Mid-term (1 to 6 months) "environmental" project in United Kingdom

Volunteers are expected to start as soon as possible.

As a Medium Term Volunteer you will assist members of the core workers team in a wide range of tasks, which may change over time. So your motivation and flexibility are likely to be more important than a particular skill set. Your overall aim will be to help create the accepting and efficient setting within which visitors can best experience an authentic taste of community.
You will probably find you are given specific jobs on a regular basis relating to the responsibilities of the Caterer and or the Facilities Co-ordinator. For instance, you may be asked to be a regular kitchen assistant, or to operate our laundry.
Those who have enjoyed serving as Medium Term Volunteer include gap year students and early retired people, newcomers to Othona and long-established regular visitors, UK citizens and people from as far away as New Zealand and South Africa.

The following are all essential to the running of the centre and will be carried out by a combination of long and short term core members and volunteers. They offer variety and sometimes the opportunity to use (or develop) special skills or pursue a personal interest.

The following tasks are shared, often on a rota basis – cooking, cleaning, rubbish and recycling, worship leading (with support and training as appropriate).

The following tasks are usually allotted to core members for a period of time and then sometimes swapped. They allow you to pursue an area of interest in addition to your lead role: garden oversight, librarian, art room oversight.

One fun task will be linked with children groups that visit us. We regularly have an activity of making and firing water rockets – the volunteer will be asked to 'pose' as our visiting rocket expert and to briefly advise the assembled children, in his/her native tongue. :)

Common Competences for all Core Members

The core members are at the heart of the Othona Community. They need to be committed to the work of the community, its ethos and values. Core members work actively to live these out in their everyday life, and to further them. The competences below provide good examples of what this means in practice. The programme explains what Othona is about. Our policy statements show how the Othona Community seeks to realise these values in the way it manages people, its policies of equal opportunities and the green policies for house and grounds and in its open Christianity.

The heart of Othona is people – core colleagues, visitors and all those with whom we interact. People come because they know they will be welcomed, accepted and valued for who they are. Our role is not to be therapists or counsellors, but we do need to be interested in people and willing to listen and share. We also need to be aware of our own responses and feelings, and especially of the impact of our own behaviour on other people.

Othona core members and volunteers live and work together, and are host to an ever-changing number of visitors. They have to be flexible, able to adapt to varied and changing circumstances and people.

The main purpose of Othona is to provide visitors with a taste of life in community. The core members and volunteers need to be able to live and work together co-operatively, and provide support (and challenge). This is important not only to carry out our work but equally so we can enjoy our life together, relax and have fun.

Othona is a Christian community of a very open sort with an approach to spirituality where you may experience the fellowship of the spirit in everyday life. Although core members and volunteers do not have to be Christian, and may be of any faith tradition or none, we expect that they will respect the importance of Christian tradition and the values that are at the heart of Othona. They adopt the Othona Rule of Life as a framework for shared life, and participate actively in the spiritual aspects of community life including leading and joining in chapel services.

Who comes to Othona?

There are many different people who come to be part of the community here at Othona. Roughly half of those people come to take part in one the themed weekends or weeks we run during the year. Some of these people have been members of the community for many years; others are new comers. In addition we host a number of groups who come to centre and run their own programmes. These include church groups, many of whom come from the south and east of England. We also welcome a number of school groups during the summer term and run activity weeks for them.
At Othona, members of the core community, volunteers and visitors are all part of the community. People come for many reasons but they all experience simple, back to basics living and the chance to share life together in community. Everyone who comes to the centre enters into life here and shares in daily tasks such as washing up, assisting with cooking and cleaning.

As a member of the core community, what would my role be?

As a member of the core, you are part of a small group of people who share life together at Othona. We live and work together to welcome people from all walks of life to the centre, offering hospitality and openness for whatever length of time they are with us.
Our aim is to provide an accepting and safe environment for all who stay at Othona, but the nature of our work varies depending on the people visiting and the focus of the week. During themed weeks we share in the daily life of those visiting the centre - working together, sharing time in chapel, taking part in and sometimes leading activities and coming together for social activities. Visiting groups are also involved in day to day tasks but usually run their own programme of activities while we provide and share meals with them.
In addition we each also have specific areas for which we are responsible, including maintenance of the building and site; office management; catering and; maintenance of the grounds and gardening.

What is day to day life like for a member of the core community?

Varied! Othona Bradwell's remoteness is one of its greatest attractions and here you are never more than five minute walk from the quiet of the beach and the sea wall. But in contrast, the centre itself can be a hugely busy place with large groups of sixty plus people living together.
As members of the core community we share our lives together, whether we have a group visiting at the time or not. Each day we share our meals together, as well as working independently in our own areas. In the evenings when we have visitors staying we often join in with the evenings' entertainment and when there are no groups visiting we usually have that time to ourselves or sometimes go out together for a meal.

What accommodation is available for members of the core community?

Medium-term volunteers are accommodated in a two-room cabin / hut at the rear of the main building - washrooms are available in the main building.

What are the arrangements for management and support of members of the core community?

Members of the core community are line managed by the warden. Living and working at Othona is a unique opportunity for you to explore your own needs and gifts in a supportive and non-judgemental environment. It is inevitably an experience that will challenge and stretch you. It will also help you develop a wide range of skills and training and development are offered as appropriate.

Volunteers participating in this project are expected to pay a participation fee of £40 (GBP) which will be used in a fund to support the creation of new workcamps in the UK.

If you are interested to apply please ask your sending organisation to contact VAP so that we provide you with our MLTV application form.