Barfad Studios

Its stupidly beautiful here, wild woodland overlooking the sea. I care deeply about my volunteers and want the stay to be fulfilling and fun I want us all to become and remain friends.

My volunteers are my most precious thing. I m hugely grateful for all the help they offer. They'll be treated with the respect and friendliness they deserve. I have used workaways for years, but they now only support charities or businesses, so I'm trying out this platform. So far just one volunteer which did not end well. More of that later. This year there is far less urgent work to do and i'm not looking for the usual 4 or 5 hrs a day in exchange for full board. I'm hoping to provide the place to stay, heating, washing, etc but not all food. After an initial stock up by me, a volunteer can help themselves to beans, pulses, stuff from garden, eggs from hens (if they're laying), freshly baked bread, but generally I will not be cooking lunches or buying the volunteers food, which can be found in the local village a mile away. In exchange I expect a couple of hours a day, maybe planting trees, scything or strimming paths, gathering/chopping wood, gardening and right now I would love someone who can help me with IT. I have a book cover to edit, want to upload a book to Amazon POD and other IT issues... so we'll still meet and discuss and decide what we re up to etc but really just a far looser arrangement. I am now going to talk about the poor review from Mathew. Mathew had problems and both myself and Manu (Helpx) tried to care for him well. (Check Manu review on Helpx). While i was away, he messaged me to say he had left my place in a storm and asking me a for a review. Assuming he'd taken care of things, i wrote a pleasant enough review - I'd be home in 48 hrs, the animals would survive. But I now realise why he left early and why he needed my review before I came home. When i got home, i found the two caravans, my home, and my guest house in a terrible state. Not a clean plate or pan- empty wine and whisky bottles, tins, packets of cigarettes, and rubbish everywhere. Bad food in fridges, the stove ash all around the stove, mud... The moderators at Worldpackers wouldn't let me write another review, so thought I'd write here. Mathew is an alcoholic and unstable. My caravans are great. Yes, from time to time things go wrong, and a hot water tank corroded during Mathew's stay which we replaced. While the repair was carried out Mathew moved to the other caravan, which he liked so much he didn't move back. I'm always happy to discuss misunderstandings - they happen. He never worked more than 2 hrs a day, five days a week. His comments about the caravans were particularly upsetting. Anyway, time to move on. I hope you will apply to join me here.