Hello!

Thank you for applying to volunteer with Diverse UK. We are excited to welcome you to the team. 

 

Please note, if you are looking to apply for any paid roles with us, there is a separate form to complete. 

 

For any enquiries, including any support you may need, please email Gigi (Volunteer Manager) at gigi@diverseuk.org or WhatsApp on 07465 661188. 

About Diverse UK

Diverse UK is an independent charity organisation run for and by people who identify as Autistic or Neurodiverse in the Bristol, Bath, North East Somerset, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire areas.

We are a social model charity that organises activities and events for people; these are run by staff and volunteers who identify as Autistic or Neurodivergent.

One of the most valuable ways we recruit new supporters is through our Festivals and Events Sensory Calm Space teams, who inform the public about our social groups and activities.

By volunteering with our Sensory Calm Spaces, volunteers directly support the wider work of Diverse UK. The time and energy given helps fund and sustain our social groups, which are led by neurodivergent members of our community. This approach allows us to build skills, confidence, and empowerment, creating opportunities for people who may otherwise face barriers to leading activities and events.

Volunteers help set up the sensory space, assist the core team in supporting a fantastic project, talk to customers when they feel overwhelmed, and represent Diverse UK at festivals and events, therefore increasing the awareness of neurodiversity at these places.

(Diverse UK is a registered charity in England and Wales, Charity No.1170255)

What is a Sensory Calm Space?

We are proud to say that Diverse UK is the leading provider of neurodivergent event provisions in the UK.

Our spaces provide a safe, low-level stimulation and recalibration zone for those on the Autistic Spectrum, who are Neurodivergent or for those who need a place to have a moment of calm rather than having to leave an event.

A SCS is a tent with blacked-out, heavy duty curtains, which muffle sounds from outside. In the tent, there are chairs, beanbags and weighted blankets, as well as Sensory Friendly lights. When it is hot, there are fans for air-circulation. The welcome desk has fidget toys and ear defenders, which must be returned once a customer leaves.

When customers are inside, we prefer people to keep noise to a minimum, avoid using their phones (unless they need to use it) and not to obstruct the entrance to the tent. People can leave personal items at the welcome desk.

By providing these spaces at large events, we help to promote diversity in the music and events industry, and create a neurodivergent community for those who otherwise would not be able to attend without our support. 

Together with volunteers and staff, our teams have knowledge and experience of Neurodiversity and Mental Health, including how it can affect someone’s ability to socialise and exist in festival environments. Oftentimes, this comes from lived experience, other volunteer and work experience. Volunteers are expected to represent the charity, maintain the Calm Spaces and positively influence a festival goer's experience at a Festival.

 

Perks of volunteering with us

Diverse UK is in its seventh year of providing Sensory Calm Spaces, and we have developed excellent relationships within the outdoor and festivals industry. Our team's experience and professional expertise makes us a reputable charity to volunteer for, and we can provide mentoring, support and coaching for people who are looking to gain new entry points into the industry.

Volunteering with us has benefits like:

- Access to crew facilities like showers and crew areas that are quieter

- Early entry to the festival, and a chance to familiarise yourself with the grounds before the event starts

- The opportunity to gain valuable real-world experience working alongside event and accessibility professionals, and building transferable skills in communication, teamwork, and problem solving

- Access to events and the opportunity to experience the event from behind the scenes, gaining a better understanding of the logistics and planning that go into putting on live events

- Networking opportunities that bring people together from diverse backgrounds, creating opportunities to make friends, build community and expand professional networks

- Receiving food tokens to use on food vendors across the festival site 

About the role and what you will be doing 

During your time volunteering, you will report to the Calm Space Manager and Assistant, who will assign your rotas and tasks, support you with any Access Needs, and make your experience as easy as possible. 

The main focus for volunteers is to create a calm, welcoming space, which will support customers who are feeling overwhelmed and in need of time-out from a busy environment.

You will complete three shifts of up to eight hours, which are spread across weekend festivals/events.  For shorter events, it will be one shift of up to eight hours.  Breaks are of course encouraged!

These can be subject to change depending on where the event organisers place our Calm Spaces and opening times of festival areas. Normally, the SCS (Sensory Calm Space) is placed near Welfare facilities like First Aid and Customer Service.

We always aim to ensure your rota is up-to-date at least one week before the event starts, and will take into account any Access Needs that mean you need shorter shifts or regular built-in breaks. 

You will work with various individuals, including autistic/neurodivergent people in distress, other customers with accessibility needs, the Diverse Sensory Calm Space Team, other volunteers, festival staff and welfare teams, and members of the public.

