Bangor woman’s love of volunteering with Open House
Sarah Curran
“IT is such a privilege to be part of something that benefits Bangor and beyond in such a positive way.”
Bangor woman Lisa Sharp has been volunteering at Open House Festival events for the last five years, offering up her spare time to help with the smooth running of the popular music and arts festival.
With events such as Picnic in the Park at Ward Park now underway and a line-up of events planned for the month of August, festival attendees are sure to run into one of the many dedicated volunteers wearing hi-vis jackets and t-shirts during Open House Festival events.
From assisting with ticketing, seating, event set-up, litter picking and more, volunteers help with the running of the much loved events.
Speaking about her time at Open House Festival, Lisa said the event had been ‘such a joy’ to get involved with.
Last year, Lisa received the Volunteer of the Year Award for helping to make the festivities more sustainable, when she helped pilot a drink can collection initiative.
The mother-of-two recalled seeing a festival brochure a few years ago asking for people to get involved with volunteering in the festival.
“Once my family were older and I didn’t need to be around during the summer and I was a little more free I was able to take that step to volunteer and it was brilliant,” Lisa said.
“I was already aware of Open House as I had been to their events and saw it evolve from the beginning and thought ‘I want to be a part of that’.”
She continued: “It is such a privilege to be part of something that benefits Bangor and beyond in such a positive way.”
Noting the huge numbers attending the events, Lisa said it was great to help out with something so successful for the local community, adding that festival founders Kieran Gilmore and Alison Gordon were inspirational.
Lisa, who once ran a sustainable zero waste store on High Street in the city, was inspired to find new ways to improve recycling at the festival.
She got in touch with recycling organisation Every Can Counts, who collect drink cans from festivals and large events.
“We asked the volunteers at the picnics if they would be prepared to have bags dedicated to collect people’s drink cans and those all got sent off and weighed and then money was donated to a local charity,” Lisa explained.
“That was just one way to reduce what we were putting in blue bins and make sure they were properly recycled and a local charity benefitted.”
Last year the volunteers collected 85kg of drink cans, which was converted to £65.
Asked what her favourite part of volunteering is, Lisa listed meeting new people, working with likeminded people to help with running of the events and the ‘added perk’ of getting to listen to the music.
“What I love most about being a volunteer is seeing how people embrace the Open House Festival and make an occasion out of each of the events, and some people really pull out all the stops,” she said.
“It is just so lovely seeing friends coming together and people really appreciate having such a festival available. Even if the weather is not in our favour people are determined to make it a positive experience. It is a really lovely thing to witness and be part of.”
Encouraging others to get involved with volunteering, she added: “It is just an exciting way to spend your time to give back to the community and help the events run as well as they do.”
Looking to this year’s events, Lisa is hoping to further her green initiatives within Picnic in the Park.
She said: “We are looking at upping the recycling visibility in the parks. We are making it easier for people to see where they can recycle and it has been organised for some past PVC banners to be made into backpacks for the volunteers to wear as they walk around and it will be easier for people to put their drinks cans in those.”
Lisa added that a blog would also be released shortly, with ideas on how people can make their picnics more sustainable by preparing their own food instead of purchasing items packaged in single use plastics.
Information about volunteering with Open House Festival can be found at: www.openhouse festival.com
