Buddhafield

Volunteering with the Buddhafield Café

If you’ve never volunteered in the Buddhafield Café, please read the following and make sure it’s what you’re up for.

If you’re ready to join in, contact the Café

Check out which events the Buddhafield Café is going to

What is expected of you / what you can expect from us

Many of us work in the Cafe because it’s a great way to contriubute to a festival. In other words we don’t see the festival as going on outside, away from the Café or away from work, we believe we’re contributing something valuable to each event we’re at.

The Café is run by Buddhists and by people who are sympathetic to Buddhist values. If you volunteer with us the minimum we expect is that you are sympathetic to what we are tring to do, which is to try to apply these values to a work environment. We don’t expect you to join in with any spiritual activities, although you are welcome to do so.

The easiest way to have a hard time working in the Café is to see it as just a job you’re (reluctantly) doing as a substitute for buying a ticket. If you’re a party animal and don’t properly rest between shifts or arrive (eventually!) the worse for wear, you’ll be unhappy at work and be a burden on the rest of the team. The last thing a busy shift needs is to keep prodding someone awake: if you’re in a bad state you’ll be a danger to yourself and other people.

Working in the Café has many rewards:

• We’re contributing directly to a successful Festival
• We’re serving quality, ethically produced food
• We’re learning how to create a healthy work environment

A measure of how pleasant a work environment the Buddhafield Café can be: during an event we rely on festival-goers volunteering for a hour (prepping veg; washing-up) in exchange for a meal. People often come back several days in a row just because they like the atmosphere in the kitchen.

When volunteering in exchange for your ticket, you are expected to work a six hour shift per day throughout the event (and help set up tat down if possible), to attend a shift meeting half an hour before each shift, to arrive on time and in a fit state to work efficiently and safely with others, creating an enjoyable working environment.

In return you get not only entry into the event, but also plenty of healthy organic freshly prepared food (excluding counter stock, e.g. chocolate bars, cans, etc, which can be brought at a discounted rate), the opportunity to learn new skills in a positive environment, experience a great sense of community and team work, and have opportunities for learning about meditation and Buddhism.

Shift Patterns

Shift	Check in	Times	Check out	Team
Each day is usually divided into three, six hour shifts. However opening times vary at different events, so shift times vary too: there may be night shifts / split shifts.
Breakfast	06:30	07:00 – 13:00	13:00 – 13:30	A
Afternoon	12:30	13:00 – 19:00	19:00 – 19:30	B or C
Evening	18:30	19:00 – 01:00	Optional	C or B

There is a shift meeting half an hour before each shift (usually held in a crew dome). These are an opportunity to check in with your team — see how everyone is — bring up any problems and resolve difficulties, and make sure all tasks within the Café are covered. Shift meetings must always be attended (on time).

Each shift team has a Shift Co-ordinator.

The Breakfast Team (A) always work on the breakfast shift, but the Afternoon and Evening Teams (B and C) alternate shifts. If you end up on a Breakfast Shift, the advantage is that you get work out of the way early and you won’t miss so much of the day’s programme. The downside is that you need to be up at about 6am.

Afternoon and evening shifts rotate: you do afternoon one day, evening the next. The advantage here is that you get always get a lie-in after a late night, and every other day get 24 consecutive hours off.

Breaks

You should take half an hour in total when needed (either all at once or split into 3x10 or 2x15 minutes). Always check with the Shift Co-ordinator before taking a break.

Again, although it can be hard work, we want you to look after yourself. Don’t allow yourself to get stressed and exhausted. Conversely, don’t get too relaxed — the Café can get very busy, but when everyone works steadily it’s much easier and more fun.

As well as Shift Teams there is a team of cooks. They work their own shift patterns during the main part of the day.

Health and Safety

A Health & Safety meeting will be held at the start of each event, usually at 4pm the day before the festival opens to the public. You must arrive on site in time be present. Copies of the Health & Safety rules are available in the Café (usually stuck up near the hand wash area). These must be read and understood: you can read the Buddhafield Café Health & Safety Policy elswhere on this site. Any problems can be resolved through your Shift Co-ordinator.