Setting up for Set-up (part 2)

Welcome back G&Aers! I hope you enjoyed howling at the moon and reading all about Yanna.

Now it’s time for us to meet Rob. I gave him the usual opening question:

I’m still trying to work out that whole who am I? question, but I’ve experienced some pretty interesting things along the way. After dropping out of med school after half a year, I switched to a philosophy degree, then took a year out in the middle of that to work as campaigns officer for the student union. Following that, I worked as a teaching assistant for a year, did a permaculture design course over weekends, ran the school allotment and played in a truly awful band. I then volunteered for six months on a volunteer exchange programme with the VSO – the first 3 months were in Eastern Sri Lanka, whilst the next 3 were in Burnley.

Wow, Rob, that’s seriously impr- …oh I’m sorry you’re not finished.

Upon returning, I worked for 3 months at Scope as a carer, then spent the next year studying for a ridiculously intense MSc, which involved cramming a psychology degree into a year, with a masters dissertation tacked onto the end. For 4 months I worked doing admin for Sure Start Centres, before volunteering as a team leader for a youth development programme in India for 3 months, which brings me up to now.

So how did your now end up at G&A?

I first heard of G&A when I met Clare Eddington during the 2010 Green Party election efforts in Brighton – she said that she was about to do an internship at a conference centre in tents in a field, and it sounded pretty interesting, but I didn’t think to check it out further at the time. Later that year I volunteered for 6 months, and one of the other UK volunteers was Claire Turner. We stayed in touch, and she came to visit my home in Brighton. When she turned up she was absolutely glowing from this amazing summer that she had just spent in a field near Worcester, and it sounded right up my street.

What would you like get out of this summer?

I think I am most looking forward to trying out a new way of living – not just one of camping, sustainable technology, or community-based living, but all three combined. Plus a mix of very interesting people. I’m sure the organisational experience in the office will be invaluable to the future, as will having spent 9 weeks living and working as part of a team.

Spending so much time on site is a challenge but very worth it. The rest of the world pretty much falls away behind the trees and we allow our little community to define itself by the people who arrive and what they bring with them. The often indefatigable rain can make such a long stint in the field a real effort, but the constantly changing mix of people is like a new weather front every few days. Who knows who will drift in next?

Unfortunately, dear readers, due to some unforeseen personal circumstances our friend Rob must delay his arrival on site for a few weeks. Our best thoughts and wishes are with him, and I know after that mighty intro I’m not the only one who’s excited to meet him as soon as possible. Until then we’ll be checking in, and I’ll keep our blog-&-away readers up to date on any and all breaking intern news.

So, as I mentioned in the last post, an early few of our trustees are at this very moment showing the new troops around the site. By the time the rest of us arrive we will be stepping into the lush, ceilingless home of a brand new community of friends, colleagues and family. Hopefully a few more of them will have time in their busy adventure to talk to me for a further blog. But with one of our longest ever seasons ahead, and a truly diverse line-up of organisations on the books, right now it’s time to stop talking and start doing.

Setting up for Set-Up (part 1)

Dear readers, it has been far too long since our last update. The sun has begun to sporadically shine and those grey muggy days have finally reached their longest: it must be British summer. By now a small team of Green & Away’s trustees have assembled on site and started to make the field a home once more. There with them are the happy new interns, eager to learn all there is to know about running a tented conference centre.

My interviewees this time are the friendly Yanna and Rob, each with their own impressive story, as beautiful as they are different. Nothing makes the world feel as big to me as people who have walked it in their own ways, their individual experiences trailing an infinity across the globe.

So, Yanna, please tell us who you are.

Hi every-one! I currently study Civil Engineering in Denmark. My parents are French and German, but I have a difficult time answering the ‘where do you come from’ question because I lived in Japan until I was sixteen years old, and then flew off to the United World College in India.

Another intimidating opening. The life you were given is just as exciting as the life you have chosen. As a former resident of Japan myself, I can’t wait to hear more about your upbringing and how it has affected the decisions you subsequently made. So please, tell us what interests you.

I like to travel…

Indeed.

…especially when I have the chance to stay in one place for some time, is that a slight paradox? I like to be able to get a better feel for the culture and maybe become part of something. And this is exactly what I’m looking forward to this summer at G&A! It’s the first time I’ll be in the UK for longer than a weekend, and I already get a feeling that G&A is quite a tight-knit, very friendly community.

It certainly is. We of course have returning volunteers and many of us hang out together during the rest of the year. But what you will find immediately is that your fellow interns will become just as close-knit, that the new volunteers will become your extended family and the field will become your home. There’s as much present and future as there is past, and with every new friendship we’re honouring the work and love of those who made it theirs over the decades that came before. So how did you hear about our community?

G&A actually caught my eye because I’m interested in sustainable building methods and water and sanitation solutions. A group of graduates at my university here are building an earth ship, which I find inspiring. I’ve also tried my hand at organic farming last year, and love being outdoors. I think G&A will be a good chance to complement my studies, while working on something practical.

