Region: Connacht

We are a large family running a few different enterprises during the busy summer months in a highly scenic and cultural part of Ireland. There is a blue flag 3 mile beach on our door step offering all kinds of outdoor pursuits. We have plenty of accommodation & are looking for a few workawayers who might be interested in coming to us & helping us on the farm:

Region: West of Ireland.

Our Artfarm is a art dream in progress. It is hoped that in the future it will be a centre for art/film/music/workshops/classes and residencies for anybody with a dream of using their creativity in some way. Some day classes have already been run here including woodcarving and mosaic classes which were a great success. The dream is a work in progress with the ongoing restoration of house, outhouses and haybarn as studio space and organic veg plot slowly expanding. This creative space is in a rural setting in east Galway, 35 miles from Galway city, 15 miles from Roscommon town. It has a minimal footprint ethos with a great respect and love for the space and all its ecosystem. It is hoped that this centre can be a place where the local community both young and old are made welcome and where visiting workshop participants and artists can feel at home. It is hoped this place can be eco rather than ego driven. Anyone with an interest in art and environment is welcome here.

Region: Asturias (N-Spain)

Asturias is a beautiful part of Northern Spain, great for hiking! We have mountains and the sea is nearby. This is a combined listing for two projects participating in our small animal welfare organisation, 25 km apart in the East of Asturias. 1) Small farm: I live in a farmhouse with 2 ha of land, taking care of a varying population of our own dogs plus dogs to be rehomed from the local shelter (9-13 dogs) We also have two donkeys - Yoana, who was born here and Jack from the donkey paradise. The neighbourr's horse was alone in a small meadow, so she is with us as well now. There is a lot to be done in and around the house: cleaning (first of all, dog hairs...), repairs, fencing, the vegetable garden and the other gardens.. Ongoing work - and the most important is of course taking care of the dogs and participate at the shelter on Saturdays (walking the dogs there). It would be good if you have a driver's licence! I prefer volunteers staying for 1-3 weeks. 1-2 volunteers is our max. as I am renovating the second house. Accommodation (see photos) Spare bedroom. In summer you can pitch a tent in the dog-free meadow. 2) The Donkey Paradise en Arobes: El Paraíso del burro - 25 km from Ceceda and 8 ha of land This project, set up by Dutch Marleen, welcomes volunteers preferably for longer periods as getting to know the 20+ donkeys does take some time. The vast area of land, the stables, the "cabaña" and the vegetable garden also need attention. This year she hopes to complete some building work, so building experience is very welcome! The "paradise" started 2 years ago as a home for old, retired donkeys. There are also 2 horses, a mule, 5 dogs and several cats. Accommodation: Spare bedroom in the main house, caravans for volunteers. Tents in summer. Marleen can accommodate 2-4 volunteers Contact: Please state in your e-mail which project you would like to spend your time volunteering. You can also combine your stay of course, as we are only 25 km apart. We always welcome enquiries by e-mail - do not just show up at the gate though! Volunteers need to speak English and they must like the outdoor life as the fincas are quite remote (1 and 3 km from the village). Asturias is in the North of Spain, between Galicia and Cantabria (and then Basque country). This region is called the Costa Verde and as you can imagine it looks more like Scotland than what most people expect when thinking of Spain. It's an ideal area for hiking, mountain walking (Picos de Europa!), mountain climbing, canoeing and of course we also have beaches (no sun guarantee though). Oviedo is at 30/55km and Gijon at 60/75km. Of course you can arrange to take a few days off to go hiking in the Picos or walk part of the Camino de Santiago - we are very flexible. You will find stories about the volunteers our blog - send us a message and we will send you the various links where you can read more! We think volunteering and hosting should be a fun experience, positive for both parties.

Region: Asturias

Janet and John live in Asturias. We are now at the end of our fifth year of so called retirement here and love it. This is definitely not the Costas! We live in Valdes in Asturias….. a county of rugged coasts with super ( but often stony) beaches. The interior (where we live at 270 meters high in the hills and 30 minutes from the nearest beach) is largely mixed forest of sweet chestnut, oak, ash and beech with plantations of northern pine and eucalyptus. The valley bottoms and tops are mainly green pasture for cattle grazing or silage with flatter fields with maize for cattle. It is beautiful – a lake district without the lakes and without the crowds. Weather – This is green Spain so we have clouds and rain. The temperature is higher than the south of England – a greater noticeable difference in the back part of the year. When we bought our house we wanted a house with some land to grow veggies on. We ended up with two houses (one “the barn” had no floor and was only home to spiders and cobwebs – we called it the barn because it was the oldest and still had the cattle feeding stalls), a traditional Horeo, 5 fincas (fields - one with a small maize mill – not functioning) and two Montes (bits of hillside with lots of trees on.) Thank goodness three of our neighbours keep most of the fields clean by grazing cattle, sheep and growing grass, so I am left with only the finca (6500 m2 )below the house to look after. We have six chickens and two dogs (and a cat that adopted us). During the year we grow most of our own vegetables. John does most of the work on the land while Janet writes and directs two musical shows a year for her group of performers back in England

Region: Center

We are Ged and Karen, an English couple with a young daughter looking for a couple of able bodies and minds to help with a brand new project. Having lived around the world, from Moscow to Kuala Lumpur it is time to settle in one place for a while! We’ve had an amazing experience over the last year with workaways some of whom are I’m sure going to be friends for life! Our vision is to develop a mixed smallholding (pigs, sheep and poultry) with a small eco campsite. What we are starting with is a beautiful property (already renovated), three hectares (7 acres) of attached land, gorgeous views in the South of the Loire region and importantly a good stock of wine :) The property is a peaceful 4km bike ride from Neuvy-Saint-Sepulchre where you’ll find bars restaurants shops and a beautiful fishing lake. We are also very close to a bus route allowing access to the beautiful old towns of Aregnton-sur-Creuse (train station), Le Chatre and Chateauroux(train station). We are also located very close to the Brenne Nation Park, with its ‘thousand lakes’ and parkland it’s a nature lovers paradise.