The Peacekeeper Role
Hello! Great that you found your way here and that you’re interested in joining the Peacekeeper team.
The Peacekeepers' role is to support everyone on site to engage with tense or emotional situations nonviolently, working towards solutions that meet everyone's needs, with an awareness of equity.
The team gathers a couple of days before the festival starts, for team members to get to know each other, train together, meet other teams, generally settle in, and build a sense of community.
During the festival the Peacekeeper team members bring their life skills and experience to support ticket holders and festival crew in difficult or tense situations through peaceful communication. Buddhafield has a separate and professional Security Team and the Peacekeeper role is different to theirs. Our role includes:
- Supporting ticket holders and festival crew who are struggling in some way, including sign-posting them to the appropriate team (e.g. well-being for people experiencing mental health difficulties, safeguarding, inclusivity, etc.)
- Supporting the Buddhafield Safeguarding team in their work, in a variety of ways
- Interacting with people who are taking or already under the influence of alcohol or drugs, to support Buddhafield’s commitment to being an intoxicant-free space
- Helping to uphold Buddhafield’s commitments and policies. ( e.g. intervening when acoustic music is too loud and ensuring electronic music stops at the music curfew each evening.)
- Taking part in searching for lost children, according to our set protocol
If you apply, are new to this role and we think from your application that the role might be a good fit for you, we’ll arrange a call and, amongst other things, talk through the role in more detail, so you can ask questions and get clearer on whether it will suit you. Sadly, we can no longer speak to everyone who applies, as we now get many more applications than spaces each year.
Dates
- Team building and co-training - arriving between 2pm-4pm on Sunday 14th July
- Working through the festival - Wednesday 17th July - Sunday 21st July
- Debriefing - most team members leaving late afternoon of Monday 22nd July, with 2 or 3 of the team staying on until Tuesday 23rd am
Your Experience
No special skills or experience are required, other than an interest in and commitment to resolving tension through peaceful communication. We (the team coordinators, with lots of input from everyone in the team) will facilitate training.
You will need to:
- Be eighteen or over
- Be able to firmly commit to all the dates above and stay until the end (the debrief is important to us and the evolution of the team).
- Have good spoken English
- Be interested in speaking with and supporting people and have a commitment to resolving tension through peaceful communication
- And it’s really helpful if you have some experience of safeguarding, but this is not necessary
Many people find Buddhafield Peacekeeping a very enjoyable and growthful experience, however in offering to help in this way you would still be taking on a commitment that may be demanding at times. We’re asking you to commit to being continually on-site and often outdoors in all weather for 9 days. The role also involves engaging in potentially confrontational conversations and sometimes enquiring into your deeply held assumptions and views. So please consider this when applying.
What We Offer You
- Your ticket to Buddhafield Festival - 17th-21st July
- 3 vegan meals a day during training, during the festival and during debrief time
- Training and co-training, before you start working, including input from experienced mediators and de-escalators
- Access to a snack table and hot drinks during training and during debrief time, and hot drinks through the festival.
- Meditation teaching and Dharma input, if you'd like it
- An experience of being in a well-supported team, working closely with others to have fun and learn together
What We Ask of You
We ask that you commit to…
- Living on site with us from Sunday 14th July until Monday 22nd July, in your tent, in your live in vehicle or under your tarp
- Working 1 x 5.5 hour shift each day of the festival (Wednesday 17th July - Sunday 21st July) except for one day which yu will get completely off. Shifts include a check-in, handovers, and a check-out. We’ll do our best to work out shifts in a way that works for everyone.
- Arriving on site for some relaxed team building and co-training between 2pm-4pm on Sunday 14th July
- Leaving site in the afternoon of Monday 23rd July
- Bringing as much of yourself as you’re willing and able - your energy, openness, experiences, ideas and feelings
How to Apply to Volunteer with Peacekeepers
Please fill in the form below (or say in the form if you’d rather apply via a voice note). We'll then let you know if we'd like to arrange a call to talk through your application and answer any questions you have.
Applications will close two weeks after they open.