Your Stall
We strongly emphasise that you must have someone available to staff your stall throughout the whole duration of the Fair, so that the last visitor has as good an experience as the first one.
We do not have a licence for the sale of promotional goods or for the collection of donations, so please ensure that this does not happen on the day.
Your stall includes:
- One trestle table (L: 6' (1.8m) W: 2'3'' (0.7m) H: 2'4'' (0.73m)) with a paper tablecloth and two chairs. If an additional chair is needed, please ask a steward to help. Additional seating will be available in the café area for breaks;
- Drinks vouchers x4 (exchange for tea/coffee/juice);
- Lunch vouchers x2 (choice of soup and ½ sandwich);
- Additional vouchers are provided if purchased at time of booking;
- Electrical Power, if this has been booked and paid for in advance; and
- Public WiFi is available at the venue. The network name is Ps & Gs Free Wi-Fi and there is no password.
Your stall does not include:
- Access to wall space;
- Free-standing display boards; and
- Power, unless booked and paid for in advance.
Loading, unloading, and parking
There is no car park at St Paul's and St George's Church on York Place. Please be aware that parking in the streets around the venue is metered and can be busy.
There are car parks nearby at the St James Quarter and The Omni complex. Loading and unloading can be challenging and York Place is not suitable for stopping. You can use Broughton Street to unload. Times are as follows: 9.15am until 4.30pm.
Alternatively, the best solution is to use York Lane for unloading and loading, next to the Premier Inn. Stewards can help you with unloading between 9.00am and 9.45am so if you need assistance please ask when you arrive at the venue. Access to the venue to set up your stall will be from 9.00am onwards.
Volunteer Edinburgh cannot take any responsibility for parking restrictions in place, and we cannot reimburse any parking costs incurred. We also cannot take responsibility for personal belongings and other materials belonging to your organisation. Stallholders are responsible for these items.
Public transport
The venue is within 10 minutes’ walking distance of Waverley Station. There are bus stops immediately adjacent to the venue. Lothian Buses services which stop nearby are: 4, 44, 26, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 41 and 42.
The tram starts early in the morning and stops at Picardy Place not far from the venue. The trams are due at stops every seven to ten minutes. You should purchase your ticket or 'Tap On' before boarding the tram and you will find ticket machines and 'Tap On, Tap Off' points on the station platforms.
Welcome Desk
Volunteer Edinburgh will staff a Welcome Desk in the foyer of the venue.
Floor and stall plans will be available, and we will direct stallholders and the public as appropriate. You will also see a layout of the stalls in the main entrance to the hall for everyone to identify each organisation present on the day. We will publish a stallholder map here in the lead up to the event.
Stewards
There will be a team of stewards available on the day who will do their best to assist you. You will see them wearing Volunteer Edinburgh t-shirts and/or name badges.
Stewards will help you to find your stall and can help carry items to your stall if you need assistance. Stewards will also be happy to help you with fetching things like coffee or tea if you can’t leave your stall. Simply give them your voucher(s) and let them know what you would like. Stewards can also provide general information; however, they are not able to staff your stall. Please make sure you plan this accordingly.
Catering
There will be a café by Space Kitchen which will be open to the public and stallholders from 10.00am to 5.00pm. Lunch vouchers can be exchanged for soup and a half sandwich. Drinks vouchers can be used in exchange for tea, coffee, or juice. You can purchase vouchers here.
Stallholder evaluation forms
To help us improve this event each year we ask all organisations taking part to provide us with feedback on how useful the fair has been for you.
It would be extremely valuable to us if you could take a few minutes to complete your evaluation form at the end of the day. A blank paper evaluation form will be provided. A top tip would be to fill this in as the day goes on.
As an alternative, stallholders can complete the evaluation by scanning a QR code provided which will take you to the evaluation form online.
Leave us a review
We hope your experience at our fair was positive but good or bad we really appreciate your feedback because it helps us to continually improve our service.
Read some of the reviews we have received from visitors and stallholders over the years here.
Join us and shape the future of volunteering
Becoming a member of Volunteer Edinburgh means being part of something bigger. It means being part of a passionate community working to transform volunteering across the city. As a member, you’ll play an active role in shaping how volunteering evolves in Edinburgh, helping more people get involved and making a real impact across communities.
We’re proud of the energy, insight and commitment our members bring, and we’re always looking for fresh voices to join us. Members can stand for election as trustees, influence strategic decisions, and vote at our general meetings putting you right at the heart of our vision.
For more information and to apply for membership please visit our website here.
Volunteer Edinburgh Membership
Being a member of Volunteer Edinburgh is an opportunity to help shape what volunteering looks like in this premier city. Our members have a drive to make a difference, to see as many people as possible engaging in volunteer activities and to be a positive force for volunteering in the sector. Membership also gives you one account with full access to our AI tool called AVIE.
Exclusive access to AVIE
Organisational Members now enjoy exclusive access to AVIE, our innovative AI tool built for busy volunteer managers. AVIE streamlines your work by instantly generating customised volunteer role descriptions, agreements, risk assessments and more. All in a few clicks!
AVIE is an Artificial Intelligence tool from Volunteer Edinburgh
Our AI app for volunteer managers is an interactive tool designed to create high quality support structures, it is designed to ease your admin burden by composing tailored volunteer agreements, role descriptions, risk assessments and more. Experience the power of AVIE for yourself.
