GRIMM

CODE: CBB0925

Description of the partner organizing/hosting the project: GRIMM (standing for: Groupe d’Intérêt pour le Milieu Marchois – or: interest group for the environment of Marche, in English), is a local non-profit organization whose goal is to promote and preserve the living environment of the inhabitants of the municipality of Marche-en-Famenne by drawing inspiration from the principles of sustainable development. It works in collaboration with the municipality’s environmental department. For example, it takes care of securing sections of road for amphibians to cross during their annual migration. Each year, GRIMM also hosts a group of international volunteers to carry out small public utility improvements together (for example: building benches and picnic tables, footbridges, etc. on a local promenade) and renovating those from previous years.

Description of work: Volunteers will help build a barbecue area in the Fond des Vaulx woods, in the center of Marche-en-Famenne. There is already a barbecue area in these woods, but GRIMM wants to build a second one so that more families and residents of the town can enjoy it during the warmer weather. Volunteers will lay a concrete base and build a shelter, as well as several picnic tables and benches. Volunteers will also carry out several improvements along a walking trail in another wood in the town. This wood is inhabited by a colony of beavers, who regularly alter the landscape by creating flooded areas; the volunteers will therefore build footbridges so that people can continue to walk there without getting their feet wet. They will also build a picnic table and benches. If you work quickly, other small outdoor manual tasks will be planned. Volunteers will work in several teams, each lead by one member of GRIMM. If you enjoy working with wood, screws, and tools, this is the project for you!

Description of accommodation and food:The volunteers will stay in “Saint-François complex”, in double bedrooms. Toilets and showers are on the same floor, the kitchen and a large living area (a former chapel) a few floors below. Volunteers will do their own shopping and prepare their own meals.

Description of location and leisure: Marche-en-Famenne is a small town in the countryside located in the south of the country. You can find everything there: schools, shops, industries, services... The town is surrounded by several industrial estates, but also by woods, fields and small villages where the pace of life remains rural. Liège, Namur and Luxembourg are easily accessible by train in about an hour, Brussels in two. It is also a good base camp to discover the natural heritage of the Ardenne region and to practice outdoor activities. But participating to the “GRIMM workcamp” also means experiencing traditions that are maintained year after year: your stay will be punctuated by a welcome BBQ on the first day, a farewell BBQ on the last day, and, above all, your participation in the local festivities on August 15th. On August 15, Marche-en-Famenne indeed takes a leap back a century for a large “1900 market”, with old trades, old games, crafts and birds.

Short remarks for the project: The project is very manual and takes place entirely outdoor, rain or sun; so be prepared to that

Nearest airport

The nearest airport: BRU in Brussels (Bruxelles),Belgium
The nearest terminal (train-, bus-, taxi station): Marche en Famenne
Meeting Point and Time: Saturday the 9th of August at the train station of Marche-en-Famenne at 3.40pm.