Information for Volunteers

Monkton Wyld Court

Information for Volunteers

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with us!

This short introduction is designed to give you some basic information about volunteering at Monkton Wyld Court. Please take time to read it before filling in the application form so that you know a bit more about what to expect!

Monkton Wyld Court is a community-led sustainable education centre. A small team of residential community members oversee the day-to-day running of the community and its educational programme, as well as running the main house as Bed Breakfast and hostel accommodation and maintaining the 15-acre site. This includes the main house, its outbuildings, kitchen garden, fruit garden, woods and orchards. There is also a small farm which is run by our tenants. Our aim is to promote awareness of our shared responsibility to the planet and each other through our programme of courses as well as our own efforts towards a sustainable lifestyle.

History

Monkton Wyld Court was built in 1848 as the Rectory for St. Andrew’s Church across the road. After a brief period as a hotel, in 1940 Carl and Eleanor Urban founded Monkton Wyld School, an independent co-educational boarding school which emphasised equality, freedom and self-sufficiency. When the School closed in 1982, three teachers stayed on with some family and friends and established a resident community to continue its educational work – Monkton Wyld Court is still a community-led education centre today. We ask you to join us in caring for this lovely space while staying with us, and to be responsible in your use of our resources.

Volunteers

Running a sustainable community, education centre and accommodation is a lot of work and we couldn’t do what we do without the help of short-term and long-term volunteers! We welcome around 6 volunteers at any one time throughout the year, usually for a two-week period initially, to work alongside the resident community. Volunteering with us is an exchange of work for accommodation, food and an experience of community life.

We will offer you:

·  An introductory tour and explanation of everything you need to know about the work of Monkton Wyld Court and your volunteering role, as well as any training you may need to do your job;

·  Free meals and accommodation for the agreed duration of your stay in exchange for working up to 35 hours per week.

·  A community member (“Volunteer Coordinator”) who is available to discuss your volunteering including any problems you may experience;

·  Adequate training to follow our health and safety policy and fire evacuation procedure;

·  Insurance cover whilst undertaking voluntary work approved and authorised by us;

·  We will try to resolve fairly any problems, grievances or difficulties you may have while volunteering with us.

In return we expect you to:

·  Help Monkton Wyld Court fulfil its role as a sustainable education centre by carrying out volunteer tasks as required to the best of your ability;

·  Follow our health and safety procedures (such as when using tools or in the kitchen) and other rules which have been designed for the smooth and harmonious running of the community;

·  Ask if you need support meeting the demands of your job or tell whoever is supervising you if you are unable to do a task; talk to the volunteer coordinator if you have any other problems regarding your stay here, including any difficulties with other volunteers of community members;

·  Act in a respectful and considerate way towards our community members, volunteers and clients and do not discuss confidential information about the organisation outside MWC; discriminatory, offensive or disrespectful behaviour will not be tolerated and may mean you are asked to leave;

·  Be on time to meetings, work and any other commitments or give reasonable notice when this is not possible so that other arrangements can be made.

·  Show self-responsibility towards your volunteering, e.g. by asking questions when you want to learn something or asking / looking for ways to help if you have finished your task rather than waiting to be told what to do next.

As a potential volunteer, it is important that you are aware that we will probably need your help in all of the different areas – gardens, kitchen, housekeeping, site maintenance, etc. Our farming tenants have their own volunteers, but sometimes ask for help too, such as when the hay needs to be turned. We try to make a rota in which volunteers rotate between all of the different areas. If you have specialist skills, we might ask you to focus on one project which we could especially use your help with - there is room on the application form to tell us about these skills. Also, if you have a particular interest in learning something specific, it is worth mentioning this.

Please note that under our Child Protection policy we cannot take volunteers below the age of 18. All volunteers reside at MWC entirely at the discretion of the Board of Trustees and we do reserve the right to ask people to leave if serious problems arise. Arrangements may be made for volunteers with children on a case-by-case basis; please note that we do not have childcare facilities.

Working hours and time off

The working day begins with a short 8.30am meeting to plan the day ahead. Work starts at 9am and finishes at 5pm though kitchen shifts may vary slightly. There is a 20-minute break in the morning (around 11am) and the afternoon (around 3.30pm), and 1 hour at lunch. Volunteers (alongside community members) also take it in turns to do the washing up one evening per week and each clean the dining room one day per week. Volunteers work an average of 35 hours a week and a working rota is made by the volunteer coordinator at the beginning of the week according to community priorities, events, the season and staff availability. Everyone has 2 days off per week; for volunteers, this includes their departure day. Days off are usually assigned depending on what is going on (weekends often being busiest), but let us know if you have any preferences about which days off you have, or if you would like to have the same day off as someone else – we’ll try our best.

Meals

Help yourself to breakfast any time before 9am (before or after the brief morning meeting at 8.30am). Lunch is served at 1pm and dinner at 6pm. You can help yourself to tea, coffee and toast etc. at any time. Our food is vegetarian, as well as organic, locally sourced, seasonal, and ethically traded wherever possible. If you would like to eat eggs for breakfast, you can cook them for yourself in the kitchen, but please make sure you leave the kitchen clean and wash up the pan. Since we are a vegetarian community, if you wish to eat meat on occasion, please only cook this at the fire pit and bear in mind that we do not have storage facilities for meat. We can cater for gluten free and dairy free diets (please state this on the application form). Volunteers are asked to wash up their own dishes after each meal; whoever is on dining room duty will dry these, put them away and keep the dining room clean. Please tell the kitchen staff if you will not be here for any meals on your day off.

Free time

In addition to your bedroom, volunteers are welcome to use the piano room / sitting room when not in use by guests, as well as the fire pit, pub, the garden and grounds, and the new library, where there is a selection of books and DVDs. Wifi is accessible in some areas of the house, but not in the bedrooms. Some regular events, such as a weekly yoga class (reduced charge of £2) and Morris Dancing, are open to volunteers. We have a folder with descriptions of local walks and you can borrow maps too. Community members may need time to themselves in the evenings, but there are always several volunteers here at any one time and there are plenty of ways to create your own entertainment – film nights, music nights, board games, table tennis, and trips out to name just a few! If you are also interested in courses that we are running, check what is scheduled during your stay. Please note though that course places should be booked separately and no volunteer discount is available.

Smoking, Drugs & Alcohol

Smoking is only permitted at the fire pit. We ask that you do not bring or use any illegal substances on site and that you do not use alcohol excessively. For Health and Safety reasons, if you are obviously under the influence of alcohol during your working hours you will be asked to leave.

Energy and water

We are fortunate to have water from our own wells and a reedbed sewage system. Please be aware of water usage when taking baths and showers. Please use the landfill bins in the toilets for tampons, condoms etc. and do not use non-ecological toiletries, as these will damage the delicate reedbed sewage system. Please use the recycling bins in the bathrooms and dining room for paper etc., and put any leftover food in the pig/compost bins (ask if unsure). To help us save energy, please turn off any lights and heaters when not in use (except for those with a red strip on the switch, which should be left on at night).

Extending your stay

Although we start all volunteers on 2 week trial period, it may be possible to remain on a longer-term basis, especially if they have skills which are of particular use to the current projects and needs of the community. If you would like to stay longer please discuss this with the volunteer coordinator as soon as possible. We cannot guarantee extensions, but we will try to respond to requests by Thursday of the first week.

We hope you now have an idea about what volunteering at Monkton Wyld Court involves. If you would like to come and volunteer with us, please fill in our application form and send it back to us. We look forward to hearing from you!

Updated: 17 February 2015