Marketing and promotion
We will work hard to publicise the fair as widely as possible but would ask that all organisations also take responsibility for marketing and publicising this event through your social networks, newsletters and by any other methods available. This will ensure that the event is known about throughout Edinburgh and will ultimately produce potential volunteers for you.
We need you, to help us, by spreading the word about the fair, so why not share this site edvolfair.org.uk and use our hashtag #edvolfair26.
Promotional materials will be published here in the lead up to the event. The Stallholder Index and Visitor Map will be published here prior to the event.
We will action a mailout of professional prints of posters and flyers to over 1400 organisations across the city starting from next week. The types of organisations include youth agencies, health and social care contacts, employability contacts, places of worship, community centres, libraries, leisure centres, supermarket noticeboards, and many more. Other ways we promote the event include, Eventbrite, through the Third Sector Interface and EVOC’s forums. We invite elected representatives including local Councillors, MSPs, and MPs.
Volunteer Edinburgh promotes the Fair through the Volunteer Edinburgh website, via email newsletters, press releases and through digital marketing. In addition, we promote the fair through paid-for, targeted social media advertising.
Media and social media on the day
The event has been promoted on social media platforms and local press, so some journalists may be in attendance. We ask that you share the promotion of the event on your own social platforms and tag Volunteer Edinburgh in each post. We can then share your posts also. It is in all our interests to promote the event to ensure we get as many potential volunteers’ as possible.
A photographer will be taking photographs throughout the day to capture some of the buzz of the day and to help us promote volunteering.
Content gathered on the day may appear on our website, social networks, in print and other media channels. You can find links to our social media channels in the footer of our website.
Please follow us on social media, and use the hashtag: #edvolfair26 when posting about the fair.
Cancellations
There is often a waiting list for stalls at this event, therefore it is important that you let us know as soon as possible if you are not able to attend. This will enable other organisations to take your place. Any stallholder who does not show up on the day and has not informed us of a cancellation will be contacted by phone.
Please note we are unable to reimburse organisations if a cancellation is made after the closing date of 21 August 2026.
Do’s and don'ts for on the day
Please do:
- Abide by the rules and instructions from Volunteer Edinburgh staff;
- Provide your own free standing display boards to fit into the space allocated to you, behind or on top of the table provided;
- Read the Venue Risk Assessment and on arrival at the venue please familiarise yourself with the Fire & Safety Regulations for St Paul’s and St George’s Church and where access routes are; and
- Complete the Evaluation Form before you leave and hand it in to the Welcome Desk or to any steward. A steward will come round later in the afternoon to remind you and to collect your form. We really do value your feedback.
Please do not:
- Attach anything to the walls;
- Allow bags, tablecloths etc. to block, or hang loose in the way of public access;
- All running cables should be taped securely to the Please ask a Steward for tape;
- Put too many staff/volunteers on the stall at once as it can be intimidating for members of the public;
- Bring your own kettle to use at your This is a major health and safety hazard. There is a café in the venue where you can get hot drinks;
- Play music on your stand. If you have asked for an electricity point and are playing a video/DVD, please ensure the volume is kept as low as possible so that other stands are not disturbed or provide headphones;
- Sell goods, collect donations, or collect signatures for petitions; and
- Pack away before 5.30pm. For Health and Safety reasons and out of professionalism, stalls should not be dismantled before the advertised event closing time.
Some tips for making your day a success!
- Use the three second rule: In the three seconds that it takes for a visitor to pass your stall they should know who you are and what you do, giving them a good reason to approach you.
- Have a bright and colourful A dull stall is a dead stall.
- Be prepared and have a list of what volunteer opportunities you have available.
- Bring copies of your Volunteer Role Descriptions so potential volunteers know what opportunities are available with your organisation and what is involved. Print enough copies so that people can take copies Consider laminating them and keep them for reference on your stall.
- Have a simple “sign-up” sheet to allow folk to leave their contact details if they are interested. Collecting names, email addresses, phone numbers and roles they are interested in is usually sufficient and allows you to follow-up interest.
Please remember if you are collecting information to follow GDPR legalisation by having a copy of your organisation’s privacy notice to hand.
- Think about how you can attract folk to your stall - a basket of fruit or sweets, free merchandise, props, or items that represent your service or photographs that show your volunteers in action.
- Don’t forget to follow up enquiries promptly before individuals lose interest.
- Ask open ended questions, don’t allow visitors to answer just “yes” or “no.” The phrase “can I help you?” has very rarely worked. Your body language is also as important as what you say so try to develop a friendly approach as well as making relaxed eye contact with potential volunteers.
- Have a rota for staff/volunteer handover, rests, and It is important to ensure that there is always someone on your stall to speak to members of the public.
- Ensure your staff/volunteers are well. Visitors will be put off by a group of bored or unengaged staff or volunteers sitting around chatting on your stand.
- Bring literature that promotes the work you do (leaflets, annual reports etc.).
- Stand out from the crowd. If you have branded T-shirts or caps, wear them!
- Identify yourself. Wear a name badge. You might want to print it in your organisation’s colours or add a logo.
- Please share your own tips and suggestions with us!
Thank you. Your cooperation is much appreciated.
If you have any further queries, please contact:
Jason McCann on +441315618310 or +447587034535, or email events@volunteeredinburgh.org.uk.
You can also write to us at:
Jason McCann
Volunteer Edinburgh
222 Leith Walk
Edinburgh
EH6 5EQ
