Last minute

Volunteer for our non-profit association at the beautiful Lake of Zurich, Switzerland

Availability

  2024 

 Min stay requested: at least 3 weeks

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Details

  • Description

    Description

    PLEASE read our complete profile before you contact us.

    Hi Everyone!
    We are a family-and-friends based non-profit association who runs this meeting place on a property, which was used as a traditional farm back in the days. It's a beautiful place with a grotto, waterfall, stream, ponds, gardens, farmland, a barn and old traditional houses. Also a private spot at the Lake of Zurich is part of the property. Our organisation is run by the board members (Devi, Ezra, Tsewang) and the managing staff (Sandra, Ilham). In addition, we have several active members who regularly come to visit and help on the property. We are uncomplicated, easy-going and open-minded people. We travel a lot and have an international background.

    Our place is a meeting place for local and international people. Everyone who visits is part of the community that is always set up by the current visitors since nobody lives there permanently (except for managers/staff). It's a "Place of Inspiration" where people can be creative, try new things, develop their own ideas and learn from each other. We run an event location, a guesthouse, and organise our own public events such as open days, markets etc. Also, the eco-house project "KREIS-Haus" as part of a nationally and internationally famous research project for sustainable building and circular economy is part of the place.

    We are a place where it's easy to get in touch with other travelers, a place where you feel home from the moment you arrive, where you can help with meaningful work but at the same time learn things for yourself, and on top of all, in a great location with beautiful surroundings.

    IF YOU DECIDE TO CONTACT US, please provide us with the following information:
    - Which of the tasks you can help us with (see section "Help")
    - Preferred time of your stay. Please check our calendar first for availability. We have fixed stays of 3-4 weeks, longer stays are usually not possible.
    - Tell us about your interests, background and why you would like to stay at our place
    We recommend having your profile updated with the description of you and your skills, some photos of you, your age etc. You can also send us links to your Facebook-profile, blog, website etc. so we get a better impression of you.

    What we are looking for:
    - Fixed stay of 3-4 weeks, longer stays are usually not possible*
    - Our minimum age limit is 20 years. We prefer people who have some years of work experience.
    - Due to limited space, priority is given to individual travellers rather than couples and friends.

    *We also offer a long-term volunteering program for 9 to 12 months as part of the European Voluntary Service. Participation is eligible to people between 20 and 30 years with citizenship from a Schengen country. Contact us for more information if you are interested.

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Art Projects
    Help with Eco Projects
    Gardening
    DIY and building projects
    Farmstay help
    Creating/ Cooking family meals
    Help around the house
    General Maintenance
  • UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

    UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

    UN goals
    No poverty
    Zero hunger
    Good health and well-being
    Quality education
    Gender equality
    Clean water and sanitation
    Affordable and clean energy
    Decent work and economic growth
    Industries, innovation and infrastructure
    Reduce inequality
    Sustainable cities and communities
    Responsible consumption and production
    Climate action
    Life below water
    Life on land
    Peace, justice and strong institutions
    Partnerships for the goals
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Our place lives from the exchange of culture, skills and ideas. Everyone is seen as an individual with different skills and cultural background. We try to match the tasks as much fitting as possible to every helper. We give you the opportunity to learn new things and share your skills with others. Our place is very international but we still try to share some Swiss culture with you for example by cooking Swiss dishes (mainly cheese ;-)) and tell you stories about the people and country.
    We expect that people contacting us are motivated and genuinely interested in experiencing our place and not just looking for a cheap way of traveling. Since we always have people from around 10 different countries in the house, it is essential to be tolerant and respectful towards the others. We expect everyone to help each other also with tasks that are not everybody's favorite.

  • Help

    Help

    In general, we are looking for skilled volunteers for:
    - General maintenance: lawn mowing, clearing out spaces, move stuff, organise and tidy up
    - Various renovation and construction work in the house and outside (make floors, doors, install kitchen, bathroom, fix windows, plumbing, sanding, painting, work with wood, concrete, stone, glass etc.)
    - Various repairs: bikes, machines, cars, appliances etc.
    - Gardening: weeding, planting, harvesting etc.
    - Landscape gardening: digging, make paths, stairs, walls etc.
    - Help in household, cleaning, making beds, laundry, cooking etc.

    Let us know if you have any other skills that might be useful for us. We are always happy to host people who are creative and bring in their own ideas. People who can think outside the box and can find creative solutions in non-standard situations.

    We start between 8:00-9:00 and work for 5 hours on 5 days of the week. Usually, it's Monday to Friday, but depending on the work situation, we might need to move the days.

    Please make sure you have international health and accident insurance.

  • Languages spoken

    German: Fluent
    English: Fluent

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    Accommodation:
    In the dormitory in one of the houses or "glamping" tent (large tent with mattress, duvet, electricity, only in summer)

    Food:
    The food is vegetarian. We provide all meals. One of us or the volunteers cooks for the whole group and everyone eats together. Therefore, it's good if you know how to cook.

    Pets:
    We have 3 friendly cats.

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    The property is located a 2 minutes walk from the beautiful lake of Zurich. In summer the lake is great for swimming. There are forests in the area where you can go for a walk. We have bicycles that you can use to explore the area.
    The train station is a 10 minutes walk away. There are trains every 30 minutes to Zurich (30min train ride) and Rapperswil (10min train ride), which are both nice cities to visit. Rapperswil has a beautiful historic town with a castle overlooking the lake, a boardwalk with restaurants and bars and a wooden bridge to walk across the lake.
    Although the property is located in the country side, it is very close to the infrastructure of the city.

  • A little more information

    A little more information

    • Internet access

    • Limited internet access

      Limited internet access

    • We have pets

    • We are smokers

    • Can host families

  • Space for parking camper vans

    Space for parking camper vans

    This host can provide space for campervans.

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    More than two

  • ...

    Hours expected

    maximum 5 hours, 5 days a week

Host ref number: 699646644661

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