GUIDED TOURS
If you just want to have a look around and see what we’re about, the best way to visit is to come on one of our guided tours which run on the last Saturday of each month from 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm from April until September, with an optional cuppa at the end.
Please either call – 01239 820164, or email – visit@brithdirmawr.co.uk to let us know you’re coming and to check availability.
There is no set charge, but we ask for a donation for our ‘Save Brithdir’ fund: the suggested minimum being £5 per adult
This is a working farm so please bring weather appropriate footwear and outdoor clothing.
VOLUNTEERING
If you are eager and willing to get stuck in and lend a hand come as a volunteer… get your hands dirty in the garden, in the woods, on the land. Dig something, build something, cook something.
We are a land-based community and are always looking for people who’d be able to help with the practical side of community life: growing, fixing, maintaining and building; people with skills and enthusiasm to get jobs done.
Rather than accepting volunteers all the time we run monthly volunteer weeks. We can host a maximum of 9 people each month, we often work on a particular project, but sometimes you’ll just be helping out with a variety of things during the week.
There is no charge for coming on a volunteer week – we offer meals and accommodation for around 5.5 hours work a day Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and 3.5 hours work on a Wednesday morning. At the weekend, and on Wednesday afternoon, your time is your own to explore the surrounding area, or just chill.
Volunteer weeks happen on the third week of each month, except November and December.
If you’re interested in attending the first thing to do is to get in touch with us via email indicating when you’d be interested in coming and to find out more.
Please know that we are unable to accept every request for volunteering as spaces are limited so if you don’t get a placement please don’t be discouraged from trying again another time.
Please Note: As a volunteer you are responsible for your own safety. We advise that you take out insurance as you would for any holiday and check you are covered for medical care including transportation home, accidents, and loss of property. You should also be covered against you injuring other people or losing or breaking other people’s property. Make sure your insurer knows that you will be a volunteer on a farm.
PLEASE HELP US BY BEING CERTAIN ABOUT YOUR VISIT!
Accommodation is limited, and demand is high. For every person we accept as a volunteer, there are several others we have to turn down. When we have volunteer bookings, extra meals are cooked and suitable work activities are planned. Members may also need to arrange their other work commitments around volunteer visits, so we ask you to understand that it is really inconvenient for us and unfair to other potential visitors if you don’t turn up or cancel at very short notice.
Please confirm your place within 7 days of it being offered, and then again a week or so before you are due to come and if you do have to cancel your visit, do so as soon as you can to give us a chance to offer the place to someone else.
WHAT TO BRING AND EXPECT
You’ll need wellies, work gloves, a torch, and some slippers or indoor shoes (the slate floors are cold). It would be really wise to bring waterproofs too, as it can be quite rainy here sometimes, and maybe suncream and a hat as the majority of the work is outdoors. You can use your initiative on that one!
Please bring only eco-friendly toiletries – we are not on mains drainage and we don’t want to introduce nasty chemicals into the local environment.
Accommodation is fairly basic. It can be anything from a private bedroom in the farmhouse to a mattress on the floor in a dormitory, depending on the event and the circumstances. Please note this is a mixed-gender dormitory. If this causes problems for you please let us know; an alternative may be available.
If you are coming by car, we ask that you bring your own bedding and towels.
This is a working farm so conditions are often pretty basic & muddy in places (both indoors and out) – but most people love it!
Sorry, but we don’t take visitors, volunteers, course participants or campers who haven’t arranged their visit beforehand, so please don’t just turn up. We are all very busy running the Community and our lives and we will recommend you return on a prearranged visit.
JOINING THE COMMUNITY
Joining a community is a big commitment, and the full process takes a year, as we all need to be sure we’re making the right decision.
The initial step we offer to all potential members is to come on a volunteer week to get a feel for what we’re about and for us all to get to know each other a bit.
If you’re still interested we’ll discuss at our weekly meeting inviting you back for another week to visit outside of a volunteer week with a community member allocated to sponsor you.
After that, or possibly after a few such visits, if you seem right for us and vice-versa, you would be invited back to volunteer for a full month.
If after the month everyone is still happy you would begin the joining process as a potential member. This lasts for 12 months, during which time you will have several reviews, at the end of the year you will be able to become a full member
We do recognise that everyone’s situation is different, and it’s not compulsory to jump in after a week with a month long volunteer position; we’re more than happy to be flexible in terms of the number of subsequent visits that are made – just ask.
When you first come to visit, as well as doing some work around the site and exploring you will get the opportunity to eat together with everyone at communal meals, and a chance to question members what it’s really like living here, as well as asking any questions you have about how the Community is set up.