In what way would you like that to happen?

The variety of people who seem to come together at G&A is one aspect I’m particularly excited about. I’m curious about all the skills and ideas which I’m sure will be brought to the table. I look forward to meeting you all – staff, interns, volunteers, and conference participants – hearing some good stories, sharing some new hobbies, and working together to make this a successful season.

We do attract some fantastic people each summer. The perfect blend of creativity and practicality is what we’re good at, and I think we’re always improving. With our initiatives such as the Green Woodworker- and Artist-in-Residence, we have managed to find some of this country’s most industrious and brilliant young minds. I’m getting a good feeling from our interns especially. You guys are going to make it the best summer yet.

Ladies and Gentlemen, be sure to check back with us in the next couple of days to read the incredible journey of Rob. Until then – I hope you’ll be joining me tonight in a howl to the SUPER MOON. *Hooooooooooooooooooooooooo*

Andy

Coping with severe weather Summer 2012

What a wet one!

We have coped with rain and mud before but never on this scale.  During the summer it was not just the volume of rain but the fact that it rained nearly every day that caused so many problems.  The previous wet year was 2007 where torrential downpours caused flooding all down the Severn Valley from Worcester to Gloucester, but there were several days of sunshine between the rain showers and this allowed everything to drain and dry out.  This time there really wasn’t much of a let up – it was relentless.

We have the good fortune to have the most beautiful of fields with a large variety of unusual trees and shrubs, but we also have the misfortune to have a heavy clay surface that doesn’t drain well.  Despite careful management of wheeled traffic it wasn’t long before the major walkways were getting churned up.  We knew we were in for a wet summer and that the problem would not go away of its own accord so it was a question of how best do we manage the situation.  We pride ourselves on our flexibility and being able to adapt to whatever nature throws at us so this was just a challenge to rise to.

Our first solution during set up was to make a ring road round the village green area with coconut matting. We called it the ‘M25’ and made everyone use it and walking on grass nearby was forbidden.  This worked really well and the site stayed relatively green and mud free. The most heavily trodden area was treated to a walkway of pallets, and the obvious name for this was ‘cross-rail’.  We extended the coconut matting to the other major paths and this worked until the first conference when the shear numbers of people walking on the matting drove it into the mud underneath.  More pallets were ordered from the ever benificent plant nursery next door and more walkways were made until all the major paths were covered by over 200 pallets and coconut matting.  The site still retained charm but of a different sort than before.  We carried on hosting conferences despite the weather.

Some of our delegates found the situation more difficult than they expected but picked up on the ‘Dunkirk spirit’ of our volunteers and had a positive experience. There were moments when we thought perhaps we should cancel the events but that seemed like giving up and a bit of a cop out.  It would also have ruined our 100% record of delivering our service of outdoor events.  It is something we are proud of.

There are also other considerations.  The extremes of weather we are now experiencing

The River Teme burst its banks – again

are being caused by climate change – probably man-made or at least with human factors exacerbating the problem.  According to even the most optimistic expert, the situation is likely to get more extreme. The River Teme has burst its banks 3 times during the last 5 summers, something it only previously did occasionally during winter. If we had decided to give up and give in now – how are we going to manage to cope with greater extremes in the future? We are all going to have to find new ways of living, operating and adjusting to the unfolding situation. Flexibility, cooperation and strength of character coupled with a can-do approach is going to become ever more important over the next few years.

You would think that being outdoors in all that rain day after day would have caused severe depression amongst our volunteer workforce.  While there were times when some of us were fed up, the majority seemed to thrive on it.  There was a strong community spirit that bound us altogether and carried us through.  Our volunteers were amazing, often getting covered in mud and doing horrible messy, wet jobs to keep things going, but still smiling.  They even wrote and performed a song about it called ‘It rained’  If you click on this link you can see what life was like for the volunteers during set up and the wonderful smiling faces.  Thanks to Tom of Norfolk for the filming and to Tom of Wood for the song.

Despite having coped well this summer we really do hope that next year we will have a dry summer!

 

The only feasible fashion for summer 2012

Private View

The aim of running Green and Away is to demonstrate how to live sustainably and comfortably with a low impact lifestyle.  By running conferences we allow delegates to experience a more eco way of living and we hope to inspire them to make changes in their lives when they go home.

As a small charity we don’t spend a lot of advertising so many of the organisations and businesses that have come to us, have done so through word of mouth or by attending a conference.  However, every year we hold a Private View at our site near Worcester, so that anyone wanting to see what we do can have a look.

We start with homemade cream teas, followed by tours of the site, a short talk about what we do and then a three course supper.  We want to show businesses that it is possible to hold productive, enjoyable meetings or conferences in an eco-setting and thereby reduce their carbon footprint and show their committment to CSR.  We also have the capacity for team building sessions.

If you would like to come and see what we do then please get in touch.  We look forward to hearing from you.