Trails & guides · 4 Oct 2026

Where to volunteer for the 2026 harvest across England and Wales

Here is your chance to participate in this year's harvest. Volunteer grape pickers are needed across the UK - read more to see how to sign up and what a day involves.

2026 was a scorcher. The Met Office provisionally recorded the UK's warmest summer since records began in 1884, and the grapes ripened early. Nyetimber started picking on 14 September, five days ahead of its previous record, and Hattingley Valley also expected one of the earliest harvests on record. Picking is well progressed across the UK, with harvest continuing through October.

Many of the smaller vineyards across the country rely on armies of volunteers to bring in their grapes - presenting a rare opportunity to get your hands dirty on a working vineyard, no experience needed. A volunteer day usually starts with a coffee and a quick briefing, then it is snips in hand along the rows, filling buckets and crates. Lunch is laid on, sometimes with a glass of the vineyard's own wine, and a few send pickers home with a bottle. Some days are a morning; others run to mid-afternoon. It is outdoors, sociable and properly hands-on, and plenty of pickers come back year after year.

The one thing nobody controls is the weather. Grapes are picked ripe and dry, so dates can move at short notice: sign up, then watch for the email. Wear sturdy shoes or wellies, bring gloves and a waterproof, and check whether to bring your own secateurs; many vineyards supply snips. Some days are adults only, so check before bringing children.

At a glance

Winery	When	How to sign up
1DunesfordeNorth Yorkshire	Thu 8, Tue 13 and Thu 15 Oct	Online form
2Chet ValleyNorfolk	Weekends to 25 Oct	By email
3BrightwellOxfordshire	Most days in October	Contact form
4St HilarySouth Glamorgan	Three mornings to 12 Oct, dates TBC	By email
5House of HenhamEssex	One day by 15 Oct, date TBC	By email
6GalleywoodEssex	Set as the grapes ripen	Online form
7HuxbearDevon	Into the second half of October	Online form
8HanwellNottinghamshire	Sent to its picking email list	Email list

Dates and sign-up details checked against each vineyard’s own page on 4 October 2026. Harvest dates move with the weather, so the vineyard’s page has the last word.

1 of 8

Dunesforde

1
Dunesforde
North Yorkshire
Thu 8, Tue 13 and Thu 15 Oct · Online form
Dunesforde has three harvest days on its 2026 sign-up form: Thursday 8, Tuesday 13 and Thursday 15 October, each marked available. They are potential dates, held flexibly for the weather, the ripeness of the grapes and what the winery needs.
Sign up on Dunesforde's harvest form, for as many sessions as suit. A lunch form and further details follow a couple of days before each date, and questions go to contact@dunesforde.com.
Volunteers, friends and the Dunesforde team hand-pick across the vineyard together. No previous experience is needed, and the vineyard provides the kit and shows each picker what to do. Lunch, and wine, is provided for everyone who joins. The vines are Bacchus, Solaris, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir Précoce, planted from 2016 near the Townsend family's home in Upper Dunsforth.
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2
Chet Valley
Norfolk
Weekends to 25 Oct · By email
Chet Valley has harvest days on Saturday 10, 17 and 24 October and Sunday 11, 18 and 25 October, from 10am to 4pm. Spaces are limited.
Places are booked by email to Lily, at events@chetvineyard.co.uk.
No experience is needed, and pickers bring their own gloves. Once the grapes are in, everyone eats together. Community harvest days have run here since the vineyard first picked its grapes, in 2013, and on an earlier harvest the crates were collected by the vineyard team on a buggy, so pickers did no heavy lifting.
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3
Brightwell
Oxfordshire
Most days in October · Contact form
Brightwell picks on most weekdays and weekends through October 2026.
Volunteers get in touch through Brightwell's contact form. No previous experience is necessary.
The vineyard covers 16 acres and grows eight grape varieties, among them Bacchus, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The vineyard was first planted in the late 1980s, and Didcot Parkway is the nearest station.
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4
St Hilary
South Glamorgan
Three mornings to 12 Oct, dates TBC · By email
St Hilary is harvesting on three mornings between 25 September and 12 October, with the dates to be confirmed.
Register interest by email to info@sthilaryvineyard.wales.
The morning starts with a short briefing, breaks for coffee mid-morning, and ends with a light lunch with wine or fruit juice. St Hilary provides the snips and buckets; pickers wear sensible shoes and bring gloves. The hectare of vines, a mile from Cowbridge, was planted in 2021 with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.
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5
House of Henham
Essex
One day by 15 Oct, date TBC · By email
The Big Pick falls on one day between 30 September and 15 October, with the date to be confirmed once the grapes are ready.
Register interest by email to cheers@houseofhenham.com, and the vineyard gets in touch once the grapes are ready.
Every grape at Henham is picked by hand, from 8,500 vines, tended since 2016 on chalky soil off Sparley Lane. Pickers are fed and watered through the day.
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6
Galleywood
Essex
Set as the grapes ripen · Online form
Galleywood is recruiting harvest volunteers for 2026, and confirms start dates once the sugar and acid levels in the grapes are ready.
Register on Galleywood's volunteer form, giving the days of the week usually free. Spaces fill quickly.
Volunteers are over 18, need no experience, and bring a pair of secateurs. Food runs through the day: a hot drink and biscuits in the vines in the morning, a ploughman's lunch in the winery building, and tea and cake before home, with a bottle of the wine. Many pickers come back each year to meet friends from previous harvests.
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7
Huxbear
Devon
Into the second half of October · Online form
Huxbear's harvest can start in the last week of August and run into the second half of October, and the vineyard is taking sign-ups for 2026.
Sign up on Huxbear's harvest page, with a phone number and the days free.
Full training is given, so no experience is necessary, and Huxbear provides gloves and picking snips. Lunch is laid on at the end.
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8
Hanwell
Nottinghamshire
Sent to its picking email list · Email list
Hanwell's harvest usually falls in September and October and takes up to seven days. Dates are shared a few weeks ahead with the people on its grape-picking email list.
Join the grape-picking email list to hear when picking dates are set.
The briefing starts at 9.30am or 10.30am, and there are drinks and snacks at morning and afternoon breaks, with a complimentary sandwich lunch. Snips and gloves are provided. Children who can safely use scissors are welcome, with an adult over 25 for anyone under 16, and the uneven ground between the vines rules out wheelchairs and pushchairs. At the end of the harvest, every volunteer over 18 takes home a bottle.
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