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A Helping Hand On Our Renovation Project in Rural Northern Spain

5.0
(6 reviews)6

The experience

We’re a British family of four - Tom, Lucy, Betty (5) and Mila (2) who have moved from England to the Spanish Pyrenees in search of a more tranquil life surrounded by nature, where we can make the most of life together while we turn a run-down farmhouse into our dream home and business. We're looking for help in all elements of our new life here!

What you offer

25 hours of help per week

Kitchen Hand: Help prepare, finish and serve meals.

Animal Care: Help look after and take care of animals.

Building & Repairing: Help with a wide range of repairs or building.

Gardening: Help grow plants and cultivate gardens

What you get

2 days off per week

Private Room: You will have a bed in a private room. In other words, a room just for you.

Shared Dorm: You will have a bed in a shared room, which means you will share the same room with other travelers.

Lunch: You are entitled to a free lunch, every day of your stay.

Dinner: You are entitled to a free dinner, every day of your stay.

Free Laundry: You can use our laundry room freely.

Pick Up: We will pick you up when you arrive, and take you to our property.

Use our equipped kitchen: Feel free to use our kitchen and make your own delicious food.

Requirements

Fluent English or Intermediate Spanish

Welcomes solo volunteers, couples, and partners of volunteers

What's not included

Flights, Travel Insurance, Internal Transportation and Visa

Program Details

We're new to hosting volunteers, but have been volunteers ourselves in the past! It was a volunteering experience that actually inspired us to make this dramatic change in our lifestyle. We'll be working on our house and land for years to come, and think that hosting volunteers will be a wonderful way to enrich the experience by sharing our lifestyle and project with other people looking to make the most of their travels.
There are so many different things you could get stuck into! We're right at the start of our project so there will certainly be somehow that your skills ands interests could be made the most of. It will mainly be physical work - whether it's helping us with elements of the build, helping us maintain the garden and veggies, chickens & ducks, or helping to look after the children. We'd also love help with creating some videos for social media, if this is your thing. On days that we all eat together, we always appreciate help tidying up afterwards. If you enjoy cooking, you're very welcome to cook a meal too!
Your accommodation with be a caravan in the barn - we were living in this caravan ourselves for the first 3 months! It's very large and comfortable, with hot water, heating, and toilet. You may have this to yourself or be sharing with another volunteer. We have recently built an outdoor hot shower and composting toilet as well, with beautiful views down the valley!

Activities & Shift


We'll be working roughly between the hours of 9:30 and 3:30, around the kids' school times. But days off don't have to be weekends - we can be flexible.
It's unlikely that any two days will be the same!
In July & August it's the summer holidays, so things may be a bit different with the children around and we'll be looking for more help taking care of them while continuing to work on the project (they're super fun!).
This area is absolutely stunning - there is so much to see and do. But even just relaxing in the garden and taking in the mountain views after work can be a lovely thing to do. We have a little pool to cool off on hot days, a trampoline & hammock for garden fun. There is hiking, biking, climbing, wild swimming and more - all local to us. The local town of Aínsa is stunning and has all the amenities you might need. We'll support you in making the most of being in this area!

Rules

We like to find a balance of becoming 'part of the family', whilst also making sure everyone has a bit of their own space - we spend most of the day together working, and then tend to have a bit of down time separately before having dinner together on work days. On days off sometimes we do activities together with volunteers and sometimes we have separate plans - it varies!
We will provide lunch, dinner and a few snacks on work days (normally 5 days a week). We ask you to provide your own breakfast / snacks/ alcohol. And on non-work days we don't provide meals. We will take you to a supermarket in your first couple of days here to make sure you have everything you need!
We ask that you are respectful of the house, the garden, and the caravan you'll be staying in - keeping it clean and tidy.
Please mind your language around the children.
Be open and honest with us, and give your tasks maximum effort!