Workers Beer

Workers Beer 2010

Alrighty then! Let’s get straight down to business. In 2009 we raised over £6700 for DFs, our campaigns, projects and progression. In 2010, we need YOUR help, to do it again.

A little bit about the Workers Beer Company…

The Workers Beer Company is part of Battersea and Wandsworth Trade Union, a social enterprise based in South London. Social enterprises are social mission driven organisations which trade in goods or services for a social purpose, unlike the private sector BWTUC Trading has no shareholders but delivers a social dividend.

All Workers Beer Company servers are volunteers and their wages’ are donated to the organisations they support. From CND to Water Aid to DFs! Since its inception the Workers Beer Company has donated over £3 million to social causes.

“Thirst Among Equals”

The Workers Beer Company offers an enticing mix of experience, skills and service in providing events with a bar service combined with the feel good factor that comes from knowing that any profit from that bar service is being reinvested back into our community.

The year ahead…

Many of you have already been in contact with me, in urgent anticipation of the festival frolics ahead. Workers Beer have now realeased a draft calendar for 2010, and with possible events happening as early as the start of May, now is the time to get involved.

The regular events are all there – Glastonbury, Latitude, Leeds & Reading – as well as some others (T in the Park, Greenbelt, Proms in the Park and more). Whilst we haven’t had official confirmation that we are officially invited to officially work at these official festivals and officially get paid, we are most likely to be asked to work at the top four at least. Clearly we’ll need lots of you DFs to help fill up the places which are allocated to us, so here’s where you come in!

Serving the people…

Workers Beer Volunteers get free entry into the festival which they’re working at, are allocated secure camping, clean(er) toilets, and food and drink is provided too! It’s a fantastic atmosphere, and a really fun way to gain experiences and lasting friendships whilst raising money for the movement you love.
If you want to get involved with working at festivals this year, here’s what you have to do:

1. – Decide which festivals/events you’d really like to go to (until official confirmation comes through, I don’t know about the smaller ones, but we’ll almost definitely be invited to Glastonbury, Latitude, Leeds and Reading). Make a list of you top choice, and then two reserve choices.

2. – Send me an email! workersbeer@spanthatworld.com. The email should include:
+ Your preference list
+ Your name, date of birth, your email address, your postal address, your mobile number and details of your next of kin (important!)
+ A head and shoulders photo of yourself (not like the shampoo advert, obviously). It should be a .jpg file and as small a filesize as possible please!
+ A pledge of allegiance to DFs. I’m going to be your “referee” for WB, to guarantee them that you are a hard worker and are reliable, so if I’ve never met you before (or even if I have) I can’t always be sure you are these things
+ Any extra information which you think might be useful, e.g. medical issues (just for team leaders to be aware of in the case of any problems)

3. – Wait for me to allocate places! It could be a while before numbers are known for sure, then I’ll draw names out of a hat for each event. If you have any very special requests, like “I’ve been applying for Latitude every year for ever and I never get a place, pleeeeeeeease pick me!” then maybe I can give you some sort of handicap in the name drawing procedure  Hopefully though, we’ll have just the right amount of people as places and no one will be disappointed.

Some key points…

Volunteering for Workers Beer is a lot of fun, but it’s also a serious commitment. The shifts are incredibly enjoyable, but sometimes they can be hard work, or can clash with the performance of your favourite band. By putting yourself forward as a volunteer, you are agreeing to work hard and play hard, but ultimately, to do a job. Please remember this.

You must be a DF and you must be over 18. If you’re not 18 yet, don’t worry, your time will come!

Applications for places at festivals are now open, but I’m setting a closing date of April 11th. Please make sure you send that email before April, so I’ve got plenty of time to allocate places and make sure everything runs according to plan. If for any reason everything’s not all sorted by then, obviously I’ll extend the deadline. If you have any problems with this, let me know.

Workers Beer contributes a massive amount to the running costs of DFs, and we have a great reputation with them for being fantastic volunteers. Let’s show them that at the turn of the decade, we can be even more amazing.