No refunds will be made after Friday 1st December as we will be charged full costs by Cheltenham Chase Hotel, so you may consider taking out travel insurance to cover you for any loss. We will be sympathetic to requests for refunds before that date, but will retain an administration charge of £35.

We are asking everyone who attends the Gathering to volunteer for one of many roles, under the guidance of our team of coordinators, to enable the event to run smoothly. This doesn’t need to be onerous and won’t detract from your enjoyment of the weekend! These roles include:

·       Welcoming Volunteer (early arrival needed):

Welcoming members to the hotel, directing them where to pick up their room key and pointing them in the right direction towards their rooms. Also, helping with the signing in process. Generally being a friendly face!

·       Wellbeing Volunteers: Under the guidance of Christiane Morley (Wellbeing Coordinator), during your Wellbeing shift you will provide on-hand support during sessions or with individual members where needed. Wellbeing volunteers will provide time, a willing ear and a shoulder to lean on. It will be made very clear that we are not offering any form of counselling.

·       Inclusivity Volunteer: Under the guidance of our Inclusivity Champion, you will provide support to Gathering attendees who require some additional assistance in order to access the event. This role is shaped by the needs of attendees but may include things like helping to fetch food at mealtimes, setting up chairs at the front, checking the quiet space is tidy, helping people move between spaces etc. You will be given one or two ‘shifts’ to cover across the event.

·       Home Group Facilitator: On 3 occasions during the Gathering everyone will meet with their ‘Home Group’ to chat about how the Gathering is going - we have 8 or 9 of these. Your role will be to facilitate the session for your group, especially ensuring everyone is heard. Please note this role is not suitable for people who have never attended the Gathering before.

·       Tech Volunteer: Assisting with all things technical during the event, as guided by Neal Jolly (Tech Coordinator). This could include: sorting clip-on mics, adjusting sound volumes, changing batteries as needed, operating a projector, helping with roving hand-held mics at the AGM, etc.

·       Volunteer Photographers: What it says on the tin! Taking photos of the Annual Gathering in action, both to document the experience and for use by the NVN, and then uploading these into a Google Drive folder. This doesn’t need to necessarily be on a fancy camera - a smartphone is fine as long as the pictures are as good quality as possible.

·       Recording: You will help to record songs when our Recording Champion can’t be there.

·       Set Up Support (early arrival needed): Helping Kirsty Abraham (Stationery Coordinator) to set up the stationery, information boards, signage and other physical items that make the Gathering happen.

·       Feedback helpers: Helping Kirsty Abraham (Stationery Coordinator) to set up before the feedback session on Sunday afternoon, and to provide guidance, where needed, to attendees on what to do - and to help tidy up afterwards. One person will also be assigned to help type up the post-it note feedback after the event.

·       Pack Up Support (late departure needed): Helping the Annual Gathering Coordinator Team to pack up the stationery, information boards, signage, tech equipment and other physical items that make the Gathering happen.

·       Song Swap Facilitator: During our member-led workshop sessions, we have Song Swap workshops, where members can bring along songs and teach them to each other. The facilitator keeps these sessions running smoothly.

·       Time Keeping: You will help keep the Gathering running to time! You will be assigned one or two sessions to assist with, usually in a pair if possible. Your job will be to make sure that the session begins and ends on time, liaising with the facilitator as necessary. 

·       AGM Helper: This involves helping on the door, helping to set up the chairs, looking for ‘hands up’ and helping with the counting of votes. Two AGM Helpers will also help with the roving mics. 

·       Logistics Volunteers: This will involve doing a quick check and tidy up of the rooms - straightening chairs, collecting lost property, throwing away litter, tidying up papers that have been left around, letting the hotel know about full bins etc - basically keeping the space a nice space to sing in. You will only need to do this for one or two time slots during the Gathering and it should only take 10-15 minutes.

·       Cabaret Volunteer: Helping set up the Saturday evening cabaret, including decorating the room, and providing any assistance needed for signing up for songs etc.