Help out at a vegan animal sanctuary near the Serra da Estrela National Park, central Portugal

Details

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  Description

  looking for help from responsible,
  caring people able to follow instructions 15th-23rd April.
  
  Helping with Fencing, cleaning animal areas, cleaning and painting the volunteers house. It's physical work, so if you are injured or unfit, it probably isnt for you as we live in the mountains and the walk from the volunteers house to the sanctuary is a 800m slope. You don't need to be skilled but you do need to be motivated by a want to help improve the animal sanctuary. We have puppies and kittens at the moment and they generate a lot of poop. On days I am away catching street cats for sterilisation I might ask you to help with animal care of the bigger animals but it's rare. After work hrs you are welcome to pet, cuddle walk as many as you like. But that's not in your work time.
  
  I am Annie , i run a registered not for profit Animal Sanctuary. We rescue, rehabilitate and rehome when possible the animals in my care. I live with my partner Adam on a 5 hectare property on the out skirts of Melo, a village in the Serra da Estrela national park in central Portugal. We moved here in 2015 . The Quinta/farm is a place for people to enjoy the area in a vegan, healthy, non toxic atmosphere. You do not have to be a vegan to visit, just whilst you are here we ask you to not bring meat, animal products, alcohol, marijuana or other intoxicants onto the property. We have loads of projects to complete they include, plumbing , fencing the boarder and planting trees, pulling up bracken, cutting back brambles , poo picking, hay turning, fruit picking, herb and flower collection, painting the house, decorating, amongst other stuff, all quite physical work.
  You will be staying in a private room in a house 5 minutes walk from the sanctuary. We stock the kitchen with food (Vegan only) and volunteers make food for themselves or as a group. Emptying bins and keeping up with washing up and keeping the house tidy is a job out of hours. Just generally treating the house with respect. Anyone leaving the house in a mess and not pulling their weight will be asked to leave.
  We have both travelled extensively and have many a tale to tell, we also enjoy listening to our guests tales, thoughts, hopes and dreams. We like to socialise but also appreciate our privacy, so its important that you dont expect us to be around all the time. We are going to try and organise workaways so we have a few people in at a time, as this will allow us to get more work done in a shorter amount of time and make it a more social occasion, again however you may find that its just you, so being able to do jobs alone is important.
  
  At the sanctuary we have up to 30 dogs, 30 cats, 3horses, 4 sheep and 11 pigs. We also run sterilisation days for dogs and cats and raise money through raffles to pay for it. In fact this is such an important part of the work we do. On sterilisation days we receive the animals the day before , load up early morning and then drive 2hrs to a clinic where we can take advantage of cheap prices. We then return with them that evening and keep street animals in our care for the next few days until they are healed enough to be released. On these days there are animals in cages everywhere in the house. I take care of them but you need to be ok with a house full of animals and understand that they are scared and hurting and need to be left in peace.
  On your time off you are welcome to take the dogs for walks. But to be clear this is your personal choice not a job. I walk all the dogs that can be in the morning and most are free on our 5 hectare plot during the day.
  
  
  Please bring long trousers that will protect you from the brambles as well as working shoes. It does rain a lot here in the winter and spring so waterproofs are good too, also if you have them working gloves, we have some gloves you can use if you dont have your own. We do not have insurance to cover any injuries you might sustain whilst working here, so please make sure you have your own insurance. We will ask you to sign a disclaimer when you arrive and also expect you to be honest with us about the jobs you are happy or un happy to do. We prefer people to stay for a week and then for both parties to review from there if a longer stay is a good idea. If from day 1 or early on we realise you really are not suited to our project we will drop you back to the nearest bus or train station that can safely take you to your next destination
  
  Look forward to hearing from you
  Annie

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Charity Work

  Art Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Be a part of helping to expand our vegan animal shelter. Nice walks in the local area . The chance to be part of foster animal rehabilitation and the chance to visit a wildlife rehabilitation centre close by.

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  Help

  We have loads of projects to complete they include, plumbing, making an irrigation system, fencing the boarder and planting trees, pulling up bracken, cutting back brambles and maintaining the veggi garden, poo picking, hay turning, fruit picking, herb and flower collection amongst other stuff, all quite physical work. We also have daily tasks which involve cleaning, washing up and we have some art projects.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  Private room in a house with wifi, hot showers and electricity.

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  What else ...

  Things to do in the local area- Lots of walking and cycling opportunities in the National Park, the local municipality holds numerous events around the year. Possibilities to visit the near by towns of Gouveia and Guarda, not to far from salamanca in spain for the weekend off.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  We have good internet connection

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  Space for parking camper vans

  This host can provide space for campervans.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  This host has said they are willing to accept those travelling with a pet.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  24/week maximum

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