Project Work
For three or four days a week our volunteers mainly focus on practical hands-on outdoor work. The nature of conservation and sustainability work means the quite often these jobs will be unglamorous or repetitive, but we have fun as a group. Be prepared to get your hands dirty!
There are hundreds of projects to take on at the Valley, from small personal projects to massive group efforts, like our eco-building projects.
You can read more about the principles of sustainability and conservation and how we are trying to apply them here. Here are some typical regular tasks:
- environmental weed control, track maintenance
- tree planting
- gardening, mulching, pruning
- picking (and eating!) fruit, making jam
- building, carpentry and building maintenance
- bridge building
- chopping firewood and recovering timber for building/ craft projects
- vehicle maintenance
- various administration functions (e.g. planning, finance, database work, website work, fundraising for conservation)
A typical project day would be like this:
- 7:00 to 8:00 am - Wake up! Enjoy a morning walk, do some yoga or stretching, watch the sunrise with a cup of tea or coffee, eat breakfast.
- 8:00 to 12:00 am - Time to work! Group projects, inside or outside, on the land or in our small office.
- 12:00 to 1:00 pm - Lunch time - fresh salad and bread, spreads, eggs, cheese, sometimes veggies, in winter often soup...
- 1:00 to 5:00 pm - Projects, either self-directed or with the group.
- 6:00 to 7:00 pm - Group dinner - time to catch up with other folks and have meaningful or silly conversations, warm cooked or baked food.
- Evening time - Time to relax, play or listen to music, build a bonfire, play games, take a walk, watch a film or a documentary. Most folks find a rhythm with the sun and are in bed not long after sunset.
Some skilled volunteers may get involved in PR, marketing, web work, CAD, GIS, video production etc. In fact, many specialised projects lurk quietly in the shadows just waiting for volunteers with the right skills to come along, so do let us know if you've got a passion or a particular skill-set that would be of use!
