CAMP LEADING
Code: 77349 Copied
Germany
Renovation
Social work
Manual work
Renovation
Social work
+1
Permanent
About the project
CAMP LEADING
📝 Detailed information
🏢 About the local organisation
Open Houses ( rooms open for those who come along.Open Houses ( not empty buildings, but places with visible and invisible traces of history, places which have grown and decayed over the centuries, places which were shaped by those people who lived there long ago as well those who left only yesterday ( places which will be shaped by those who live there or who come as a guest.Open Houses ( rooms which want to be filled with dreams and ideas, with meetings and exchange, by people of different backgrounds, different cultures, different generations and different ideas and visions.The history of Open Houses Network dates back to the mid-1980s, when a group of young people started to restore village churches in East Germany in voluntary work to protect them from decay. The engagement for these buildings united people who enjoyed the freedom these activities provided and who filled these rooms with life again in ways which by far exceed the craftsmen s work done ( through exhibitions, concerts, making music together or just sitting by the camp fire. Meanwhile, rooms free of political and ideological pressure are no longer urgently required; however, places have become rare where people can meet without commercial pressure, free of bureaucracy and institutionalism, free of nepotism and the exclusion which it produces. What should be easy ( to go somewhere in order to meet people and to work together ( has become difficult. The tightrope walk between, on the one hand, public activities in a monetary and functional sense, and the retreat into private life on the other, is very difficult, and it requires a lot of power and permanent efforts to tackle red tape and financial restrictions.Free spaces are less and less understood as common property, and are permanently being cut back. The idea of public property seems to have gone out of fashion, and places of common responsible work have become rare.Open Houses Network tries to create and protect such spaces. In this process, we do not want to be the drs, but be people who have a vision, who want to initiate something, but who also are aware of depending on the co-operation of others. We understand our projects and events as offers ( as offers to create space for commitment, for changes, for meetings.
💼 What the programme involves
Organising and leading an international Workcamp is an interesting challenge for those who enjoy working together with young people from all over the world, which are willing to take over a big responsibility and who look forward to a great summer in Germany. The camp leader s role lies in building a bridge between the participants of the Workcamp, the organisation as well as the technical leaders who guide the practical part of the camp. S/he supports the group of volunteers from a social and intercultural point of view. Open Houses is looking for people who are highly motivated and responsible, open minded and which already have some experiences in handling with other people. The main tasks are to organise the social life for all volunteers during the camp period. The leader will welcome the volunteers and make them familiar with the camp site. S/he will prepare the daily schedule, indicating the working and eating times including breaks and will furthermore be responsible for organising the cleaning and cooking teams, alternating within the group. The camp leader will buy the food for the group, having an eye on the everyday changing cooking teams with their individual dishes. Additionally, s/he organises leisure activities after the working days and is welcome to prepare campfires, barbecues, games or other group activities. For the weekends the camp leader should be ready to plan little trips to bigger cities nearby or other activities. A camp leader has rarely time for personal things during the Workcamp. S/he is always the person in charge of everything and contact person in any questions and needs of the volunteers. This should be clear to all applicants.It is also important that the camp leader stays in close contact to the technical leaders, who are organising the working groups and know which work has to be done. It is helpful to support the technical leaders by taking over the responsibility for a working group, if there are no other works to be done for the camp leader. At some camps, especially in environmental camps, it can happen that the functions of camp and technical leaders are running more together. So it is good to be prepared also to organise a little bit the working part.The camp leader is also responsible for managing the deduction and finances of the camp and to take care of the documentation ( writing down what has been done, taking pictures and leading the evaluation of the camp. It is important to do this documentation with a certain care, so that the camp leader which will lead the following camp will know what happened in the past and dsn t need to look for the same information or to do the same mistake a second time.Project Description The camp leader has to be able to work independently as well as in a team. Since most of the camps are organised by several camp leaders (one or two and one or more technical leaders) it is necessary to agree upon several issues in a team. All in all, leading a camp means a lot of wo
🏠 Accommodation on site
FINANCESAll costs linked to the project are covered, including food, accommodation, insurance and transportation during the stay at the project. Travel costs to and from the camp place are not covered. Participants should organise their journey to and from the project place by themselves and on their own expenses. Furthermore, participants should bring their own pocket money.ACCOMMODATIONIn most of Open Houses camps the volunteers will live at the same places they also work on, what means that they live more or less on a building site. In most of the Heritage Volunteers Projects the accommodation is located in a certain distance to the working site. The accommodation is usually very simple; there are shared rooms with simple beds or mattresses at most of the places. Shower, toilet and kitchen are at the place, but sometimes not in the same building. The equipment is simple but fair. After work, when everybody wants to take a shower, there can be a limit of hot water.FOODThe meals will be prepared together as they are part of the community life, what means that every participant will be responsible for the meal at least once during its stay. So it would be very nice if the participants could bring typical recipes from home in order to introduce each other to the preparation of food from all over the world.
📍 About the location
Lohra Castle is situated in the heart of Germany in Northern Thuringia. The castle, which is surrounded by a scenic hilly landscape, is located on the edge of a natural reserve area. Being one of the largest castles in Thuringia, the history of castle Lohra begins in the Middle Ages. Its architectural styles which have been preserved in the structures of the ensemble attest to a prolonged period of occupation and historical evolution up until today.The castle is more than thousand years old, and it is a relic of German medieval past that is still standing at the heart of a region through which the story of the German nation has been written. Today, it includes twenty buildings from different time periods, showcasing this historical evolution to the enchantment of visitors and heritage enthusiasts: medieval fortifications, remnants of a tower from the 11th century, a Romanesque double-floored chapel, a manor house from the Renaissance period as well as stables and granaries from the 19th and the early 20th centuries. The ensemble is situated in the centre of a beautiful forest. For years Lohra Castle was vacant. In the 1990s a civil society association which became todays Open Houses, began to rescue the castle and to revitalise it through cultural activities. The process of rehabilitation of cultural heritage not only brought new life and use to an otherwise forgotten monument, but it also provided with a new space where young people could reconnect with tangible heritage while valorising the relevance of preserving a historical monument. Since then, a large number of international workcamps, heritage volunteering projects, heritage training courses, seminars, exhibitions, concerts and other activities with international participants have been taking place every year in the castle.
ℹ️ Additional information
Dates of participation can be agreed with the incoming officer of Open Houses. There is a minimum of four weeks and the stay can be extended until the end of the season in October. A certificate of participation can be provided, and if the stay is for more than two months it can be acknowledged as an internship for University purposes.
Interested in this project? Create your account and apply online.
Sign in to apply📅 Available sessions
OH C01
04/06/2023 → 12/08/2023
Volunteers registered
2 / 2
♂ 0/1
♀ 2/1
ℹ️ Key information
Age required
18–35 years old
Solidarity donation
0.00 EUR
French tax residents may be eligible for a tax reduction of up to 66% of their costs (membership, plane tickets, solidarity donation).
📍 Location
Lohra, Germany
Germany
🌍 Location info
Local currency
Euro Member Countries (EUR / €)
Timezone
Central European Summer Time
Local time: 21:01 (12/11/2026)
🛡️ Before you leave
✅ Features
🏠 Accommodation
Collective
🗣️ Languages spoken
English
German