Not sure about UK, but in the Netherlands, volunteers often get a "costs reimbursement". If you're a full time volunteer, that reimbursment may roughly equal a crappy salary. Maybe that's what Liz is getting, too.

It'd be nothing like what she could earn in industry, but enough to keep a roof over her head and food on the table. And a Raspberry Pi in every room.

There are varying degrees of 'funded'.

What seems odd to me is the idea of a Brit actively keeping people from queuing. That's basically Britain's national pastime.

Depends on how you handle the pre-orders, most would try something like paypal but they are so terrible at dealing with pre-order payments and account freezing that it is easier to avoid pre-orders at all.