Staff & Volunteer Hub

The Garden is open to the public as below:

Thursday 25th November – Sunday 28th November 10 am – 5 pm (Sunday closes 4 pm)
and Thursday 6 pm – 8 pm VIP evening.

Staff and volunteers will need to be available earlier and later than these times, depending on what you have signed up to do.  If you are unsure as to when you should be at the Garden drop our Volunteer Development Manager, Katie Weston (), a line if you are a volunteer or speak to your line manager if you are a member of staff.

All staff and volunteers are scheduled to have a lunch break even if they are working half a day, you will get the timing of your lunch break on the day.

At the moment the Government rules on covid will not require people to wear masks within the Fair. We will monitor this situation closely and make attendees aware of any changes in these rules.

If you wish to wear a face mask you are of course very welcome to do so.

The event takes place in our beautiful 4-acre garden just off Cheyne walk in a purpose-built heated marquee. Cheyne walk is one of the most expensive residential areas of London and as such, there is hardly any street parking on either Thursday, Friday or Saturday and only a small amount on Sunday.

Please look at the RBKC website for parking restrictions.

There is parking available across the river by Battersea Park, only a short walk from the Garden.

The Garden’s cafe will only be open when the Fair is open to the public and there will be a variety of other food stalls available throughout the Fair.

Staff and Volunteer discounts will only be available at the Cafe.

Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided throughout the Fair in the Gallery. As a special thank you to volunteers we will be providing you with a reusable CPG insulated mug that is yours to keep. Staff can purchase a mug for a donation of £5. There will be no disposable cups provided.

As always a delicious lunch will be provided for staff and volunteers on each day of the Fair. On Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday a hot vegan soup will be available to everyone and on Saturday and Sunday, we are very excited to have a buffet and sandwich selected provided by one of our very own volunteers.

Power is very limited at the Christmas Fair. We will have a phone charging station set up in the Gallery but please be aware that all devices are left at the owner’s own risk.

We encourage you to post on twitter and Instagram during the Fair. Please do tag the Garden in your posts and we will make our best efforts to retweet and draw attention to your posts. You can follow us on Instagram, @chelsea_physic_garden and on Twitter, @ChelsPhysicGdn.

During the Fair we will be using the hashtag #CPGxmasfair so please also feel free to use this to help us see and promote your posts.

Please be sensible when posting and take care not to include images of our security systems, such as alarms and locks.

There is no dress code, but please dress warmly and appropriately for the role that you are undertaking, we recommend layers so that you are prepared for whatever the great British weather throws at us.

Staff will need to wear uniforms where appropriate.

Staff, volunteers and stallholders will all be required to wear lanyards at all times within the Fair. The colour of your lanyard will show which category you fall into:

Orange – Stallholder

Blue – Volunteer

Red- Staff

On every day of the Fair, there are two Duty Managers working. They will be able to answer any questions that you have.

To find a duty manager ask any staff member in a red lanyard and they will be able to radio for them.

When you are on a break you can feel free to enjoy the Fair itself, just remember to take off your lanyard if you don’t want to be asked questions by visitors.

Otherwise please head up the Gallery for a cuppa and take the chance to socialise with your fellow staff and volunteers who will be there.

The only areas of the Garden that are open are those marked on the visitor map. As part of your role at the Fair, you may be asked to go “back of house”, which means into areas that are off-limits to the public. We ask that you only go into these areas when your role requires.

Any lost property should be handed into reception. However, if the item is at all suspicious please treat it as a suspicious package. For guidance on suspicious packages please watch the short video below.