Paladini

Come and help us creating a vibrant vegetable garden, pruning trees, collecting wood, making chestnut flour, looking after donkeys, cooks also welcome, all with a view to make this place more and more self-sufficient for the transient community who pass through here year after year. If you would like to be part of our adventure just sign up - we need help most of the year and there are always a minimum of three or four volunteers sharing our space in the yurt or in individual tents. This is particularly suited to volunteers aged 25 years or over as we confer a lot of responsibility on volunteers and ... and we are not getting any younger ourselves ...

We work for three hours each morning in a stress-free environment, the rest of the time is yours to enjoy the mountains, scenery, walking & nearby villages. If you want to take the full weekend off to travel and see other parts of Tuscany you can. Artists, carpenters, engineers, and visionaries particularly welcome to develop this wild woodland into a cool living space. MUSICIANS of course always popular we sing many evenings around the fire. A piano tuner is needed too, although we know this is a long shot. Colm is learning Russian, and anxious to practise in the form of a language exchange if you want to learn English or Italian.

In exchange for your help you will have a space in our 6-metre diameter yurt sharing with a maximum of four other people. If the yurt is booked especially in summer time there are a two-man and three-man Bell tents tents available for volunteers. Our own chestnut flour pancake breakfast and super healthy dinners are included. Paladini is not suitable for vegans or vegetarians as we use cheese in our recipes quite frequently, and eat meat once or twice per week. Any other dietary requirements please let us know in advance. You will have access to our outdoor kitchen, compost loos, sheltered recreational areas including sauna and solar heated outdoor showers. For lunch you are responsible for your own shopping bill and can avail of our local mobile supermarket which turns up once a week, or walk to Castiglione, Pieve or Chiozza for provisions.

There is a house-sitting option too available for anyone interested in spending a while in our area, the house is available to live in in exchange for a few hour's help per week, would suit couple or anyone self sufficient / anyone looking to buy land or a house in the area.

The camp is located at 700 metres above sea level in the mountains, in a chestnut and hazel grove, 300 metres from the nearest point reachable by car, with abundant wildlife, sunshine and shade, and more recently ten hens, three roosters, two donkeys and two larger-than-life dogs. Recently we have opened a small campsite for the summer months, all proceeds of which go towards maintaining the volunteer community programme here.

Hope to see you soon,


Colm

You will receive a great welcome from Colm and other volunteers when you arrive and be shown around Paladini, including the projects we are working on at the time. Accommodation is in a yurt or bell tent with other volunteers. Paladini provides healthy and nutritious breakfasts (chestnut flour pancakes) and dinners (vegetarians and vegans catered for), you are responsible for your own lunch shopping and preparation.