A thorough breakdown of what each staffing role entails is found in the main body of the Management Manual. We are often asked ‘how much should we do?’, ‘what is expected of me as an assistant?’ and other questions. The following is a guide, but obviously, each camp is different and circumstances change, so flexibility is a key virtue in a staff member.
An over-arching priority is the quality of Folk Camp experience being offered to campers, so there will be times when the following guidelines are not appropriate and staff should take on additional tasks themselves, above and beyond those described below.
Full and Joint Staff
The staff member takes full responsibility for the role and is expected to be present and available for the full period of the camp. Where joint staffing, then both staff have equal responsibility for the role, tasks should be divided on an equal basis and both members are expected to be present and available for the full period of the camp.
When there is an assistant attached to their role, then the full staff member should be the senior partner and give direction and guidance to the assistant. The full staff member is expected to contribute more of their time to their role than the assistant.
There will only be an apprentice attached to their role following agreement between the full staff member and the staffing coordinator on Council. The full staff member will be expected to give guidance and leadership to the apprentice, to explain the requirements and responsibilities of the role and generally act as mentor. This should include giving the apprentice some independent tasks to carry out.
Assistant Staff
The assistant is expected to follow the instructions and leadership of the full staff member and provide appropriate support. They are not expected to contribute as much of their time to the role as a full staff member. But they are expected to share much of the work.
As being an assistant is usually a stepping stone on the way to taking on a solo or joint staffing role, it would be hoped that the assistant could be given responsibility for some tasks, although the ultimate responsibility will rest with the full staff member. For example, where the roles concerned are for caterers, the assistant could be given full responsibility for overseeing one or more day’s meals, although the full staff member would still need to make them self available in case of problems.
Apprentice Staff
The full staffing member acts as mentor, showing and training the apprentice in what the job entails and its requirements and responsibilities. The apprentice needs to shadow the full staff member and gain hands-on experience of some of the tasks. The aim is for an apprentice to gain the knowledge and confidence to take on an assistant or full staff role at a future camp.
See Folk Camps Training.
Mentor Staff
The staff member stays in the background, not announced to campers but being on call to provide support and guidance to the staff member being mentored, and keeping an eye on developing situations relevant to the role, being ready to assist with guidance when required. Experience in the staffing role as a full staffer, or relevant experience in the field being mentored is usually required for a mentor role.
A mentor could be there to support an apprentice or a member of staff new to that job – they will not be asked to undertake this role without their agreement and that of their charge.
Allowances
The allowances for each staff position are:
| Staff Type | How many free places do I get? | Do I get my travel paid? | Do I get subsistence allowance on a self-catered camp? |
| Sole or joint staff | 2: your place + 1 | Yes | Yes |
| Assistant staff | 1: your place | Yes | Yes |
| Apprentice staff | 1: your place | No | No |
| Mentor staff | 1: your place | No | No |
| Staff (Hotel event) | 2: if sharing a room with partner, otherwise 1: your own place | Yes | No |
The +1 above means an additional free place that can be used for another person in your party attending the same camp, or as a credit for a future camp, allocated at the value of one adult place from this camp. Any other members of the staff member’s party pay at the published rates for their ages.
Staffing Allocation
The allocation of staff is as follows and for each camp there will be the following in the main staff roles:
| Staff Type | How many usually allocated per camp? * |
| Leader | 1 (sole) |
| Musician | 2 (joint) |
| Warden (weekend) | 1 (sole) |
| Warden (summer week) | 2 (joint) |
| Caterer (catered camps only) | 2 (joint) |
- NB For marquee summer weeks, two wardens will be allocated. For summer camps in a village hall, one warden will be allocated.
- If we cannot allocate 2 joint wardens at a summer marquee camp we aim to have an assistant or apprentice warden.
- Exceptions: *
Folk Camps sometimes allocates different numbers if the camp has particular needs.
E.g. Singers & Dancers weekends: Due to the differing format of these camps, leader & musician numbers often vary, but typically add up to three members in total.
These limits do not restrict Council allocating additional Apprentices, Assistants and Mentors as part of the normal Staff Training programme.
A joint role may be fulfilled by a single staff member and a single member of staff may opt to share a single role with another, but in that case the allocation of free places will apply as if they were doing the task alone.
See also the Folk Camps Credits Policy.