Our place is a permaculture project and regenerative education centre on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. We aim to educate and inspire people about permaculture and the vital role it has to play in helping communities work with nature to become more resilient and self-sufficient in the face of today's global challenges. We hope to make permaculture attractive and achievable for everyone and highlight its place in modern life, and plan to do this by creating a beautiful working example.
We are currently looking for long-term volunteers with some relevant skills and experience, who would like to come and spend the spring-summer and autumn months with us. We would welcome individuals and/or couples for a minimum stay of one month, but with preference for a longer term stay. We are also open to hearing from people who are interested in joining our community as permanent residents.
Our Rock is a small peninsula connected to the south-east coast of Skye. It’s a unique and enchanting ecosystem; one of the few remaining pockets of Scottish coastal temperate rainforest. Lichen-covered trees, a rich under-storey and an abundance of birdsong create a feeling of wilderness that is usually hard to come by. Otters and seals are regularly spotted near the shore as well as 95+ different bird species. If you're lucky, you might even see some dolphins or whales.
Volunteers are accommodated in modest but cosy caravans or huts, set in beautiful natural surroundings. We have outdoor compost toilet facilities and and a shower block with warm showers. We expect volunteers to be self-motivated, curious, enthusiastic and mindful of the sensitive natural environment in which they will be living. In return we will provide hearty vegan meals, a rich learning experience and a comfortable, welcoming place in our community. In summer we share meals around the bonfire and when the days get darker and colder, we use our indoor communal kitchen. If you have your own camper van or are happy to stay in a tent, do let us know as it definitely makes it more likely for us to be able to accept your application.
There is always lots on the to-do list! Here are some examples of current and on-going projects that volunteers can help out with:
Helping out in the garden
Maintaining, improving and expanding our infrastructure
Feeding and tending our resident ducks
Expanding the garden and preparing more areas for growing vegetables
Removing the invasive rhododendron from the woodland
Building and maintaining natural fences to keep the deer out
Compost-making (including collecting and processing seaweed from the beach)
Below are some of the skills that would be really valuable to our community at the moment:
Gardening and food-growing
DIY, carpentry
Vegan cooking
Sewing, crafting
Web design (and experience with wordpress)
Marketing
Visual art, mural painting
Nature connection is central to the ethos here. It is built into our permaculture design and our daily routine. During your time with us, we would invite you to try some simple practices that we use to help us attune to the natural world around us. These train our senses to become more receptive and helps us to expand our field of awareness outwards. As we begin to develop this heightened awareness and connection to nature, we also become more balanced, grounded and intuitive: all qualities that help us to connect deeply with ourselves with one another too.
Deep listening is a very important part of community building. To facilitate that here, we practice a method of communication that we call ‘heart stone communication’. This ensures that everyone in the community has equal access to space in which to express themselves and be heard. In order to create a regenerative culture that is abundant, resilient and enriching for everyone, we feel it is essential to work on unlearning the conditioning we carry over from the mainstream culture and to actively train our minds to slow down and develop different ways of being and communicating. Nature connection techniques and conscious de-conditioning are fundamental to the learning experience offered here , so we ask you to reflect on whether this is something you are receptive to before joining our community in the short or long-term.
Coming to live, work and learn here is a unique experience. We invite short and long term volunteers to integrate as community members during their time with us, and beyond. For this reason, we operate a more careful selection process than you might be used to. This is to allow us to get to know each other in advance and make sure that a placement here would be a good fit for you and and for the community. If you need a quick answer or don’t have the time to invest in a longer application process, it may be best to scroll on.
Because of this extra effort that goes into our selection and induction processes, we prefer to welcome people for longer than four weeks. Our place offers the opportunity to drop deeper into learning and working with nature. It takes time for us to introduce you to our unusual and exciting way of working!
If you use the word 'White Tailed Eagle' in the subject of your email, we know that you have read our whole profile and you will increase your chances for a positive reply.
A quick note about the weather: we live on west coast of Scotland and are sometimes blessed with some pretty dramatic and impressive weather! Strong winds and horizontal rain are not unusual, particularly in autumn and winter. Sometimes the weather dictates that we work inside a fair bit. Volunteers may be required to work independently. Please consider before applying whether you might find this weather, or spending time in your own company, too challenging.
We are situated very close to Armadale Pier, where the ferry crosses over from Mallaig. We have a Post Office and a local shop about ten minutes walk away. There is a bus service to other parts of Skye and Kyle of Lochalsh on the mainland.
Things to note:
Unfortunately we cannot allow dogs or any other pets, as they pose too much disruption and risk to our local wildlife.
We are an alcohol and drugs free project. We ask that all volunteers respect this and remain sober during their time in the community.
All meals provided by our communal kitchen will be plant-based. However, we do not impose this on others in their own spaces. Volunteers are able to bring non-vegan products on site for personal consumption.
We spend a lot of time outdoors. You will need good shoes, and plenty of warm and waterproof clothing.
Your tasks as wwoofer are all within the non-profit activities for the community and the land we live on. We offer moneyless work-exchange style volunteering placements only.
Please make sure that you take responsibility for all legal requirements to be able to travel to Scotland: visa's, tests, etc.
We look forward to hearing from you.
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Poultry farming
Forestry
Aquaculture
Wild foraging
Aromatic or medicinal plants, teas
Seed saving or production
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Renewable energy production
Mechanics / tools / technology
Methods or systems
Aquaponics
Biological pest control
Holistic management
Hydroponics
No-till farming
Permaculture
Regenerative agriculture
Host type
Nonprofit / Community
Former WWOOFer
6.1
Hectares
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15
Acres
Accommodation