Here is a list of tasks you may find yourself doing once on-site:

- Welcome and talk to people who present in distress who need to use the Sensory Calm Space at an event 

- Ensure the Calm Space is kept clean, safe and free of hazards

- Make sure that registered Accessibility Customers (people with a preregistered accessibility wristband) are welcomed and supported to use the space

- Sit at the front desk welcoming people and making note of attendence using a cribsheet. It is really important that this is recorded accurately for post-festival reporting

- Offer fidget-toys or noise-cancelling headphones to people and ensure they are returned once they leave

- Check on how many people are in the SCS and sometimes manage a queue system if a lot of people need to use the space. You will need to use best judgement and find out from people if they need to go in more quickly or can't queue for long

- Help to cover other volunteers or staff breaks or collect food/drinks for those on shift

- Assist managers with the setup and takeown of equipment (if you can)

The Refundable Security Bond

As part of volunteering at festivals and events, we ask volunteers to pay a refundable security bond. This is standard practice across the events industry and helps ensure volunteers attend their agreed shifts.

The bond is paid once per event and can be rolled over to future shows if you continue volunteering with us.

Your bond will be refunded approximately two weeks after the event, following confirmation that shifts were completed as agreed.

Bond amounts:

• Camping festivals: £175
• Non-camping festivals: £50
• Free, non-ticketed events: No bond required
• Returning volunteers: £10 bond for any show

Important information:

• Bonds are refunded once shifts are successfully completed
• Event managers report on attendance for each volunteer
• If shifts are missed without prior communication or a valid reason, the bond may not be refunded

When submitting your application, please submit your bond at the same time.

If paying the bond is a financial barrier to volunteering, please let us know in your application. In some cases, payment plans may be available, and we are happy to discuss this with you.

A note on camping and travel

For many festivals, you will need to bring camping equipment or apply for a live-in van pass, and be prepared to camp on-site for up to seven days.

Normally, you will arrive on a Monday or Tuesday in time for a team briefing and a chance to see the festival grounds. Festivals normally open to customers on Wednesday/Thursday, and you will exit the festival on Sunday evening/Monday morning.

If you have a live-in vehicle like a Caravan, our Managers will apply for these passes to ensure you're able to drive onto site. In the form, you will be able to indicate if you need this. 

For any day-events or weekend festivals where customers are not camping, you will be expected to travel into the festival. In order to do this, you need to live local to the festival site or plan your travel arrangements accordingly.

 

Final notes before you apply

If you've read everything above and you're happy to continue, please go ahead and complete the application form below.

Volunteering with Diverse UK gives you the opportunity to be part of our Sensory Calm Space teams at some of the UK's biggest and best-loved festivals. For the upcoming season, this includes events such as Download, Team Love events (Forwards, Love Saves the Day and Waterworks) and Bestival.

During the application, you'll be able to tell us which festival(s) you're interested in and whether you've volunteered with Diverse UK before.

If you are offered a place, we'll be in touch by email with next steps. You must ensure that you have paid your bond or notified Gigi if you need to discuss your specific needs before paying. You cannot leave the Payment Section Blank.

If we're not able to place you at your preferred event, Gigi will let you know and talk through other options with you. Depending on what is decided, you may receive a partial or full refund of your Security Bond if we aren't able to allocate you to a show. 

We're really excited to welcome new and returning volunteers to the team! Thank you for your interest in supporting Sensory Calm Spaces and helping make festivals more accessible for everyone.

If no, please tell us why you would like to volunteer with us, and what experience or strengths do you have that relate to this role?

For this role, we are mainly looking for people who can:

- stay calm in busy, noisy festival environments

- communicate clearly and kindly with people who may be distressed

- follow agreed processes

- work as part of a team and take direction from managers

- use good judgement when managing queues or prioritising people’s needs

You do not need to “sell yourself”. You can simply describe any past experience (paid or unpaid) or personal strengths that relate to these tasks.

What shows are you interested in?

Please select all the festivals you are interested in. 

Remember that for camping festivals you will be expected to complete three shifts of up to 8 hours, in return for your ticket and food tokens. 

You will need to arrive to the festival one or two days before being open to customers. For example, if you are interested in volunteering at Download, you would need to arrive by Tuesday 9th June.

There are some exceptions to this which are decided on a case-by-case basis and at the manager's discretion. 

 

The events available

If you have volunteered with us before, you only need to pay £10.

If you choose events with different bond amounts, the bond required will be the highest of those events. For example, if one event requires £175 and another requires £50, you would pay £175.

