Información de perfil
Evaluación del anfitrión
100 %
Last replied
29 abr 2025
Porcentaje de respuesta
82.4 %
Usually responds ≤ 6 dias
Comentarios
70
Correo verificado
Medallas (3)
Detalles
Descripción
The cultural association charter lists two main goals one is to plant trees and the other is to pass on traditional skills.
The work can be seasonal especially during cold wet and windy periods or summer extreme heat. We work in the hills maintaining the young and fragine trees mostly in the late spring and early fall.
Heavy Mediterranean roof tiles are arranged against the summer sun or spread out to gather water for each young tree, and invasive herbs are cleared. This does not require a great level of skill and so anybody can do this.
Our studio was a medieval fortress with 2 meter thick walls on one side and dug into the rock on the other side. It is also a registered French historic monument and the restoration processes have begun, slowly but surely. The building provides us with a medieval level of protection from the weather too!
We now work with the Swiss Michelangelo Foundation and Homo Faber of Venice for training young artists how to thrive. Their sponsorships are directed to the young artist graduates.
We help art students with work experience and arts graduates with arts and crafts degrees develop their skills with apprenticeship contracts. We also focus on the economics of being an artist.
We are a non profit organization and its two sides of the same coin.
Fundraising through our arts and sponsorships supports our little tree planting community.
Our social media explains & promotes our activity and we also accept help to manage these platforms.
Our Instagram journalists do a great job. We have a great foundation to work with. We're looking for people to continue this work and as journalists to reach out to the press and expose the many facets of the things we do here.
For a person coming to help and learn skills with us we ask 25 hours a week in exchange for room and board in a shared housing situation.
We can do wood furniture work, glass and metalwork, classical decorative painting, making and using silk screens, rubber stamps and special effect finishes. We carve the original objects that we make molds from and then cast in resin and metal. This is multi mediums art but our results are strictly classical designs.
We always need persons interested in non-profit management and media.
Longer-term interns, 2 or more months are preferable because the skills required take time to learn even if a person has a good aptitude and background of experience.
Apprentice contracts are paid positions starting at 6 months that could lead to long term employment. This season's official apprentice program is full but we are always interested in meeting young artists an crafts people so feel free send us a message and introduce yourself.
Sincerely,
Eric L.
Gabian,
France
Tipos de ayuda y oportunidades de aprendizaje
Proyectos artísticos
Construcción y bricolaje
Mantenimiento general
Ayuda informática
Objetivos de sostenibilidad de las NU que intenta conseguir este anfitrión
Intercambio cultural y oportunidades de aprendizaje
We are in the village of GABIAN, in the départment of Hérault.
Our helpers and students come from all over Europe, Asia and the Americas and it's a bit of a house of babble sometimes so the atmosphere is very cosmopolitan.
The buses to come here are :
603-604 - Montpellier/Pézénas
669 Pézénas-Gabian
Gabian is an enchanting medieval village with (literally) centuries of history and authenticity. Hang out at the local café/bar after work or cafés in other villages on days off. There are bikes you can use to visit the surroundings (a beautiful lake 45min by bike), and other villages are 20 to 40 minutes apart by bicycle depending on you and the incline.
If you have your own car (or time the buses right) you can discover beautiful villages, lakes, gorges around the area (Gorges d'Héric, village of Saint-Guilhem-le-désert, Salagou lake, the Devil's bridge/ Pont du Diable etc). You could even have a beach day in Montpellier, just 1.5 hours away by bus!
More and more of our helpers are French speakers who live in the village and surrounding area so it's possible to work in an all French language environment - at times...
Organización benéfica registrada
Este anfitrión es una organización benéfica registrada en su país y busca voluntarios para ayudar en su(s) proyecto(s).
Ayuda
All of the tasks depend on the season of the year (and the weather of course). As of now and always, we are focused on social media content creation, filming/editing, and writing.
We can always use people who can sort out and organize our computers!
This winter and spring we are concentrating on our arts training activities which is also our prime source of revenue.
-mold making and casting
-Glass cutting
-Painting
-General mechanical maintenance of tools and machines
-Collecting and stacking firewood for the heaters
-Tree observation/assessment and maintenance - weather permitting
-Administrative and creative writing for press releases
-Assist in French translations, proof reading, filling out forms
-Promotion of the association on social media, Instagram, Facebook and the websites
-Communication project with the local communities
-Website development
-Assisting with building dollhouses and aviaries - for qualified art and craft students - two or more months
Idiomas hablados
Inglés: Fluido
Francés: Intermedio
Alojamiento
The accommodation is a historical village house that was upgraded and is just used as the volunteers' house. There are shared bathrooms and toilets but separate bedrooms. The house has a fully functioning kitchen, electricity, wood burning heaters, and even a small private patio with a palm tree.
Algo más...
We ask for 25 hours of help a week for lodging and food.
We can pick you up at the train station or airport.
We are all fully vaccinated and think that's a very good idea but there is no absolute mandate these days
We need to develop a journalism program where we can attract, support and supply freelance journalists with material of a high enough quality to get published in top quality print based magazines, not only electronic media.
Un poco más de información
Acceso a Internet
Acceso a Internet limitado
Tenemos animales
Somos fumadores
Puede alojar familias
Puede acoger a nómadas digitales
We have a fibre optic internet connection into the house - bring your own laptop and camera if you have
Espacio para aparcar autocaravanas
Van parking is nearby on all sides, this is a small village in the foothills of the Haute Languedoc national park so you can walk through it in 10 minutes. We are in the old ecclesiastic quarter, the Abescat.
