Volunteering at Treefest
Treefest is the largest of Westonbirt's events and involves the most volunteers over a single weekend.
We've been inundated with requests from staff for support - everyone wants volunteers which is brilliant and means busy times ahead to organise the many different activity groups involved throughout the Bank Holiday weekend. Cheryl Pearson, Westonbirt's Volunteer Manager tells us more about what our volunteer team will be up to at Treefest.
This is a really great opportunity for our volunteers who love getting involved in this signature event as there are so many different areas of support needed - and they really do make a difference by providing much needed help for staff plus volunteers themselves get a real buzz in helping visitors to enjoy their day to the full.
Volunteers will be needed to support the Events Team with the event set-up on Friday by greeting exhibitors as they arrive and directing them to their pitches, plus they'll be roaming around throughout the event to answer visitor queries and explain what's happening and when.
Learning volunteers will play a major role in helping to deliver the Plant Hunters Academy trails and crafts for families in the Great Oak Hall, and the Information Desk is going to be especially busy and so I need to ensure we have enough information volunteers in place. Graham's raised the bar on Guided Walks this year - 5 each day! Very ambitious but they were really popular last year, and budding volunteer DJ's are being sought to make the tannoy announcements - move over Chris Moyles.
The cookery demonstrations are new this year and sound really exciting and I'm sure volunteers will enjoy the opportunity to help out - I wonder if they'll get any tasters?!
Friends staff are looking for fundraising help for the Tree of Dreams which was so popular last year, as well as volunteers to chat to visitors about the benefits of membership. Andy is on the case and already has some of the Wood Sales volunteers signed-up to man the tent for all 3 days plus a couple on Friday to work along side the Tree Team to get the wood ready for the event.
Well done to my volunteer newsletter editor Bernard for packing all these requests into the lively July issue - I'd better get on with making sure it's ready for distribution on time!
Useful links
Find out more about volunteering at Westonbirt
Support Westonbirt by joining the Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum
