📝 Detailed information
🏢 About the local organisation
The Villages des Jeunes act for the social integration and the participation of all volunteers as a part of its action, in particular helping the socially disadvantaged, locally, nationally and internationally.
Its objective is to allow people from different social and cultural situations to work together at something useful.
To enable this, the association runs two international hosting centres, the Faï farm and the hamlet of Vaunières.
From these places, the association leads various types of activities (workcamps for disadvantaged people and volunteers, hosting events promoting social and international exchange...)...
... which bring together people of different nationalities and cultures (volunteers, families, holiday
makers)...
... through several activities (decorating the buildings, environmental work, hospitality work, cultural activities, raising awareness about key issues such as environment)...
... which operate within different areas both social and professional (such as vocational training, restoring abandoned buildings, preserving the buildings and the environment and thus the heritage of these places, supporting local projects and stimulating local social activities).
For more information visist our website: https://www.solidaritesjeunesses.org/volunteeringinfrance
💼 What the programme involves
d) Work activities:
On the centre, the old farming activity has been replaced by many other activities:
• Environment and renovation work: painting, plumbing, electricity, construction work, landscaping, wood work, gardening...
• Cultural activities: concerts and music festivals organised in cooperation with local associations, intercultural meals, thematic days.
• Hosting work: cooking, preparing bedrooms, taking care of facilities, welcoming and helping groups and people
e) Collective life
Collective life is a key issue in the project. It is a support for meetings and
exchanges between everyone. For this reason, everybody is supposed to act responsibly and to take part actively in everyday tasks (permanent staff, salaried people, volunteers, holiday makers, groups). Meals, household, washing up and all the efforts to keep the area clean and tidy are carried out in turns and by small groups. The meals are taken all together between all the residents of the centre.
🏠 Accommodation on site
The European volunteers are accommodated in the Farm House. The volunteers are accommodated in rooms of 2 to 4 people and have their own bathroom. Showers and toilets are situated in buildings. In the house, the living room and kitchen are shared with salaried people and sometimes groups.
One of the toilets in Faï is a dry toilet. This dry toilet is part of the project of the association to manage the use of water. Indeed, the Faï farm is located in the South of France which is quite dry, especially during summer, and one aim of the association is to be environmentally friendly.
📍 About the location
a) Geographical environment:
The Faï farm is situated 3, 5 km from the village of Le Saix, the closest village, and 17 km from the city of Veynes, in the north of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region.
Located at an altitude of 1000 metres in a valley, the place benefits from a well preserved environment composed of forests and mountain rivers. The mountains around offer many possibilities for beautiful hikes. Quite close to the Faï farm (25 minutes by walking) and up in the mountains, the ruins the old Abbaye of Clausonne can be visited.
Le Saix, the closest village to Faï, has a population of about 80 inhabitants. It is set in a very rural area where people live mostly on agricultural and pastoral activities and are eager to develop tourism.
The closest cities are: Gap (40 km), Grenoble (100 km), Sisteron (60 km), Marseille (200 km).
b) Description of Faï reception centre
The centre comprises 4 main buildings which allow it to accommodate up to 60 people during the summer.
Farm house: 8 beds in rooms of 2 to 4 people, independent kitchen and dining room, lavatory on the ground floor, showers and toilets are out of the
building.
Aubergine house: 20 beds with one dormitory of 8 beds and 3 rooms for 3 or
6 people, collective kitchen and dining room on the ground floor shared by international volunteers, the permanent staff and the guests, showers and toilets on the first floor.
The Cochonniers: 13 beds in rooms of 4 or 5 people, showers and toilets are outside of the building.
The Bergerie: 2 flats with 4 beds and one flat with 8 beds, independent living room, showers and toilets in each flat.
On the place, you will also find rooms for activities and parties, an open air theatre, a traditional oven to bake bread and pizzas, a wood and masonry workshop and gigantic trumps!
⚠️ Requirements
Driving licence needed
Project open only for citizens of the European Union.