Festival’s 2015 Volunteer Co-Ordinator Heads to Downing Street
People across Dumfries and Galloway are being offered the chance to play a key role in one of the region’s biggest and brightest annual events.
Big Burns Supper and the Burns street carnival provide great opportunities for volunteers – these can include being part of the team at the Spiegeltent where big-name acts like The Beat, Black Grape, Eddi Reader and Jason Byrne will be appearing.
The role of our volunteers has been so important and impressive that it has come to national attention.
Moira Priestley, the 2015 Volunteer Co-Ordinator, has been invited to 10 Downing Street for a reception hosted by Prime Minister David Cameron.
The event, on 2 December, has been organised just after St Andrew’s Day to celebrate the achievements of Scots who have received Mr Cameron’s special Points of Light Award for those who have made an exceptional contribution to their community.
Moira attended an earlier reception when she originally received the honour, in January, which was given for her role in leading an army of 200 BBS volunteers.
The social care worker from Dumfries, said: “It was a surprise to receive the award – I loved being a volunteer and being part of the Big Burns Supper family.
“It’ll be a lovely treat to go to Downing Street and meet all these other people from across Scotland and find out about the projects they have been involved in.
“I’d really encourage people to get involved and volunteer with Big Burns Supper, it’s lots of fun, you pick up all sorts of skills and meet some really interesting people.
“But what’s most exciting is being part of a big event from the early stages, helping pull the whole thing together – when it finally happens you get a real ‘proud mum’ moment.”
Every contribution is valued. No previous experience is needed and there are roles suited to people of every age.
This time people are being invited to join specific teams, so they really get the most from the experience.
Graham Main, Big Burns Supper Artistic Director, said: “As well as being a great experience, there are some great benefits from volunteering.
“All our volunteers get access to shows and events. We also provide creative industry training for anyone who is interested in learning about the work we do.”
Right now there are vacancies in the:
• Carnival Crew: Crucial to the success of this event, our volunteers help us glue, stitch, saw and everything else that goes with creating costumes and floats. It’s really lively and supports young people and community groups to take part in the carnival.
• Bar Crew: We need an energetic crew to help us serve those drinks in the glitzy Spiegeltent bar. If you have a smiley face and you know what it feels like to wait for a drink, you’re hired!
• Spiegeltent Crew: An elite team – delivering all of the Spiegeltent operations which range from front of house to production and technical elements.
• Event Crew: Help make sure that our outdoor events run safely and that the public can navigate the festival easily. They are on the front line on carnival day acting as stewards for the procession.
• PR Crew: Our press team work around the clock to make sure that all the artists’ stories, news and gossip gets through the right channels on time. These roles are in our media centre, and include welcoming members of the press to venues, and making sure they have a great time.
Big Burns Supper takes place from 22-30 January and the carnival is on Sunday, 24 January.
Anyone who would like to volunteer should register online at www.bigburnssupper.com.
