Roles and Training
This is a guide to the most frequent roles volunteers perform at Star and Shadow. Here you can find what each role entails, and whether any additional training is needed. Before volunteering in any capacity, you need to attend a General Induction.
There are a number of roles that are not covered on this page. Many roles occur outside of events, such as ordering stock for the bar and cafe, doing finance tasks, and handling public and internal comms.
Activity Assistant
This role is often used for when more help is needed to run an event or activity. The work varies depending on the event but can include helping to set up tables and chairs, or assisting someone to run a workshop. No additional training is required unless stated otherwise.
Bar
Bar duties include setting up the bar and closing down the bar, maintaining levels of stock in the bar, and serving drinks. You have to do a bar induction before doing any shifts behind the bar.
Bar Shadow
After doing a bar induction you can sign up to a bar shadowing shift, where you can learn the ropes under the supervision of an experienced bar volunteer.
Box Office
As the person on box office, you are the first point of contact for punters coming in to the building for a film or gig. You greet people as they come through the door, and then either check their bookings, or sell them tickets if they are buying on the door. No additional training is needed for this role. You can either ask a keyholder to show you how its done or you can request to shadow box office in the rota notes.
Cafe
Cafe duties include setting up and closing down the cafe, serving food and drinks, and washing dishes. You have to do a cafe induction before doing any cafe shifts.
Cafe Level 2
Occasionally, you may see a cafe level 2 shift on the rota. This is needed for when a hot dish needs to be reheated and served, or when food is being prepped. You need to have a Food Safety and Hygiene Level 2 certificate for this role. Email communitykitchen@starandshadow.org.uk if you want to receive the online training for the certificate.
Cafe Shadow
After attending a cafe induction, you can sign up to do a cafe shadowing shift. This lets you try out working at the cafe under the supervision of other experienced cafe volunteers.
Cleaner
The cleaning role most often applies to Friday cleaning club but events might have a cleaner if they are expected to be busy. It is a non-specific role and generally does not require any training.
Line Cleaner
Line cleaning is a more specific task and does require you to shadow a line cleaner before taking it on yourself.
Facilitator
Every meeting at Star and Shadow needs a facilitator. It is the role of the facilitator to make sure that the meeting runs smoothly, that all voices are heard and considered, and to help the meeting to reach consensus on decisions. There is no dedicated training for new facilitators yet, but you can often receive training at a facilitation collective meeting or by shadowing a facilitator.
Food Prep
We often prep food at Star and Shadow for kitchen or cafe events, the biggest being Community Kitchen. For food prep, you first need to do a cafe induction and get a Level 2 Food Safety and Hygiene Certificate. Email communitykitchen@starandshadow.org.uk if you want to receive the online training for the certificate after attending the cafe induction.
Gardener
The gardening collective is most active during the summer months and will typically do gardening on the weekend. There is no additional training needed for this role.
Inductor
There are many types of inductor at Star and Shadow, including for cafe, bar, and general inductions for new volunteers. To become an inductor, you need to be familiar with the induction process and have shadowed the inductor role.
Keyholder
The keyholder is first in, last out, takes care of the safety and comfort of people in the building, manages the finances for an event, and manages emergency situations. Before becoming a keyholder you must have been a regular volunteer for a period of time and be nominated by other volunteers. There is then a acceptance process followed by an orientation and keyholder shadowing.
Minute Taker
The minute taker ensures that good quality minutes are made at every meeting. Minutes help us to remember what was discussed, what was agreed, and who has agreed to doing what. No additional training is needed to take minutes but reading Taking Minutes of Meetings and Guidance for Meetings is encouraged. You can find this document on the Nextcloud.
Programmer
The programmer for an event is responsible for putting on an event, advertising it, and helping it run smoothly on the day. You need to put forward a plan and a budget at a programming meeting, add the event to the toolkit calendar and the Star and Shadow website, and make sure you have volunteers to help run the event. No additional training is needed, but you have to have worked a number of shifts at Star and Shadow to get familiar with how things work. You should also read the Programming Etiquette Policy, which is stored on the Nextcloud.
Film Programmer
Film programming is slightly different, in that there is a dedicated collective at the cinema for it. If you want to put on a film at the cinema, you first need to fill out a form sent out to the film programming collective email list. You can then attend a film programming collective meeting where you are assigned a mentor.
Projectionist
Projectionists are responsible for the cinematic experience. They project the film, and also make the auditorium comfortable and safe for people. All projectionist slots on the toolkit rota have the type of screener written into them, so you know what you are dealing with in the lead up to the screening. Projectionists must have done an projectionist induction, before also doing a minimum number of shadowing shifts before projecting alone.
Projectionist Shadow
After doing the basic projectionist training, you need to shadow a projectionist a minimum number of times before projecting alone.
Please don’t sign up to shadow until a projectionist has already signed up first. It’s always nice as a courtesy to ask in the toolkit rota that they are ok with you being there as some projectionists don’t feel comfortable having someone observe them.
Projectionist - Video/DVD / Projectionist - MP4
These screener formats are covered as part of the initial induction, along with how to make the auditorium welcoming and comfortable.
Projectionist - DCP
A DCP is a Digital Cinema Package and is typically covered as part of a 'Level 2 training' after your initial induction.
Projectionist - 35mm
Projecting a 35mm film is much more involved and carries certain risks. If you want to learn this skill, you will have opportunities to receive further training after building on your experience as a projectionist.
Server
A server distributes food at catered events, such as Community Kitchen. You need to have done a cafe induction to do this role.
Sound Technician
Becoming a fully trained sound technician demands a lot of invested time and energy, but the rewards can be great if you are willing to put the work in. To make sure that volunteers can be involved early on, and to help spread the workload, we divide sound tech roles into three levels. These levels help volunteers to identify the skills needed for each event setup.
Sound Technician Level 1
Requires the sound technician to be able to plug a mic into a monitor, and to get audio out of the main system using a device such as a phone or laptop. This is all covered in basic sound tech training.
Sound Technician Level 2
Requires the sound technician to manage mics, instruments, mixers, and monitors for casual gigs with a small band. This setup should also require little to no live engineering.
Sound Technician Level 3
Requires the sound technician to set up and engineer a complex gig or festival with multiple changeovers.
Stage Crew
Volunteers acting as stage crew are responsible for installing sets for live music events. This often includes putting together stage sets and setting up mics for acts. Basic stage crew training is required for this role.
Usher
The usher helps direct cinema goers to their seats (which is needed in our auditorium where the seating doesn't always make perfect sense!). They are also responsible for switching on the lights, opening the doors, and directing people out of the building in the case of an emergency. No additional training is needed for this role. You can either ask a keyholder to show you how its done or you can request to shadow an usher in the toolkit rota notes.
Washing Up
This role is for washing up dishes in the kitchen, particularly on busy nights when there is a lot to clean! You need to have done a cafe induction for this role.