Ron

Travel information

I am currently

Activities i am interested in:

Cabinet-making/joinery, gardening, conservation

Description

I have been a committed environmentalist since 1970 when I ran a therapeutic community (18 homeless men and four staff) on a 4.5 acre market garden for St Martin-in-the Fields. Prior to that I spent 9 months on a kibbutz in 1966 and four months in 1968. In the early '70s my wife and I ran a large children's home for Lancashire County Council, then a shared flats scheme for teenagers about to leave local authority care. A few years later we market gardened, specialising in garlic and gained the Soil Association symbol. I then went on the tools for 14 years and am an expert woodworker (plenty of pics available if required). In 1989 I led the successful campaign to save Stratford Park Trees in Stroud (which gained international attention). I then went on to found the International Peace Forest . From 1994 until 2010 - when we retired - my wife and I ran our own training consultancy specialising in training those who worked with the elderly. These last five or six years - by now living in the Forest of Dean on the Welsh border - I have worked part-time for a contractor who restores SSSIs for Natural Resources Wales. For forty years my wife and I have had up to five cats at a time. My hobbies are attending chamber music concerts, live-streamed opera/ballet at the local cinema, gardening, cycling and cricket. I am a pacifist, atheist and a vegan. I have published a few articles and numerous text books to go with courses I have had validated by BTEC, but could probably only provide copies of two. Sadly my wife died on 3.1.23 and our last cat died not long after aged almost 22. I have had a number of cycling holidays in Spain and have walked the pilgrimage of El Rocio (2019). I have wintered on Gran Canaria 2023/4 and 2024/5. I have some basic Spanish but would like to learn more while escaping the worst of the English winter. I am 81 but very fit for my age and on no medication. I am a qualified first-aider.
In 2025 I have availability from mid November till just before Christmas.

Interests

Vegetarian or vegan

Culture

Politics / Social justice

Nature

Languages

Gardening

DIY & crafts

Cycling

Cooking & food

Carpentry

Books

Languages

Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Arabic: Beginner
Spanish: Beginner
French: Beginner
Irish: Beginner

More details about my language interests
Want to learn Spanish. Happy to teach English in exchange

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Skills and knowledge I'd like to share or learn

Some knowledge of:  

Gardening

DIY and building projects

General Maintenance

Animal Care

Charity Work

Teaching

More details about your skills

Expert woodworker (14 years on the tools). About ten years market gardening experience, specialising in garlic. Run a youth club, therapeutic community for homeless men with mental health and criminal justice issues, home for 16 children in care, shared flats scheme for teenagers about to leave local authority care. Sixteen years a freelance trainer travelling all over the UK training people working with the elderly. Forty years looking after our own cats (up to five at a time). Restoring SSSIs. Qualified teacher of adult education. Qualified first-aider.

Age

81

What else ...

music, cycling and reading

Some more information

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  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies

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  Special dietary requirements
  vegan