Volunteers
How they can help and how to support them
By Lindy Sharpe
Given that your organizing group is likely to be quite small, you will probably need to recruit volunteers to help, especially with publicity and running the event on the day.
Think about the skills you need and try to match them with people who want to get involved. If you have volunteer fundraisers, writers, publicists, IT or audio-visual experts, caterers or just effective hustlers, give them specific jobs that use their skills. Apart from this, you will need volunteers who are simply willing to fetch and carry as necessary.
Volunteers can help with:
Distributing leaflets and posters
Putting flyers through people's doors
Fundraising
Writing and publicity
Recruiting and organizing seed savers
Organizing the venue layout
Getting and organizing stallholders
Getting and organizing speakers
Organizing the crèche
Helping to set up and clear away on the day
Looking after speakers/performers on the day
Running activities, such as seed-related activities for children
In other words, with everything! But stay in charge - volunteers need to be organized, and you need to know what they are doing. Conversely, volunteers need to know which group member to ask for help when they are stuck or need a decision. Always be clear about who is responsible for what. Volunteers are vital and hard-working, so be appreciative, and remember to provide them with food and drink on the day.
This page was added on 26/01/2008.