - 16:00		16:00 - 18:00		18:00 - 20:00
All Other Duties	09:30 - 11:30		11:30 - 13:30		13:30 - 15:30		15:30 - 18:00
Car Parking	09.30 - 11.00	10.30 - 13.00		12.30 - 15.00		14.30 - 17.00		16.30 - 19.00		18.30 - 20.00