Volunteering at Waterperry Opera Festival
Our Waterperry Opera Festival volunteers are the beating heart of the Festival. Every year, a team of around 30 volunteers join our WOF community and generously give their time to help us run the Festival. Our Festival volunteers join us for a variety of reasons - some want to support the Arts in their local community, others are opera lovers, others are keen to support the fantastic young artists and creatives that we work with. For our younger volunteers, we have found that volunteering with us has helped them develop skills and grow in confidence. We are delighted that many of our volunteers return year-on-year and feel like members of the Festival family.
"Volunteering at WOF was a joy! I joined a team of friendly faces in the stunning grounds of Waterperry House, and immediately developed a strong desire to make the event a success. The volunteers were clearly valued highly by the organisers, who kept us on our toes. Breaks were enjoyed with a constant serenade from the performers wafting along the halls of the house" - Ben Munden, 2021 Volunteer. In addition to playing a vital part within the WOF team and enjoying the summer days around the stunning grounds of Waterperry Gardens, we offer our Festival volunteers the opportunity to watch performances wherever possible, including dress rehearsals. We also offer our volunteers plenty of refreshments and catered meals when on site - this is a great way for our volunteers to get to know our performers, creatives and crew, and receive a more ‘behind-the-scenes’ experience at the Festival. More about our Festival Volunteers
There are many areas of the Festival that our volunteers support us with. We have three main volunteering teams: Stewarding Team Our Stewarding Team are a very friendly, approachable set of volunteers who are happy on their feet and enjoy interacting with the public. Led by our Front of House Manager, the stewarding team welcomes hundreds of audience members who visit the Festival every day. Their responsibilities include; stewarding performances, chaperoning audience members, assisting with site directions, and offering hospitality support where needed. Box Office Assistants Our Box Office Assistants are a welcoming, engaged set of volunteers who are comfortable using laptops/tablets to ticket-check all of our audience members as they arrive at the Festival. Led by our Box Office Manager, Imogen Baker, the volunteer box office team run a tight-ship, and are a fundamental part of the WOF audience experience. Their responsibilities include; ticket-checking, selling programmes, allocating audience wristbands, and signposting our audience members to the day’s events. Residency Support Our Residency Support volunteers offer a more internal form of help. During the Festival, we host over 100 performers, musicians and technical team in Waterperry House. Led by our Residency Manager, Angela Waters, our Residency Support volunteers help us with the day-to-day residency requirements and they become key faces in the House for our cast and crew. Their responsibilities include; light housekeeping, assisting our kitchen team, and offering Festival hospitality support where needed. |
