Volunteering
We have around 100 volunteers helping to support events, outdoor shows and with the day to day running of the organisation. Being a volunteer is rewarding and sociable; there is usually an opportunity to watch the show you are helping with and free tickets are also provided for other events. Volunteers also help us in lots of other departments - please see current opportunities below.
Volunteer Stewards
We have around 80 volunteers helping us at events, both evening and daytime, in our cinema and theatre at the Corn Exchange. The stewarding roles are to welcome our audiences, scan tickets, direct visitors to their seats, sell programmes, merchandise, sweets and ice creams. Our volunteer stewards are trained in fire and other emergency procedures as health and safety is key to their roles. Being a volunteer is rewarding and sociable and there is usually an opportunity to watch the show you are helping with.
Please call 01635 582666 or e-mail [email protected] for more information and an application pack.
Learning and Participation Volunteers
Our Learning and Participation Department is always interested in hearing from local people aged 18 and over who are interested in helping out with creative participation projects with young people and adults.
This could mean providing support on some of our regular art-based workshops, or perhaps assist our youth theatre sessions. Our work is really diverse however, and the range of opportunities we have over the course of a year will vary. Often bespoke projects will come along for which we also need volunteers, so it's great for us to have a list of people to contact about getting involved.
It's a great way for you to pick up new skills by working alongside arts professionals and to feel part of the work of the Corn Exchange. We also provide volunteers with training, where appropriate.
Details of current opportunities are listed below. Please contact us for more information, or to express an interest in helping out. Previous experience in arts-based activities isn't always necessary but it is useful to know of any skills you have already or if there's an area you're particularly interested in helping out with.
Current Opportunities
Ageing Creatively courses and projects
We are looking for volunteers to help out with our Ageing Creatively projects that we deliver here at the Corn Exchange and in community venues throughout West Berkshire.
Each month we hold a Memory Café in the Balcony Bar. We are looking for volunteers who will welcome people as they arrive, serve the coffees, teas and cakes during the session, mix with the group for friendly chat and stay for 10 minutes or so to help clear the bar afterwards. We have many other projects across West Berkshire, currently in Hungerford, Lambourn, Thatcham and Theale, with more projects planned in those areas and in other areas in and around West Berkshire. Although our sessions are varied, in all projects the main requirements from our volunteers are to represent the Corn Exchange in a friendly and approachable way, to meet and greet our participants, mix with the groups for friendly chat, to help make and serve teas and coffees and to help clear up at the end of the sessions. If you are interested in volunteering for any of the Ageing Creatively projects please e-mail [email protected] for more information.
Links to Thrive
Links to Thrive is our wellbeing referral programme. We deliver participatory sessions across community venues in West Berkshire to those who are faced with challenges in mental health, social isolation or loneliness. Sessions are creative, arts focused and supportive. We’re looking for local adults to support these sessions on a weekly basis, helping artists set up the space, making participants feel at ease, and letting us know how it all went following the session. There is also always some tea making involved too! Sessions are currently being scheduled in Hungerford, Lambourn, Kintbury, Mortimer, Theale and Pangbourne. If you are interested and can help please email [email protected] for a registration form. For further info please email [email protected].
Outdoor Events Programme Volunteers
We are looking for enthusiastic volunteers to help with the staging of large-scale outdoor shows in and around Newbury.
You can come and be part of a great team of local volunteers and be behind the scenes of these fantastic events. It is an opportunity for people with an interest in events in their local community, or in large scale outdoor theatre shows and events, or for people looking to gain experience in these types of events. All volunteers must be over the age of 18.
The Corn Exchange Newbury programmes a variety of exciting large-scale outdoor events over the year. The programme is funded by Greenham Trust and Arts Council England. The events range from spectacular international shows such as Periplum’s The Bell and exciting home grown shows produced by the Corn Exchange, the first of which was The Berkshire Giant in June 2012. Recently we have lit up the streets of Newbury in Fire Garden, installed a massive domino run through the town centre, and see cutting edge contemporary dance performances in venues around the town. We also organise family friendly events such as our annual Festival of Light. On average we have 4 events a year, but this does vary.
The exact role for the volunteers ranges from event to event, but the following are the usual opportunities we have. We provide you with a full briefing of what you will be doing before each event and you will be part of a supportive team of staff and other volunteers.
TECHNICAL VOLUNTEERS
This involves setting up the equipment at events and helping with the operation side. You don’t need to have technical theatre experience (although this is a bonus!), but an interest in that side of events would be useful. This does usually require volunteering for a longer amount of time as we need your help from the very start to the very end – although when we can we try to split this up into shifts for people.
VOLUNTEER STEWARDS
As these events are outside and are all free for people to attend, we require a lot of help with managing the crowds - we can get crowds of up to around 5,000, depending up the event. As our staff can’t be everywhere at once, we need volunteers to be our representatives, information points for the general public and assist with crowd management. Again, no specific skills are required, but an interest in working with the general public and being able to give clear information to people is important.
VOLUNTEER PERFORMERS
Some of the events we programme require some local volunteers to perform. It is usually a group of local volunteers performing together, so you shouldn’t expect a starring role, but you will be part of the action and will help to make the event what the Director envisages it being. No acting experience required, but confidence when in front of a crowd of thousands is a must.
As with all events the roles may adapt for each show, but we would keep in regular contact with you to let you know what opportunities we have for each of the events. Another thing to bear in mind is most of these events will be evenings and/or weekends, but we will only be asking for your valuable time about 4 or 5 times a year.
We really hope you will consider being part of growing team of outdoor event volunteers and being a part of this exciting aspect of the work we do.
If you would like to be part of our team then please e-mail [email protected] or call 01635 582666. We will need your name, contact details, which volunteering role you are interested in, and to confirm you are over 18 years of age.