Volunteering

We host a small residential volunteer team with a twin focus of taking care of our participants and the learning environment while developing volunteers’ own enquiries relating to the values and aims of our campus.

Volunteers work alongside staff to take care of course participants through the provision of sound, clean accommodation and good food.

As Dartington increases the proportion of food grown on site, volunteers assist the kitchen and garden teams with food preservation and storage, growing, harvesting and pasteurising.

We encourage volunteers to be active participants in the learning community outside of their duties and to take opportunities to attend talks and other activities that are open to the learning community.

Residential volunteers often participate in activities up to five days per week. Residential volunteer placements are for a minimum of one month and usually for an initial period of three months. If everything goes well during this initial period, placements may be extended beyond three months.

Through volunteering in Dartington’s residential community, I relearnt a spirit of serving and what it really meant to belong to a community. There were lots of opportunities to learn and unlearn life skills. I learnt practical skills about working in a community kitchen, how to cook and preserve fresh produce grown on-site. I learnt how to appreciate and beautify our space in harmony with the cycle of nature. The time I spent at Schumacher and Dartington has become such an important part of my life’s journey.

Anna, Volunteer

current opportunity: Community Learning Volunteering

Please note that we are not currently accepting applications for this role – but it’s likely we will do soon, so please check this page regularly for updates.

We are currently seeking volunteers to join us with an interest in transformative education and regenerative food and farming to help create and maintain a safe space for staff and students of Schumacher College and Dartington Arts School.

OVERVIEW

Volunteers give practical support to the day-to-day operations and help with the Kitchen and Garden teams to grow, prepare and serve delicious vegetarian food.

Volunteers coordinate and lead community work groups to enable students, staff and course participants to help with daily duties; taking care of the learning environment, the land, and each other.

Placements start dates:

April 2022 or as soon as possible
September 2022
January 2023

Placement duration:

Minimum 1 to 3 months with the possibility of extending to 6 months.

Successful applicants will bring:

A spirit of service to the community
An openness and intention to learn
Experience of Schumacher College or Dartington Arts School or College of Arts through attending a course OR
An extended experience of living in a learning community.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Our intention is to create a small volunteer team with a twin focus of taking care of our learners and the learning environment while developing volunteers’ own learning relating to the values and aims of Dartington Trust and Schumacher College.

Living and learning in community are at the heart of Schumacher College’s education programmes. The actions of volunteers are a visible reminder to the community of the principle of being in service. It is a practical approach to learning through which volunteers embody our encouragement to explore different ways of knowing and different kinds of knowledge; on doing things with the hands as well as the head and learning how to build and foster relationships with the heart.

Key roles for volunteers include creating and maintaining a safe space for learning; enhancing the beauty of the learning environment; and holding the learning we encourage through community work. Volunteers regularly work alongside staff to take care of learners through the provision of sound, clean accommodation and good food. As the Dartington increases the proportion of food grown on site, volunteers can assist the Kitchen and Garden teams with food preparation, preservation and storage, harvesting and pasteurising.

A period of residence at Dartington and Schumacher College can help volunteers to integrate their learning following intensive study, to incubate projects and to bridge into new roles. We encourage volunteers to be active participants in the learning community and to take opportunities to attend course sessions, talks and other activities that are open to the community.

RESIDENTIAL VOLUNTEERS

Residential volunteers participate in community activities approximately 5 days per week and the rota is prepared usually one week in advance. In addition to this there will be two hours a week when the volunteers meet together as a team. Volunteers receive no monetary payment other than reimbursement of expenses actually incurred in connection with volunteering for us.
Residential volunteers are offered full board accommodation include meals and a private, single room with shared bathroom and kitchen facilities during the period they are volunteering with us.

LOCAL VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers who live locally participate in the learning community activities on a flexible basis agreed with the volunteer coordinator and are offered refreshment and a meal during their shifts.

find out more & apply

The volunteer role on our campus is part of a wider programme of volunteering opportunities across the Dartington estate.

We review applications on a monthly basis – usually at the end of each month – and endeavour to reply to all applicants as soon as possible. We will prioritise interviewing applicants who express an interest in starting volunteering within the next three months.

Visit our sister website, dartington.org, to submit an application.

Due to the nature of this role, we are unable to accept applications from anybody under the age of 18.