Recommendations from past interns

We thought it would be helpful to have a few words of encouragement from past interns for those people wondering whether to apply or not, and what we got was brilliant testamonials about how valuable the experience was. Read on…

“I arrived on day one to the unspoilt rural paradise, the long lush grass beneath my feet and the people who would make the next 2 months so special. Peter, Helen and the rest of the gang are so knowledgeable about not only the Green and Away project, but about sustainability and green debates on a wider scale. The summer passed with many informative discussions with a range of influential “Greenies”, opening my mind to new perspective as well as learning about the eco-life that Green and Away demonstrates so well. From fresh, locally produced foods to solar, wind and fire power, composting toilets, alternative building and usefully reusing anything available, Green and Away certainly practices what it preaches! It is still, three years later the only place I have known to do this with such commitment. The experiences and knowledge I gained at Green and Away have certainly benefited me when finding related jobs as well as influencing my long term dreams!”

Sofia Yarwood (UK) 2009

 “I spent the summer of 2009 for seven weeks with Green and Away as an intern. I was assigned to the kitchen and I enjoyed it very much. I learnt so many things regarding sustainable and healthy cooking. I worked as the kitchen manager helping run the field kitchen which was producing three meals for around 35 crew members each day, plus additional catering for around 130 delegates at each of five conferences of two days each. My work included menu planning, stock control, food ordering, health and hygiene awareness, managing staff and volunteers and rotas as well as cooking. I enjoyed the time I spent there so much and I kept volunteering the following year. I feel like I am a member of the G&A family.”

Yilmaz  A. (Turkey) 2009

 “I can honestly say that the time I spent as an intern with Green and Away was one of my best summers yet! As an intern we got to witness G&A from set-up, through functioning as a conference centre, to take-down at the end. During set-up I found myself leading little construction teams. Completing the various (and often puzzling) structures was hugely satisfying. Whilst the site was running, I spent my time between the office and the kitchen. In the office I got an idea of how the organisation operates and in the kitchen I got to experience being a kitchen manager. I learnt a lot from each of these posts.

It’s hard to say what I enjoyed most about G&A. It was fantastic to spend so much time outdoors in beautiful surroundings and I loved the sense of accomplishment at the end of each day. But I think what I liked best was the real sense of community and being able to enjoy simple pleasures with a wonderful group of people. I hope to go back soon!”

Becky Piggot (UK) 2009

“As a graduate student studying international environmental policy, I chose to intern at Green and Away to gain an outside perspective on how others around this world take on environmental issues. While at Green and Away, I learned valuable skills in sustainable food practices, alternative energy, volunteer management and organizational structure. I also greatly enjoyed the ‘afternoon chats’ from the trustees, which covered interesting topics like building dams for tribal communities in Sinai, alternative medicine and hydrogen automobiles. These skills and lessons were very tangible as they dictated your daily routine while on site.  My time at Green and Away has helped me live a happy and healthy life, as well as prepared me for a career in community-based environmental activism. Most importantly, I met amazing people who still continue to inspire me from a distance.”

Sarah Gilliam, (U.S.A) 2010

“Through being a kitchen manager intern at Green & Away 2010, I gained important skills and lasting friendships. Right from the start of the application process I was kept in the loop by the management team, and that continued until the end of site takedown when we left the site we had found it. I learnt more than I could have ever expected from my experiences there, particularly in terms of personal growth and development. I’m so happy to be part of the Green & Away family, and I plan to return for a third time this summer!”

Bryony Ridge (UK) 2010

 “Green and Away is perfect for potential interns who want responsibility with a strong support network around them, as they are expected to work hard and autonomously yet there is always somebody there to help you if you need it. Regular mentor sessions ensure that you are never out of your depth and allow you to track your career and personal development. But, it’s not only work! You will meet a fantastic array of people from all different walks of life and live in a truly unique community that teaches you more than any office ever could.”

Miriam Al-Sayed (UK) 2011

 “As the maintenance intern for Green and Away I learnt a great deal of practical and organisational skills, how an organisation is run and how to organise a group. I made some good friends, got to do a range of things that I’ve never tried before such as carpentry, and to top it all off I got as much free tasty food as you could eat three times a day!

I was shown the ropes (quite literally) by Peter Lang as to how to carry out my job and received some excellent training, regularly working with the other interns as a team. It was an experience I greatly enjoyed and would highly recommend it as a highly informative great experience.”

Gordon Moran (UK) 2011

Thank you to all the past 20 interns for all your hard work and dedication.  We couldn’t have done it without you.

If you know of anyone who would like to follow in the footsteps of Gordon, Sophie, Yilmaz, Miriam, Sarah, Bryony or Becky, please show them the Internships page of our website for more information.

 

Arts and Crafts at Green and Away

Having just got our 2012 internship programme off the ground with advertisements and a good number of applications already, it is time to turn our attention to the appointment of an Artist in Residence.

For the last two seasons we have engaged young artists to work with us to engage delegates and volunteers with the natural world, to interact with nature and to see it from a different perspective.  The intention is that once engaged people will take more notice and more care of the environment and live more sustainably.

For the first year of this scheme we had a pair of artists, Ana Ospina and Cara Flynn who operate under the name of Fourth Wall Creations. They came up with lots of wonderful ideas including the outdoor sitting room, the conversation tree, pinhole cameras with exposures lasting for 1 month, and “Mr and Mrs Cranston”, photos taken of the same two people in the same place at the same time every day for a month. 

There are loads more great photos Cara and Ana’s website.

