Long-term (more than 6 months) "educational/teaching" projects in France

- The minimum length to participate is 6 months. In some cases volunteers can come between 6 to 12 months and agree on the length before their arrival.
- The selection is based primarly on the motivation of the volunteer. So a specific motivation letter is required to apply.
- Other factors taken into account are nationality (no more than one volunteer per nationality), gender (we try to keep a balance). Having a driving licence is a plus.

Solidarités Jeunesses is an organisation that works for non-formal education. It runs a number of small community centres in rural environments and organises short and long-term international workcamps, social integration projects, training programmes and actions for international solidarity.
Created in 1993, the association 'Le Créneau' is the delegation of Solidarités Jeunesses in Auvergne/Rhône-Alpes.

- To have a meeting and hosting structure where the dominant theme is intercultural exchanges through group life.
- To help enliven and develop the region by working in cooperation with the local government and education centres (recreation centres, clubs, schools, etc.).
- To support projects sponsored both by our association and the community by organizing international work camps.
- To help people with social and professional difficulties get back on track.

The project is based out of the Château des Prureaux, in the village of Montcombroux-les-Mines in the centre of France. The nearest towns are those of Vichy (45km, pop. 26,000), Moulins (50km, pop. 22,000) and Roanne (60km, pop. 40,000). Clermont-Ferrand is the nearest city (90km, pop. 250,000). The château is
surrounded by fields and forests, and itself rests on a piece of hedged farmland. Montcombroux-les-Mines is a small village with around 400 inhabitants, and both the name of the town and the architecture reflect it's mining past.

The region is rich in natural and architectural beauty, but marked by an ageing population. With little to no industry,the locals here rely on green tourism, the sale of artisangoods and quality farming dominated by cow breeding. There is little public transportation, and the closest train stations are St. Germain-des-Fossés (35km) and Digoin (25km). The château itself is located in a very isolated spot, 6km form the nearest services. However, thepresence of the permanent team and the groups that we host regularly make up for therelative isolation.

The castle is a bourgeois mansion that was built in the 19th century over the foundations of anold farm. In addition to the main building there is a small forest, a farmyard, a vegetablegarden, and several smaller buildings that make up a courtyard. Since 1993 the association has been devoted to the restoration, maintenance and revival of the area by promoting theartisan traditions of the region (basketry, bread making, etc.) and other local actions and organizing international work camps that host volunteers from all origins.

The volunteer will work an average of 30 hours per week and will take his/her freetime in accordance with his tutor and the needs of the association.

1) The main part of the work consists in restoring the buildings and keeping them in a goodstate, as well as laying out the gardens, farmyard, etc.
2) Throughout the year groups of people will join us at the Château, many of them with social difficulties. Volunteers will help in planning activities, workshops, etc. according to their personal interests.
3) Other opportunities may include organizingworkshops in the schools, participating in and/orleading an international summer work camp,gardening, and promoting the association through local events.
4)Individual project : We strongly believe that is important for the volunteer to implement, during his/her voluntary service, one or several personal ideas in
accordance with the values and the project of the association. We think voluntary should also be an opportunity to reflect, to experiment and to take initiatives. Time is set aside each weekin order to allow to the volunteers to dedicate themselves to their personal projects.

The volunteer will participate in the group life, together with the staff, the official members and the guests and will contribute:
- to the general renovation - masonry, painting, maintenance;

cooking, cleaning, shopping, bread making;

weekly meeting, host and transportation of the guests;
- to the activities implemented - video projections, debates, games, happenings, trainings.

The volunteers will share rooms with 3 other volunteers within the castle.

We do not have any specific criteria of selection. We want to offer an opportunity to share in the experience here to all kinds of
people, regardless of their age, their social origin, their level of French language, or their skills.

- to participate to the whole project, which will at times include evenings and weekends;
- to have the willingness to join other people, share impressions and ideas and to live a sometimes hard but very rich collective experience for several
months;
- to note that Le Créneau is situated in a very remote place, in the middle of the countryside, without any public transport.

- The minimum length to participate is 6 months. In some cases volunteers can come between 6 to 12 months and agree on the length before their arrival.
- The selection is based primarly on the motivation of the volunteer. So a specific motivation letter is required to apply.
- Other factors taken into account are nationality (no more than one volunteer per nationality), gender (we try to keep a balance). Having a driving licence is a plus.

Solidarités Jeunesses is an organisation that works for non-formal education. It runs a number of small community centres in rural environments and organises short and long-term international workcamps, social integration projects, training programmes and
actions for international solidarity. Created in 2003, the association CITRUS, represents the project of Solidarités Jeunesses in Midi-Pyrénées. The main activities of the association CITRUS are the organisation of workcamps with international volunteers, the organisation of workshops raising awareness of the environment, and the promotion of volunteering.

the project is in Laguépie, a small village with 730 inhabitants, in the region “Pays Midi-Quercy”, situated in a rural and isolated area, about hundred kilometres north-eastern of Toulouse. This territory of Occitan traditions is covered by an associative net,
which organises social and cultural activities, in an environment marked by weak economic activities and the ageing of the population. Laguépie is at 35 minutes by car from Septfonds (head office of the association Citrus), and it is about thirty kilometres from the towns of Albi
(50 000 inhabitants), Gaillac (12 000 inhabitants), and Villefranche-de-Rouergue (12 000 inhabitants), and also about 70 km from the city of Montauban (55 000 inhabitants).

Volunteers will work 30 to 35 hours per week and take their holidays in consultation with the team, according to the season and needs of the association. Two half days per week are given to the conception and realisation of a personal project and language support. By participating in workshops and meetings organised by the
association, volunteers are actively involved in the associative life, contribute to the general organization of the implemented activities, and can propose their own ideas.

- Manual work - Volunteers will participate to the renewing and reconstructing of an old farm and its buildings, which is called “La Mayounelle”, in order to create a centre of reception and intercultural meeting, as well as the restoration of the small buildings in the surrounding municipalities. The work is undertaken in a team, and managed under the responsibility of a qualified leader.

- Local animation - The volunteers will participate regularly in activities of local animation, in cultural events or in activities with educational character in partnership with the municipalities, institutions and the local associations. The association supports for example the local schools to set up workshops regarding the environment, within the framework of the project of the collective garden.

- Workcamps - Long term volunteers may become campleaders during the summer in other villages of the region, under the support of the permanent staff. Every year, a collective training of one week is organised by Solidarités Jeunesses to enable them to acquire the
necessary skills to function as workcamp leader. They can also invest themselves in the preparation of workcamps (prenegotiation meetings, logistic support, establishment of tools, selection of the location etc.)

The volunteers will be accommodated in collective housing, share rooms (2 to 3 volunteers per room) in a big house in the centre of the village, which is provided by the municipality. All the hosted people participate in the tasks of daily life and are requested to respect the collectively established rules of life - schedules, sharing out daily tasks, etc - everything that concerns the intercultural exchange.

The volunteers will have regular and free access to Internet, a telephone line in order to receive calls at the hosting place, and by looking out for possibilities of transportation according to needs (bicycles, minibus, public transport possibilities by bus in the local area,
and train station in Laguépie : one hour by train from Toulouse).

We expect that the volunteer has a good understanding of the global project, and that he or she wants to be part of the group dynamic of and the collective life. We consider volunteering as an act of exchange between a volunteer, who offers his or her time, work, and energy for the benefit of a project of common interest and a
host community that offers the volunteer a field of learning, testing and personal development. We ask that volunteers are motivated, open minded and ready to make concessions in order to work as a team and live with other people very different.

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