Education & Environment,

              Culture & Community

A Visionary, Land-Based Social Enterprise

     Inspiring,

                  Enabling

                               and Empowering

young people and their local communities.

...for volunteering & training opportunities click here

This month's projects..

Were raising the new cruck-oak frames for the second phase of the wooden boatbuilding workshop and constructing the new visitor centre

Framing facts:

• Some 450 oak pegs fasten the joints over the entire frame.
• Over 60 different people have had a hand in the construction to date from 32 different countries.
• All the timber has been sourced from local, sustainably managed woodland in Snowdonia.

       " One, two, three.....HEAVE !"

 ...the completed cruck oak frames being raised by hand by trainees from the Tywi Centre, Llandeilo and young volunteers from all over of the world

Project Background:

Since 2004 the charity has been transforming a traditional Welsh farmhouse and its surrounding land that had been redundant for decades into a vibrant Visitor & Community Enterprise. Our aim is to help generate and support new green business initiatives and rural enterprises that make responsible use of the area's natural resources. The Eco-Center is situated at the heart of the Llyn Peninsula on the shores of the Irish Sea, in North West Wales, an area of outstanding natural beauty, rich cultural history and Welsh speaking communities.

Within this rural Communities First Area there is a pressing need to create sustainable employment opportunities; our approach is to find inovative ways of using local resources to seed new enterprises. Our current projects: the building of a new eco-visitor centre, The organically designed Seed Building and the substantial Cruck-Oak Framed Boatbuilding Workshop aims to showcase just that : how locally sourced raw materials and traditional building skills can be creatively combined to construct contemporary workspaces for appropriately scaled rural enterprises.

All of the varied building and landscaping projects underway at the centre have been carefully designed to create skills learning opportunities. We offer a broad range of volunteering and training activities from organic gardening to eco-building & heritage skills projects and provide a varied programme of cultural and social events aimed at empowering and enriching the lives of our local communities.

Our ethos is simple: we believe that through providing holistic, inspiring , hands-on learning opportunities within a cooperative, nurturing environment people develop a positive “can do” attitude towards their own lives, their communities and our natural environment.

The Felin Uchaf Project is an opportunity to learn new skills, to share experiences and to contribute to the community and cultural life of a very special part of Wales. We very much hope you will be inspired to join us in our initiative and look forward welcoming you to the centre

We are currently:

• Providing a wide range of volunteering opportunities aimed at bringing together people from different social and cultural backgrounds ......please scroll down this page for details.

• Providing training and courses in practical rural skills, heritage skills, eco-build methods and organic  gardening We offer short and week long residential courses, working holidays, local and international volunteer work opportunities with residencies from between 2 days to 3 months

          for a look at how volunteers helped raise a new oak framed    workspace follow the link:                               http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3C69Tmy0ak&feature=related

• Conserving and Enhancing the Habitats and Biodiversity within the existing farm and beyond, for the benefit of wildlife; the farmland is home to a number of rare plants and animals such as barn owls, hares and otters

• Reviving the oral tradition of storytelling and music in the community with regular events in and around the centre (click here for the diary on the  News Page).

         For a prieview of  night in the roundhouse please follow the link:                                           http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4QxlPGnl0w&NR=1

• Providing an outdoor- field study resource for schools and colleges on such themes as ancient technologies, Celtic heritage, sustainable land use, ecological and traditional building methods and biodiversity

• Growing our food on the centres 23 acre Community Organic-Biodynamic Farm and providing the local community with wholesome Organic-Biodynamic Vegetables through the farm shop

• Establishing a Wild Pharmacy - community herb garden to revive the growing and use of indigenous hebs

• Providing support and training for a wide variety of probation service users such as young offenders groups and probation service clients on community service placements and host young people on John Muir and Duke of Edinburgh Award Schemes

• Providing a vital support for Educators and promoting holistic educational methods inspired by the Rudolf Steiner educational approach

• Hosting international volunteer youth camps and student work experience opportunities
  
  

• There are many ways you can get involved with the project from participating in the skills courses to volunteering or through helping to support the charity financially and becoming a member.  Just take a good look at these website pages and see what were offering and what best suits you.

Volunteering in 2012-13:

"  Thank you so very much for the warm welcome you gave us and your wonderful hospitality. These past months have been a fantastic experience, we feel so lucky to have been a part of your work here and have loved every minute. Thank you also for teaching us so many new skills, for introducing us to this beautiful part of the world and its history and magic, and for giving us the confidence to pursue our dreams. "      Ed and Jo, volunteers

Every Wednesday is a Local Volunteer Work day from 10am to 4.00 pm

click here for more information. Please contact the office if you would also like to come along on other days .

for Residential Volunteers :

NOTE: our residential facilities are currently full untill January 2013. Other volunteers & trainees wishing to join the work will need to find alternative rented accommodation locally ( list supplied upon request)

We will give accommodation priority to those volunteers who have experience in building or organic gardening.

The main projects this winter will be:

• November & December : erecting the second phase of cruck framed oak workspace, this involves learning traditional green oak woodworking skills, softwood stud walling and cedar cladding.

• October onward :building a new Eco-Designed Visitor centre - this will involve:
  • green oak framing - using beams from 70 locally sorced oak trees ( October to March)
  • stone walling and lime work  (October to January)
  • straw bale and lime-clay plastering (March onward )
  • traditional slating techniues - random & diminishing course with swept valley dormer joins ( February/March onward)

We are also looking for people with experience in fundraising skills. You may be able to help at the office here at the Centre or from your own location if you live further away.  Please contact Dafydd Davies-Hughes, Project Manager

If you are considering coming to stay at the centre then please read the following essential residential volunteer information:

click here for:

• the 2012&13 Essential Volunteer Information

• our Volunteering Policy

• the Volunteer Application form (to be emailed to felinuchaf@tiscali.co.uk in Word doc.format.)

follow this link for a preview of the volunteer accommodation roundhouses http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EleHH3CoBWg

important reminder : Please be aware that winter conditions can be windy, wet and cold out here on the peninsula and you are advised to bring warm clothes, waterproofs and a good quality warm sleeping bag.