Lokkelebery Vineyard Volunteer Harvest Day

This year we are expecting our second harvest! It is time to pick the grapes.

What to expect on the day

Firstly, it is important to note that this is not an open day, it is very much a working day. We have plenty of vines to work through and are keen to get cracking! To learn about the vineyard, have a guided tour/walk and Q&A, please consider attending one of our events.

Order of the day

8.00am Arrive at the vineyard for signing in and to sign health and safety document.

8.15am Welcome, compulsory training and Health & Safety briefing (prompt start at 8.15am, volunteers who arrive after this time will not be able to volunteer that day)

8.30am Get started in the vineyard!

Time and picking permitting we will take a break sometime in the morning and at lunch

Please check the event timings for anticipated finish time.

Depending on how much is picked, we may finish early. That being said, please only sign up if you can commit to the whole session indicated on the event. We will be basing picking quotas on numbers of attendees, so early departures could leave us short of the daily quota needed by our winery!

Please sign out when you leave

Nature of the Work

The work will involve repetitive cutting of grape bunches off of vines, carrying buckets with fruit and walking up and down the vineyard. It will involve usuing sharp secateurs. It may also involve working long hours with minimal breaks. Volunteers may need to bend down at times to see/access the grapes. Some may experience discomfort it their hands due to the repetitive nature of cutting the grapes. Please consider your own comfort before volunteering and committing to the whole session.

What to bring

• Eventbrite Ticket (digital is suitable)
• secateurs/fruit pruners if you have them (some may prefer to use their own for comfort. If you bring your own they will need to be steralised upon arrival for biosecurity)
• Water/drinks
• Lunch and snacks (food not provided on harvest days)
• sturdy, comfortable shoes
• thin gardening gloves (we also have nitrile gloves as this job can get very sticky)
• comfortable clothes e.g. sports wear/outdoor wear
• Sun cream/hat/rain mac (weather depending!)
• enthusiasm!

Essentials before you volunteer

• Attendance ticket via Eventbrite: if you wish to volunteer, please sign up with an official Eventbrite ticket. You will be required to give your name upon arrival and will not be able to volunteer if you have not booked. You may be asked to show your ticket. If you are unable to arrange a ticket, please contact hello@lokkelebery.co.uk

• Training: it is essential to attend the training session in order to undertake any volunteering in the vineyard. Should you wish to return on another day of the same task, you do not need to re-take this training, only on your first visit. However, you will need to sign up for another official Eventbrite ticket to attend any further volunteer days, so that we have a record of attendance.

• T&Cs and Risk Assessment: at the start of the session we will have a training and Health and Safety talk, after which volunteers will be asked to sign a waiver and confirmation of health and safety briefing. The signing of this is essential before volunteering; without this, volunteers will be unable to take part. At each volunteering opportunity, volunteers will be required to follow this protocol (e.g. if a volunteer returns for another day)

• Health and work: the nature of this work may become strenuous for those not used to manual labour/walking/standing for periods of time/with back injuries/with hand or wrist injuries. There will also be walking between the vines and across uneven terrain. We may work with sharp secateurs which can cause injury. Please consider your own comfort and health needs when signing up. Volunteers may rest/finish at any time, although please consider your comfort when committing to a session.

• Dietaries/allergies: if you have any dietary requirements (for the cakes) or allergies, please indicate this on the Eventbrite sign up

• Smoking: there is a designated smoking area at the vineyard site. Please do not smoke anywhere else on site as this could cause a serious fire risk.

• Age restrictions: for health and safety reasons, over 18s only

• Leaving the Vineyard: when leaving the vineyard site, please ensure you sign out (and sign back in on the way back), closing gates behind you

• Dogs and pets: while we love furry friends, please do not bring dogs (or other pets!) on site

• Weather conditions/unforeseen circumstances: In the event of wet weather/unforeseen circumstances, we will inform all volunteers no later than 1 day prior if we have to cancel the volunteering session- Lokkelebery Vineyard reserves the right to cancel or change the date of the volunteering event in the event of changes in unforeseen circumstances e.g. wet weather, viticultural needs

• Cancellation: Volunteers may cancel their place at any time but please inform us if you are unable to come on the day itself so we know not to expect you: hello@lokkelebery.co.uk

• Final sign ups: sign up for volunteering will close at 18.00GMT the day before the event

How to find us

Car/Bike

• Enter from the Great North Road here (Lockley Farm driveway after the A1M motorway bridge): https://w3w.co/lied.bottom.wasp
• Follow the signs up the drive (look for the boat logo). Halfway up the drive at the crossroads turn right and follow the right fork into the vineyard parking area. A member of the team will meet you there and guide you to the vineyard ready for training.
• Please do not enter by bike on a public footpath

On Foot

• Walk along the designated public footpaths, then follow the the track to site: https://w3w.co/newest.reap.cycles

Train

• Welwyn North Station, then by foot (c.25 minute walk) or taxi to the farm

Please take a read of the latest information sent out about harvest

The grape harvest, like any, can be sporadic and sudden. From one day to the next, the grapes could be ready and so when the time comes, we check them every day. As a result, when we pick it may be with less than 24 hours notice. We will usually have a rough idea of the week in question, and if we are able, we will notify our mailing list of this update. This also means that with a change in the weather or picking needs, we might suddenly cancel or move picking to another day- whatever the grapes require, we have to adapt to.

With regards to picking, we tend to pick from early in the morning to around 15:00 (although this can vary). If we do open up picking sessions, unlike usual morning volunteer sessions, we may specify that you will be required to attend for the whole session if you sign up. This is because we will have a picking quota to reach for our winery and a lorry to load by a certain time for the grapes to get to the press. This may sound strict, but the correct amount of grapes need to be loaded into the press as soon as they are picked, so it does become a military operation getting them safely to the winery. If we are able to welcome you to picking, we will need certainty that you are able to stay for the whole session for the operation to run smoothly.

Another departure from the normal volunteer sessions will be refreshments. Unlike our normal cake-fueled sessions, we may not be able to provide the usual level of refreshments and will usually suggest bringing lunch for an all-day pick (this will be specified where necessary). This is for the very simple reason that we are usually short on time during harvest so struggle to fit in baking around preparing for each harvest shift. Equally, breaks may be fewer and further between, depending on picking progress, meaning the day can be very tiring and this is something to consider when signing up.

If we are able to host a picking day, there is usually another team or two in the vineyard who will be around picking and helping to assist. We use vehicles to transport the grapes to large bins and tractors, which are loaded throughout the day and monitored by a dedicated team leader, who is also in charge of quality control. Pickers are only required to pick the grapes to their hearts content!

We hope this will be the year that we are able to open the doors for a picking day, we are keeping our fingers crossed. Please bear in mind as mentioned that the events will be announced very last minute and will have limited spaces for those who can attend the full session. Harvest days are long and exhausting (perhaps not the romantic image that is sometimes portrayed!) and represent the most important event in our vineyard calendar, so we wanted to share these details just in case we are able to host to avoid any volunteer disappointment! We also apologise in advance if we have to cancel/move sessions or if we are unable to host any this year. As always, we have to work with what the grapes need and thank you for your understanding of this.