Rewards for Volunteering
Free entry
Each volunteer who works a half-day shift receives 1 free ticket to the festival for the day of volunteering.
Each volunteer who works either 2 half-day shifts or a day’s shift for talks receives 1 weekend ticket to the festival.
All free tickets for volunteers will be emailed out to volunteers directly within 1 week prior to the event.
Meal voucher
Each volunteer who works a half-day shift receives 1 free meal voucher which they can use to redeem food at specific caterers mentioned on the voucher.
Cancellations
Cancellations are to be avoided if possible, as the event is run by a small team and volunteers are important to the smooth running of the show on the day. However, should cancellations be unavoidable, please take responsibility in letting the Volunteer Manager know in good time before the event and finding someone to take your place if you can. Roles will be pre-assigned and any no-shows will leave gaps for what are often-important roles.
Travelling to the venue
The venue's full address for the stallholder entrance (G Gate) is:
Olympia London, Blythe Road, London W14 8UX
Please visit the page here for full directions to the venue.
Google Map showing the surroundings of the venue is below:
A map showing how the different halls of Olympia London are connected is shown below.
Parking is not included in the stall prices – this needs to be booked separately by stallholders.
Olympia London has two public car parks - they are indicated as P3 and P4 on the map here.
P3 is a multi-storey car park with 380 spaces (height restriction of 2 metres).
P4 is a flat-surface car park with 175 spaces (height restriction of 4 metres).
Car parking opening times
Friday 0700-2230
Saturday 0700-1900
Sunday 0700-2230
To book your parking at Olympia London's car park, please use the form here. (please note: parking spaces at this car park need to be booked in advance)
For other parking options nearby, follow the link here.
Accessibility
This event has in place a number of measures to ensure that visitors with disabilities are welcome – please refer to the measures here.
Event Opening Hours
Saturday 10am – 6pm
Sunday 10am – 5pm
Entrance for Volunteers
Before event opens: via the loading bay through G Gate on Blythe Rd
During opening hours: via the Hammersmith Road entrance (into Olympia Central)
Facilities at the venue
There is an ATM on Level One of Olympia Central (right by the Central Cafe).
A NatWest cash point machine is located on Olympia Way, opposite Kensington (Olympia) station.
Branches of major banks with ATM's can be found on Kensington High Street.
Barclays
208 Kensington High Street
W8 7RJ
t: 0845 755 5555
w: barclays.co.uk
HSBC
92 Kensington High Street
W8 4SH
t: 0845 740 4404
w: hsbc.co.uk
Lloyd's Bank
112-114 Kensington High Street
W8 4SN
t: 0845 300 0000
w: lloydsbank.com
Natwest
55 Kensington High Street
W8 5ED
t: 0845 303 0955
w: natwest.com
Cloakrooms are available in Olympia Central Levels 1, 2 & 3.
There is a small charge per item stored.
Drinking water is provided by the in-house cafes on Levels 1, 2 and 3 of Olympia Central.
The venue provides emergency first aid assistance to anyone who needs it. Please contact the nearest security personnel or the Public Information Desk for help. Alternatively, there is a first aid room on Level 1 of Olympia Central, from where help can be summoned - see Level 1 floor plan here for the location of the first aid room.
If you believe an ambulance needs to be called, please ensure that this request is directed to the venue’s control room on 020 7598 2666. The staff’s knowledge of the venue and directions for the ambulance could save vital time.
The public Information Desk is located on Level 1 of Olympia Central, just next to the Volunteers Desk. See Level 1 floor plan here for exact location.
Toilets are available in all exhibition halls used for this event, included accessible toilets and baby change. Please refer to the event floor plans for locations of these facilities.
Gender neutral toilets are located in Olympia Central Level 1 - see Level 1 floor plan here.
Bins
There will be ample rubbish bins for clearing out rubbish.
Recycling
Olympia London recycles or reuses all waste. Certain items are separated on site:
- large quantities of paper,
- glass,
- plastics,
- wood (without nails) and
- flat-packed cardboard.
Contingency measures
Should you be taking care of a certain featured area (e.g. talks / cookery demos) and you need some help with AV, please contact our AV technicians on site.
Contact details of our AV support team at the event will be available closer to the event.
Olympia London's procedures for emergencies
Medical Emergencies
All medical emergencies, including requests for ambulances should be reported to the venue’s Control Room immediately on 020 7598 2666 (internal 2666). Please do not call the emergency services directly, as this could waste vital time and result in inaccurate location and medical information being communicated to ambulance crews.
Olympia London provides first aid assistance. Security personnel or the organiser should be contacted for help in the first instance. Alternatively, there is an emergency telephone with a direct link to the Control Room outside the venue’s first aid room, which is located on the Gallery/Level One.
Search (staff call 100)
In the event of a bomb threat, you will hear the announcement (or receive the telephone call) as follows:
“ATTENTION PLEASE. ATTENTION PLEASE. STAFF CALL 100”
Do not leave the building. Inform your colleagues, and then assist in searching for suspicious objects in your work area. If you find a suspicious object, do NOT touch or move it. Clear the area of people calmly. Report to Control on 020 7598 2666 (internal 2666) giving the exact location of the object. Please do not cause undue concern to visitors at this stage.
