ORFC 2026

Volunteer with us

8 – 9 January 2026

In-person and online

Thank you for your interest in volunteering at the Oxford Real Farming Conference! Volunteers are a key part of the ORFC community. This is the 17th annual ORFC and the fourth time ORFC will be held as a hybrid event, with delegates and speakers joining both online and in-person.

The hybrid conference will bring together around 3,500 mud-on-the-boots farmers, food producers, land workers, soil-lovers, researchers, policy-makers, NGOs, social movements and all those who support a better food and farming system.

Learn more about volunteering online or in-person below.

ONLINE Volunteering at ORFC 2026

APPLY HERE TO VOLUNTEER ONLINE

Timeline

Deadline for online volunteer applications: Thursday, 27th November 2025 by 11:59pm GMT
Online volunteer orientation: Thursday 11th December, 5-6pm GMT OR Monday 15th December, 12-1pm GMT (choose one)
Conference dates: Thursday, 8th January and Friday, 9th January 2026

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis; apply early to secure your space. All applicants will be notified by Thursday, 4th December 2025.

As an ONLINE Volunteer, you will:

Gain valuable experience of a large event and live social media.
Get a useful addition to your CV, with a reference if you would like one.
Get free entry to the full online conference.

Role Description

ORFC 2026 will include livestreamed sessions in YouTube. Online sessions volunteers will remain through the session to monitor the chat and to help participants feel welcome and included. This may include, for example, flagging tech difficulties with ORFC tech support, aggregating questions from the chat for the chair and speakers, and monitoring the chat to offer information where appropriate. Online session volunteers are not expected to be tech experts, although familiarity with online events is helpful. ORFC will have tech and volunteer support available and a detailed reference guide to support volunteers throughout the event.

ONLINE Event Volunteers are expected to:

Help create a warm and welcoming online environment in conference sessions and flagging any issues that arise with the conference team.
All online volunteers will need to provide a desktop or laptop computer with a good internet connection.
Commit to supporting at least three (3) sessions during the conference. Each session will be between 1 to 2 hours long.
Attend ONE online orientation
Present a confident, professional, friendly face during the conference.
Be available to complete tasks when you are ‘on duty’.
Use social media to generate a ‘buzz’ around the conference if you would like to.

OPTIONAL: Online volunteers are also invited to support with creating a buzz on social media about the conference, and/or to write a short (500-word) blog post about the conference. Guidelines for supporting comms will be shared with all confirmed volunteers.

APPLY TO JOIN THE ONLINE VOLUNTEER TEAM HERE:

https://forms.gle/am9TCcPoPhMEpbgH7

IN-PERSON Volunteering at ORFC 2026

APPLY HERE TO VOLUNTEER IN-PERSON

Timeline

Deadline for in-person volunteer applications: Thursday, 30 October 2025 by 11:59 GMT
Online volunteer briefing: (early Dec – date/time TBC, online)
In-person volunteer orientation: Wednesday, 7th January 2026 from 5:45pm – 8pm in Oxford city centre
Conference dates: Thursday, 8th January 2026 and Friday, 9th January 2026

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis; apply early to secure your space. All applicants to volunteer in-person will be notified by Thursday, 11 November 2025.

As an IN-PERSON Volunteer, you will:

Gain valuable experience of a large event and live social media.
Get a useful addition to your CV, with a reference if you would like one.
Get free entry to the conference on 8 & 9 January 2026, as well as two lunches and two dinners provided as a thank you for attending the training session.

There are three volunteer roles available for the in-person conference. Please indicate which role you would prefer when applying:

(1) General Event Volunteer

Role description: As part of a dynamic team, event volunteers will support the safe, efficient, friendly, and smooth running of the conference. During the conference, event volunteers complete two half-day shifts and are free to attend the conference for the rest of the time. During one shift, event volunteers are expected to steward conference sessions, which includes Health & Safety responsibilities, monitoring room capacities, helping with AV requirements and helping speakers with timekeeping. During another shift, event volunteers will either steward conference sessions or help to run the front of house, reception, the exhibition spaces or be a runner.

IN-PERSON Event Volunteers are expected to:

Present a confident, professional, friendly face for the conference.
Come to the orientation in Oxford on Wednesday, 7th January from 5:45pm – 8pm.
Be available to complete tasks when you are ‘on duty’.

(2) Programme Guide Volunteer

Role description: Programme guide volunteers will provide a friendly point of contact and help delegates navigate the ORFC 2026 programme. Programme guide volunteers will be stationed in venues across the conference and will provide guidance on how to navigate the conference to delegates. Programme guide volunteers will help point delegates towards sessions and offer recommendations of what to see next. You will be working with a partner during your shift.

As an IN-PERSON Programme Guide Volunteer, you will:

Present a confident, professional, friendly face for the conference.
Have a great working knowledge of the ORFC 2026 programme and themes.
Provide helpful recommendations and advice to conference delegates.
Come to the orientation in Oxford on Wednesday, 7th January 2026 from 5:45pm – 8pm.

(3) Creative Comms Volunteers

Role description: The comms content volunteer is a reporting role that will engage with ORFC 2026 sessions of your choice. The comms content volunteers will attend ORFC 2026 sessions, take notes, and produce a piece of content based on that session for web and social media. This can be a social media post, a blog, a photo essay, or another creative format. Templates will be provided on how to produce an effective piece of content. This role will offer volunteers experience in producing editorial content and reporting from an event.

We’d like comms content volunteers to:

Provide in-depth engagement with ORFC 2026 sessions
Share what’s happening at the conference – the highlights, sessions tackling the difficult questions, the cultural events – to help create a buzz
Start conversations and raise our profile – amongst delegates, speakers and everyone else with an interest in the conference
Listen out for quotes, statistics and questions to share that you think have the broadest public appeal
Come to the orientation in Oxford on Wednesday, 7th January from 5:45pm – 8pm.