Our second AIR, last year, was Charli Clark.  Charli was a recent Arts graduate living and working in London and Bristol.

Charli says “my work… normally focuses on our relationship with nature and how we experience it…..I look to highlight new ways of seeing and feeling the world around us and found that living a basic way of life, consistently outdoors at Green and Away, allowed me to gain a new experience of our world.”  Charli then set about conveying that experience to others.  She designed and built a human scale bird’s-nest for a bird’s eye view of the world, a musical tree,

You can see more of Charli’s work on her website.

Green and Away is inviting applications from Artists for Residency this summer.  See our website for more details.

This summer we also plan to engage a Crafts-person in Residence too.  Look out for more details in future blogs and on the website.

Passing on our environmental expertise

In the next few days Green and Away will be advertising for 7 people to come and join our management team on an internship.  As a voluntary organisation, where even those in charge can’t always spare 8 weeks of their summer to come and help run Green and Away we have had to find a way to plug the gaps.  For the last 3 years we have run our internship programme to offer the opportunity of learning many new skills to young people who are keen to find work in the charity or environmental sector. In just two months the interns learn about event management, people management, commodity supply, maintenance, food, cooking, health, renewable energy, and lots more.

The catering interns manage a field kitchen producing up to 200 meals three times a day, plus bread and cakes, while coordinating a staff of 20 people.  For a 20 year old whose previous experience was helping out in the local pub when on holiday from university, this is a big ask but one that Bryony rose to magnificently.

The office interns have to give an introductory brief every one of the 100 or so volunteers who come through our gate during the course of the summer, arrange social events for the volunteers, liaise with conference organisers, keep track of all people movements on site and carry out various projects as well as the day-to-day task of keeping a large organisation running.  Emily and Frances had the additional task of acting as PA to the coordinator and they coped wonderfully.

The maintenance interns are responsible for the integrity of more than 50 assorted structures, the solar and wind power, solar hot water system and a collection of willing handymen.  Gordon was more used to a lecture theatre and studying Anthropology than keeping all our spares and repairs sorted plus care-taking the site but he did a brilliant job.

The deal for our interns is that they work for nothing, the same as the rest of our staff of volunteers and trustees, but they get all food, a tent if they need one, an intense training period, lots of responsibility and mentoring from the coordinator.  In addition we provide an education program aimed at widening their knowledge of the environmental sector and send them away with a full report and reference for future employers.  For some it is a baptism by fire and they do things they never thought they could.

Green and Away has benefitted enormously from these wonderful people and they have made strong friendships with each other and other volunteers.  It has certainly show us that the calibre of graduates is not only excellent but what amazing young people they are.

Applications are due in by 23 March for interviews on 14/15 April.  If you know of anyone who might be interested and internship with us please direct them to the Internships page of our website.

Being an environmentally sustainable, eco conference venue

Green and Away was founded over 20 years ago when being green, eco or sustainable was something that only sandle-wearing bearded hippies understood or did.  Now most businesses are looking to improve their environmental and CSR credentials by assessing their environmental impact and trying to minimize it.

Whereas most businesses have had to scale down their environmental impact, Green and Away has never had to.  We started from the humble beginnings of a few tents and a tap in a field, and have grown organically in harmony with the sites we use. Because the aim was to be sustainable, sustainability and low impact eco technology have been a central feature of our existence.  Over the years we have grown and incorporated eco technology where we can.  We power the site with solar panels and wind turbines and heat water with solar and waste wood.  We have always looked at ways to keep our carbon footprint as low as possible.  We were charging a carbon offset fee for car drivers and calling it a tree fee right from the beginning.  This income from car drivers has paid for planting trees on the sites we have used and elsewhere.

We have always aspired to being the most sustainable conference centre anywhere and we think we are. We have sustainable policies for travel and transport, food and drink, buying equipment, composting, water use, and sewage. What really helps in being green is having very little money!  Lack of finance makes one look for resources that are re-used, recycled, reinvented, borrowed, second-hand or from nature. In the early days there was no way of measuring this but now there are ways to work out ones carbon footprint so  this summer to find out what it is.  However, are there standards that will help us assess the environmental impact of our crockery collection bought from car boot sales?  Or for the acquiring of donated old velvet curtains for seating? No doubt there are ways of measuring the use of grey water to flush eco toilets but what about when there is no water usage in composting toilets?  It will be an interesting project to carry out and we look forward to the results and hopefully a clear green conscience.

New Year – New Season

Now we are in January the next incarnation of Green and Away does not seem so far away. We are starting the year with our Volunteer Winter Gathering.  This is an annual event for all those involved to spend some time together.  This year we have hired the Youth Hostel at Stow in the Wold so that about 30 to 40 of us can meet and go for walks, take part in a quizz, play games and socialise.  Our volunteers are our most important resource.  Without them we could not function and we are entirely dependant on their goodwill.

We are about to start advertising for this year’s bunch of interns. (What is the collective noun for several interns)?!  We are looking for about 7 bright young (or maybe not so young) things to help us run Green and Away.  They get lots of on the job training, lots of responsibility and lots of experience.  We have had some really great people working with us over the past 3 years that we have been running this scheme and are looking forward to meeting our next bunch.  There is a page on our website about internships under the volunteer heading.

There is lots to do to get ready for the new season, kit to buy, trees to plant, equipment to build and repair and lots of planning.  What keeps us going is the excitment and enthusiasm for the project.  Green and Away seems to have life of its own at times and it runs smoothly on its tracks.  Roll on the summer.