IVS-GB: Beannachar Camphill

CODE: IVS-GB: Esk Valley Camphill Community

Location: Aberdeen, Scotland

Project Description: Beannachar is a registered Care Home and Day Centre for Young Adults with Additional Support Needs aged between 18 and 33 years old. At Beannachar we provide a transition placement for our ‘clients’ (we call them students), between leaving school and, after an extended placement with us, finding a permanent adult place which may include independent living. We cater for a wide variety of learning disabilities, autism and other complex needs in a community setting with an emphasis on fostering independence in home life, on meaningful work experiences, and on social integration in community activities.

We are a self-contained community of about 90 people, including residential students, day students, permanent live-in staff, short-term volunteer co-workers, and employed staff who come in on a daily basis for work. Some staff live in the Community and others stay for part of the time during their work week. We have three residential houses, five other smaller facilities for accommodation, workshop buildings, a 28 acre estate and walled garden, a central office, laundry, a Day Centre hub and various other workshop facilities all on a partially wooded estate.

You will participate in home life in the houses, work activities in the workshops, and gatherings and festivals with the whole community. Normally there will be about 20 volunteers working with us each year, many from Europe, but also from other countries around the world.
Work Description:Volunteers do not have a job description or defined contracts as such but are expected to volunteer for 48 hours per week and contribute to the home life.

The support you will be asked to provide will be with domestic routines in the houses, accompanying and working alongside students in workshops, helping with house activities, and attending community events.

During your stay with us, you will be given care responsibilities for one or more students, which includes waking and settling routines, accompanying your students to and from workshops or on outings, and will also include providing hygiene care where appropriate.

Mondays to Fridays when you are not off you will also attend workshops with the students, usually a different workshop in the morning and afternoon. These can be outdoor workshops like the garden or estate, indoor workshops in one of our craft workshops, (weavery, leather, sculpture, arts & crafts, candles, tools) or a ‘service’ workshop—preparing meals in a kitchen or helping in the laundry. In the workshops you will be expected to work alongside the students, assisting them when needed to carry out specific tasks.

Each workshop is organised and led by a Work Leader. Some co-workers like to take the initiative and offer their own work projects with a student or students. This is encouraged, once you have experience and confidence with the students, and, depending on circumstances, can be arranged by negotiation with all concerned. You will be encouraged to focus on what our students can do and achieve, not on what they cannot do.

Working hours: 48 hours per week – 9 per day which also includes the life sharing aspect of the role, eating together, etc. You will have two full days off each week.
Accommodation and Food:Accommodation: Own room. We also have a dedicated space for Co-Workers to meet and we have a 7 seater electric vehicle specifically for Co-Worker use.

Food: The volunteers eat with the students/house each day they are on duty. When off duty they have access to the kitchen to prepare a meal or they can eat what has been provided for the students. We cater for all types of dietary requirements.

Pocket Money: £50 GBP per week
Visa Info: You will need to apply for a Temporary Work (Charity Work) Visa, Please be aware that this has replaced the Tier 5 Charity Work Visa. The application fee for this Visa is £298 and you can stay up for 12 months. To apply for this Visa you will need a Certificate of Sponsorship which will be provided by IVS at a cost of £25.
Insurance: As part of your Temporary Work (Charity Worker) visa you’ll need to pay a Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) as you’re staying for more than 6 months. The IHS costs £1,035 and last for a year.

Application Info: We have a formal application form that we require to be completed by applicants.

Recruitment will start in March 2025. Volunteers can start at the end of July or during the month of August 2025.
Additional Information: We have a formal application form that we require to be completed by applicants.

They receive a full training package whilst at Beannachar covering all aspects of mandatory training requirements, behavioural support strategies and the ethos of Camphill. A certificate of achievement will be provided when they leave along with a reference. If a volunteer fulfils their full year they will receive a £200 bonus payment.