If you receive a bomb threat directly on the stand, please obtain as many details as possible (see form overleaf), and then inform Control on 020 7598 2666 (internal 2666).
Fire
If you discover a fire, or a fire is reported to you, operate the nearest fire alarm call point FIRST, then inform Control on 020 7598 2666 (internal 2666).
Evacuation
If evacuation is necessary, you will hear the following announcement: “ATTENTION PLEASE. ATTENTION PLEASE. HERE IS AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT. IT IS NECESSARY TO ASK EVERYONE TO LEAVE THE BUILDING. PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY CALMLY TO THE NEAREST EXIT. EVERYONE WILL BE RE-ADMITTED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.” Please leave the building by the nearest exit and assemble at your assembly point (Olympia Way, G Gate or L Yard), or in the event of a wider cordon, at Brook Green. Exhibitors and contractors should account for all their staff and report to Control on 020 7598 2666 (internal 2666).
Stand down
The signal for a return to work is made by the cancellation of emergency procedures. The search procedure is cancelled by the announcement: “ATTENTION PLEASE. ATTENTION PLEASE. STAFF CALL 100 IS CANCELLED."
Event Cancellation
If circumstances dictate that the event must be cancelled then the event organisers will advise the public accordingly and make arrangements for an orderly closure of the event site.
Heckling of speakers / performers is rare but it could happen.
In the case of heckling of a speaker / performer during a talk / cookery demo / performance, you should inform a VegfestUK staff as well as security. If you can, please explain to the crowd that as organisers we will not tolerate any heckling of our guest speakers, and unless the heckling stops immediately, the performance will be terminated and the guest speaker / performer will leave.
All lost property should be handed to the venue's cloakrooms.
If you are a victim of theft or damage, please report this to your nearest security personnel or steward. The organisers, however, cannot be held responsible for the loss or damage to your property.
Contact email for lost property post-event: [email protected] / 020 7598 5518.
VegfestUK is a family-friendly event with audience including families with children, and on occasions children will be separated from their parents during the event.
A full policy on dealing with children looking for missing parents / parents looking for missing children will be communicated to all staff and volunteers before the event.
If your shift involves taking care of a certain featured area (e.g. talks room / cookery demos etc), and the next guest has not arrived for their session, please wait for another 15 minutes to see if there are people attending the session. If the guest concerned still has not arrived after 15 minutes, please explain to visitors to that area that the session has been cancelled.
Security
Security is provided for the show from 8am on Friday until 8pm on Sunday.
Please take account of the following security advice from the venue:
- Please make sure to wear your hi-viz jackets for identification as volunteers when you are on duty.
- Please make sure to sign out at the Volunteers Desk after you have finished your shift(s), so that we know that you are off duty and are therefore no longer under our supervision.
- Take home any valuable items each night.
- Please be aware of possible terrorist activities and the fact that we are right in a busy area of London. If you notice anyone behaving suspiciously, tampering with equipment, or any unattended bags or parcels please report this to security or a member of the VegfestUK team immediately.
Vegan Policy
This is a 100% vegan event, so please make sure not to bring any animal products into the venue.
Also, as many of our visitors are passionate about the vegan cause, please do not wear any non-vegan apparels at the event. Thank you for your cooperation on this matter.
Should you be unsure about any issues to do with being vegan or not, please contact the VegfestUK office in advance for clarification.
Other Policies
Excessive alcohol consumption will not be tolerated by the organisers and the following points show the initial policy that will be used by the organisers with regards to the sale and consumption of alcohol at the event:
- Any persons posing as a potential threat or otherwise to members of the public, staff, exhibitors etc will be removed from the event site by qualified security personnel.
- Security will be briefed to monitor crowd behaviour and identify any persons who appear to be intoxicated and whose behaviour may cause offence or harm to other patrons.
- VegfestUK is a friendly event, and we do not tolerate bad language or aggressive behaviour from the public (occasional) or exhibitors (very rare but has happened in the past).
- If you encounter anyone displaying unruly/abusive behaviour, please ask your colleagues or neighbouring exhibitor to alert a member of the event organising team (security, stewards), and we will assist if required.
- Please note that exhibitors are advised to stay calm at all times when dealing with the public, with moderate language in the very unlikely event of a hostile encounter.
- There will be CCTV on site to monitor everyone’s behaviour, and those displaying aggressive behaviour will be swiftly expelled from the venue, and readmittance may be refused.
- In the case of this being from an exhibitor, no refunds may be issued.
Children under the age of 16 are welcome at the event during opening times, but please note that they will not be allowed access to the venue during setup or breakdown. This is a Health & Safety requirement of the venue and is NOT negotiable. The issue is covered by law under section 4 of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974.
Flyering to visitors at the event is forbidden.
Assistance dogs are permitted access to the show. No other pets will be permitted access to the venue during the open period.
Smoking / vaping is not permitted by law anywhere within the indoor areas of the venue.
Further queries
Contact [email protected] for any further queries on volunteering.