Podría aceptar mascotas
The accommodation is a house in the village that is shared among the volunteers. We've had volunteers bring pets in the past, but just let us know beforehand so we can ensure the other volunteers in the house at the time are not allergic.
¿Cuántos voluntarios puedes hospedar?
Más de dos
Comentarios (37)
I spent about six weeks in Gabian with Eric between November - December 2024 and I had such a wonderfully unforgettable time. I would have stayed longer, except for the fact it was Christmas. For starters Eric is a great storyteller and never failed to surprise me with his… read more
I have a place for him here whenever he wants to come back!
Cheers!
Eric
Happy trails!
Eric
I lived with other workawayers in a separate apartment from the… read more
Fotos
Comentarios
Son opciones de calificación adicionales para cuando los miembros dejan sus comentarios. Se muestra la calificación media dejada en cada opción.
Precisión del perfil:
(4.9)
Intercambio cultural:
(4.8)
Comunicación:
(5.0)
I spent about six weeks in Gabian with Eric between November - December 2024 and I had such a wonderfully unforgettable time. I would have stayed longer, except for the fact it was Christmas. For starters Eric is a great storyteller and never failed to surprise me with his… read more
I have a place for him here whenever he wants to come back!
Cheers!
Eric
Happy trails!
Eric
I lived with other workawayers in a separate apartment from the… read more
He's great company, the crew had a lot of fun together and I really hope to see him again before too long!
My english level has improved a lot. I never experienced that much intersting english class than the stories of Eric. I stayed only for three weeks but we had time to do lots of projects and i have experienced lots of new things. Gabian is beautiful, sunny and full of… read more
That's just a sample and there will be many more things in the future too we hope.
Sabine is of course… read more
In our… read more
This Workaway had everything we could ask for: A welcoming host with so many stories to tell as well as opportunities to learn a lot about tree planting and of course, the romans.
Also, a nice little village with great landscapes to go for a walk and enjoy the south of France. And last but… read more
Happy trails Jurij!
Also the other Workawayers I… read more
First, sorry about this delay of answer, I'm not verry good at it, buuuut better late than never !
Thaaank you for this month in your place, it was my first real experience on Workaway, and what a nice one! It was a pleasure to share your experience of life, listen your amazing stories and learn new things from you. We were… read more
I hope to see you again sometime Lola!
Eric
This workaway experience was truly amazing. In my four weeks, I got to meet and live with so many lovely people from around the world while learning all about tree planting and the local ecology of Gabian. It’s such a charming town with beautiful nature (+ cats!!) and Eric is a lighthearted and… read more
We couldn't ask for more except that they come back as soon as possible - we'll stay in contact!
Happy trails to you two!
Thank you, Eric
Eric is a wonderful host, has a lot of stories to tell, experiences to share and can teach a lot of things. We had an enriching experience from learning how to drive a tractor to how to make beer.
The work can change depending on the day. Most of the time you work… read more
Eric is a great guy full of life and lots of stories and skills. He will have many different tasks for you, will be happy to teach you some new skills and will let you try out different tools.
The house was nice, but probably will be a bit cold during the winter, so be prepared. The village was… read more
The work was mixed. In the start I most ly helped Eric bulding scaffolding. Its a good… read more
We're all looking forward to seeing what George does next and we hope to see him again before too long.
Eric
We're all hoping to see each… read more
Thank you for everything!
Eric
And please feel welcome to come back anytime too!
Thanks for everything and you're more than welcome to come back anytime!
Happy Trails!
I hope to hear from her again sometime and she's always welcome back here anytime she likes!
All the… read more
I hope Mavic, as she sometimes signs in as, comes back to visit us someday ans we wish her all the best with her travels wherever she goes.
Happy trails!
Eric
I hope the van rolls trouble free from now on,
Happy trails Aude!
Eric
Happy trails… read more
Eric
During my stay I planted seeds, collected wood for the fireplace, potted seeds for the upcoming workawayers and prepared a report of the expenses of the… read more
Gabian is a great medieval town… read more
Our work requires a lot of thought and problem solving and Lena is well suited to that and she works very well with the rest of the people around her.
I hope to see her again someday and I hope to have lots of young trees sprouting up all around where… read more
Happy… read more
I really enjoyed learning more about the environment, trees (especially oak trees), mechanics, recycling and repairing everything and about the work with saws, wood and stones. Eric has a huge knowledge and life experience and likes to share it with others. It's… read more
Eric is a really kind and interesting person. He has so much life experience and can tell you the most amazing stories. It was always fun to hear him talk about his past but also his current projects which he always puts so much effort into.
I loved being a part of his… read more
I came for spend two weeks and after one month there I fell like I don't want to leave anymore.
It was my first workaway experience, and it was an incredible experience!
Eric is a welcoming, warm and interesting character. He is full of amazing stories and knowledge about differents topics.
I fell like I learn… read more
He is super interesting to talk to and a very open minded person.
The volunteer house is very well equipped with a cute little… read more
There are many jobs and projects to work on so I was never bored. Both Eric and Edward are a really good laugh, very easy to get along with and work… read more
Wonderful as a first workaway experience - both Eric and Eddy are super chill and so is the overall vibe of this place. You get to do what you feel you're best at or what you'd most prefer, you feel heard and understood. Eric, being almost seventy can provide you with lots of… read more