Events that require a £50 bond

• Love Saves The Day, Bristol: May 23rd-24th 2026 (no camping)
  
  
• RHS Royal Badminton Flower Show, Gloucester: July 8th-12th 2026 (no camping)

• Forwards Festival, Bristol: August 29th-30th (no camping)
  
  
• Waterworks Festival, London: 12th September 2026 (no camping)

Events that require a £175 bond

• Download Festival, Leicestershire: June 10th-14th 2026 (camping)
  
  
• Truck Festival, Oxfordshire: July 23rd-26th 2026 (camping)
  
  
• Camp Bestival, Dorset: July 30th- August 2nd 2026 (camping)
  
  

Events that do not require any bond to volunteer

• Bristol Pride, Bristol: 11th July 2026 (no camping)
  
  
• Bristol Harbourside, Bristol: July 17th-19th 2026 (no camping)
  
  If you want to volunteer at these events only, please put £1 in the payment section, which will be refunded. 

Are you interested in helping with set-up and takedown?

If you are looking to gain work experience in events as a rigger, festival build and lighting/sound, you could consider helping our managers set up the Sensory Calm Spaces!

The dates of each festival do not include the set-up and take-down of our the SCS, so please indicate in the next question if you are interested.

Please note: you need to be able to lift heavy equipment out of and back into vans, have a good understanding of health & safety, and generally be in good physical health to support with this. 

Please note

We know that life happens and plans can change. If you find that you're no longer able to volunteer with us, just let us know as soon as you can, ideally at least one week before the event.

Letting us know early helps us make sure shifts are covered and that the Sensory Calm Space can run smoothly for everyone.

If someone needs to pull out within a week of the event, that's okay - especially for things like illness, personal circumstances, or bereavement. In case where we're not informed or no reason is given, the refundable security bond may not be returned.

Travel

In order to make your journey to the event as sustainable as possible, we always encourage that you travel via public transport, ridesharing with other volunteers, or, if local to the event, walking or cycling. 

Please ensure that you plan your journey well and anticipate delays to your journey. If you are delayed due to cancellations on trains or coaches, please inform the Calm Space manager as soon as possible via WhatsApp.

Please remember that unfortunately, we cannot pay for volunteer travel expenses. We really wish we could, and appreciate your understanding with this.

A note on live-in and non live-in vehicles

Please remember that if you tick that you will be staying in a live-in van, you will need to apply for a live-in pass.

 

Supporting volunteers with Access Needs

Diverse UK are commited to ensuring Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is reflected in everything that we do as a charity. 

Under the Equality Act 2010, events and festivals must take reasonable steps to make sure that disabled people are not at a disadvantage, and we work closely with festival accessibility teams to ensure that this is achieved.

Many festivals use Nimbus Disability to ensure that customers and staff are given the appropriate Access Provisions, and we encourage volunteers with Access Needs to apply with them.

Volunteers with Access Needs are encouraged to share as much as they are comfortable with. We will process this with the utmost sensitivity and care, and will always ensure that personal information is protected and confidential. 

These last questions are asked to ensure that we can support you when it is within our capacity to do so. If you wish to share this via email, you can do so by contacting Gigi.

If you don't yet know who will serve as your PA for the events you are volunteering at, that's okay! 

Closer to the event, we will check in and ask you to provide this information.

Emergency Contact

We aim to make your time as a volunteer safe and easy to navigate. However, we ask that you give us the information of one person who you trust to be your emergency contact in case anything happens to you.

This person must be contactable whilst you are on site with us. By providing this information, you give us permission to contact this person if you fall ill or are unable to complete your volunteering. We will ask for your permission should the need arise. 

 

Medical Information

Please let us know if you have any medical needs to declare, including allergies and current medications that you are taking. This information will be strictly confidential and will not be shared without your consent.

Final questions and confirmation statement

If you are interested in any paid on-site roles including Sensory Calm Space Managers and Assistants, please indicate below. If you answer yes, you will be sent a separate form to complete. 

You need to demonstrate relevant experience to be considered, with prior evidence of supporting events and festivals. 

Paying for your Refundable Security Bond

This is the final stage of the application. Please ensure you have a PayPal account ready to pay for your Refundable Security Bond. For camping festivals, you need to pay £175, and for day shows, you need to pay £50. If you are a returning volunteer, you need to pay £10. For free shows, please pay £1.

In Communication Notes, please write your full name followed by SCS2026. For example, "AlexSmithSCS2026"

You cannot leave this section blank. If you can't pay for the bond upfront, or need to have a discssion about financial barriers, please email Gigi before making your application.

If you apply to be a paid member of staff and are offered the role, your bond will be refunded within 2 weeks. 

Please be aware that the information you have shared is subject to Data Protection Laws, and will only be used in relation to volunteering at festivals. 

Information you share will not be passed on to any third parties without your consent.