Hyde Festival Theatre Volunteer Programme

  At Hyde Festival Theatre, we are a receiving house, this means we hire out the theatre to local groups and production companies.

Our volunteer programme allows you to join the team in a voluntary capacity - everyone at the theatre is a volunteer. You will be making a difference to the theatre in keeping costs down for societies to ensure the theatre remains open and operating for generations to come.

Bar and Front of House Volunteers needed for our 2024-25 season! (Aged 18+)

What's Involved?

Every volunteer starts on our Bar and Front of House team. You would be customer facing and serving refreshments before every performance, during the interval and after the performance. In addition, you will be a part of our front of house team, selling programmes, raffle tickets, helping customers to their seat but more importantly, you are there for the safety of our patrons.

How much time can I volunteer?

You can volunteer as much as you can. But we do ask every person on our programme to do one shift every 6 weeks

and at least one shift in every month of June, July, November and December as this is our peak season.

Is Volunteering Flexible?

After training, you would be enrolled onto our app, which shows all available shifts in the upcoming months. We try and keep shifts open on the app for the next two months, you would then claim an available shift that suits you, in your spare time. If you need to swap after claiming a shift, our volunteers group is the place to go and we are sure someone will be able to swap with you.

Do I need experience?

Not at all - full training is provided.

How do I join the team?

Fill out the enrolment form below selecting which training date you can attend. Attend the session and we will get you enrolled on our app during the session so you can start collecting your volunteer hours immediately. We will have to ask for a lot of personal information at the session as we will be conducting a DBS check on our volunteers. This is because you may have to access backstage at the theatre where children may be performing.

What are the advantages to Volunteering?

We recognise our volunteers by how many hours they can give to the theatre. We reward our volunteers with significant milestone badges depending on how many hours they do. We provide full training and uniform. We reward all of our volunteers with a complimentary drink after their shift. If volunteers select a front of house shift, they get to see performances from local groups and societies. We also organise volunteer social events, discounts and complimentary tickets for performances too!

Most importantly, you will be a part of our amazing team that we recognise. You will be keeping the theatre open and our pricing structure at the theatre affordable to local patrons and groups. As the theatre is a registered charity, all of the income from bar profits and hire fees go back into the upkeep of the building as no-one is paid at the theatre. We are an open, friendly team.

Is there any progression?

As soon as you have joined the volunteer programme, you will be able to access other roles in the theatre including Box Office Support, Chaperoning and Stage Crew to name a few. We always encourage our volunteers to become Bar Team Leaders and Front of House Managers when they have some experience.

Is there an age restriction?

Unfortunately, as our new-entrant role is 'Bar and Front of House' we can only accept applications from those aged 18 and over as they will be expected to serve alcohol on our bar without authorisation from a fellow colleague

Suitability Requirements

You will require a smart phone or computer to access our app to see available shifts. In order to be trained on the bar, the bar is on the first floor without stairs. If you cannot use stairs, please inform us beforehand as we may be able to train you at a separate session on the ground floor and you can be a member of our Front of House team