VOLUNTEERS are the glue of the festival: all of whom gave their time and talent to the weekend. Many of our volunteers have been in touch with inspiring stories about their time at the festival and how for some, it has lead to life changing opportunities!

Last year we were lucky enough to meet Rosario Blue: and she has been kind enough to share with us her volunteer adventures…

The opportunities that come from volunteering at the Peckham festival are endless.

I got involved with the Peckham festival as a volunteer and it was the best experience and one of the best decisions I have ever made. Ultimately it is what you make it, but it is hard to not make it in to something great.

You get the privilege of working and networking with a diverse range of people from all different backgrounds with different skills and experiences. You can specialise in specific areas that you might need more experience in. You can try something you have never done before or try something you have always wanted to do but the opportunity never presented itself. Or you can just want volunteer credits or enjoy volunteering at festivals.

I wanted to write and I wanted to write about my home; Peckham. I only expected to write a piece that would help me to draw a clearer picture of the changes in Peckham, whether they were positive or negative and who it might affect.

I was successful with my application to volunteer and I … got to write. I also got to do some blogging and journalism. In addition to that I made new friends, learned new skills and one of my dreams – working in a gallery – became real.

I was a writer, an operations assistant, a steward, a social media marketer, a gallery assistant, an events promoter, and a blogger. I did a bit of community liaison, customer service, artist liaison and journalism. I even learned more about using a space effectively, and part of what goes in to managing large community events like the Peckham Festival. These are all pretty impressive things to be able to add to my skills and experience and now I have. These are just some of the amazing things I gained from being a volunteer.

I was able to attend the festival outside of my volunteer responsibilities and had such a good time! I was able to take part in a wide-range of activities, workshops and so much more. I did find that I enjoyed volunteering just as much as attending the festival.

The thing that really stood out to me was the way the festival organisers made sure the festival experience included the volunteers. What I mean by that is the amount of fun we had mattered to them, our comfort mattered to them and our views, suggestions and opinions mattered to them, which are all things that matter to me.

I had such a great time that I re-applied this year to volunteer again and I cannot wait! I have no doubt it is going to be even better than last. All in all, you end up being part of a unique family responsible for putting on one of the best events in London.

Rosario Blue@bluezephyr

THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS OF 2017… Adam B | Alex W | Anna C | Barbara L | Becky Y | Beth H | Briony B | Caoimhe | Charlie D | Christina B | Christina G-C | Daryl H | Dianka | Eve C | Francesca B | Georgina J | Gina K | Helen O’H | Helena A | Ilektra M | Jaqui | Jiaqi W | Jihan A | Joseph N | Josephine S-M | Julia S | Kay | Lee J | Lisa B | Liz R-B | Lucy B | Lucy V | Lydia S | Maame | Malou D | Meaghan L | Naomi K | Naomi S | NIamh M | Niaomi S | Nicola B | Nina P | Ollie T | Pablo G | Patricia H | Phil S | Rachael S | Rachal K | Rosario B | Regina G | Rina M | Rob L | Saffron V | Samantha O | Sarah U | Sharmin A | Shelene B | Tiffany L | Tom B | Tom L | Victoria E | Yakub A | Yunia M | Zohr

There is still time to sign up and join us if you’re up for learning new skills or exercising current ones and to meet and work with amazing people. You can fill in our volunteer application on the Peckham Festival 2018 website or email: [email protected]

#peoplemakepeckham