Volunteer from Essex

Posted on January 8, 2019 by La Giraudiere

Janis Moore volunteer office manager

Janis heard about La Giraudière through an internet search and came to the program for three weeks. She worked as an office manager in London until her retirement. She wasn’t sure what to expect when she arrived but began to enjoy it more and more with every passing day. What she enjoyed most was working in the office and the camaraderie of being part of a community. She marked the excursions with a 9 and gave top marks for the French teaching.

Jan volunteering at her application desk

Jan volunteering

Janis felt that although slightly less basic accommodation would be nice, it didn’t really matter as the program overall was good value for money.

Janet quoted in her evaluation form at first she just was not sure as not use to sharing a bathroom but each day she enjoyed it more and more. She further said Wonderful program to get to know other people from all points of the globe and a great way to be introduced into the community she gave us 10/10 for the French lessons and 9/10 for the planned excursions.

Thank you Janet for choosing La Giraudiere’s volunteer holiday and being such a good team member of the group and hopefully see you back here again one day.

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Tasmanian Volunteers Colin and Janet volunteers holiday in France

Posted on January 7, 2019 by La Giraudiere

Husband and Wife Volunteers from Tasmania

Colin and Janet came to La Giraudière as part of a nine week stay in Europe. Colin still

Tasmanian volunteer in France

Tasmanian volunteer

works full-time as a government geologist-scientist and Janet works as a clerk for the Tasmania Police. They live in Geilston Bay in Tasmania.Colin was skilled in the use of computers but also enjoyed gardening and maintenance whilst Janet described herself as a passionate gardener.

Both helped the project in a variety of ways. They heard about La Giraudière through a friend and spent ten days here finding it very good value for money. Colin said he found the programme very flexible and both enjoyed the group outings, the shared tasks and eating together.  It was suggested that sending the orientation manual out in advance would be useful!

Tasmanian volunteer in France

Tasmanian volunteer

 

Colin remarked in a video how he and Janet had the opportunity to interact with the local community, which they did not expect.

You can see them in the videos at You Tube videos or on our website videos.

A big thank you to Colin and Janet for choosing La Giraudiere and hopefully see you back here again soon.

Posted in France, Holiday with a difference, volunteer, Volunteering, Volunteering Holidays Abroad, Volunteering in France, Volunteers Holiday Abroad | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Tasmanian Volunteers Colin and Janet volunteers holiday in France

Volunteer Abroad France Website is Live

Posted on January 7, 2019 by La Giraudiere

Volunteers website is revamped & mobile friendly

Every page of the volunteers website as been redesigned and revamped so as to make the website friendly for mobile telephones and tablets but at the same time computer friendly.

Today more and more internet users are using a mobile telephone or tablet so the need is there and Google are penalizing those websites that do not subscribe to the new rules. You can Volunteer in Francecheck out the main page at Volunteer Abroad France. 

This revamp gave us the chance to also add more content to the websites. There is now a videos page giving links to videos on YouTube going back to 2008 yes 10 years ago if not more. You can check out the videos at Volunteers Videos.

The articles page as also under gone a revamp and many more articles have been added from some accomplished authors and writers from around the globe which includes Canada, Australia, USA and the UK. Most of the articles are related to their volunteers stay or holiday so well worth a read if you are thinking of applying to join our group. The articles are at Volunteers Articles.

Over the years many Press articles have been published and so another new page is added giving links to those articles, keep checking back on this one as each week we find another article on the internet or in our archives. For now see what been done to dat at What the press says about La Giraudiere

New for 2018 was the introduction of an evaluation form whereby each volunteer was asked to complete a questionnaire and give their evaluation of the program. From this information more improvements are being made to the program such as the introduction of an additional excursion so, now there is an arranged group excursion every two weeks as apposed to every three weeks. There is also hopes of an additional French/English lesson each week presently the lessons are on Friday morning the plan is to also add another to Monday afternoon, confirmation from the language teachers is still awaited.

Those that have volunteered will know that when you depart we do a thank you post on this blog for each volunteer or intern well the final part of each volunteers evaluation will now be included in the post so visitors to this blog can see how you evaluated the program. so Volunteers appraisal are here on this blog at the end of each thank you post.

Still to come on the new website is the new Chinese Alliance section and pages about our Eramus project for 2019 so please keep visiting the website and why not bookmark us.

Posted in about La Giraudiere, Volunteering, Volunteering Holidays Abroad, Volunteering in France, Volunteers Gap Year, Volunteers Holiday Abroad | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Volunteer Abroad France Website is Live

La Giraudiere volunteers project inspires Franco Chine alliance

Posted on December 27, 2018 by La Giraudiere

La Giraudiere project inspires Chinese students to learn foreign Languages and culture.

La Giraudiere is being used to introduce Chinese students to the need to learn foreign languages and to take on board different cultures of the world. In the picture below you see a previous volunteer from Guangxi Province in China enlightening other students about his trip to Europe which also took in a volunteering holiday in France at La Giraudiere.

La Giraudiere in chinese classroom

Chinese students first look at La Giraudiere

Franco Chine Alliance is inspired by a 2018 La Giraudiere volunteer

La Giraudiere project is being used in China to teach Chinese students the benefit of volunteering at La Giraudiere and how they can become part of the unique culture exchange. Here at Tiantao Middle School, Nanning, Guangxi Province, which in Chinese is 南宁市天桃实验中学. A former volunteer Tangken Li ,who adoptes the English name Vince,  explains to students the benefits of such a project and how they can form friendships with people from around the globe. He further explains how to apply, organise their trip, the visa requirements and how the different programs at La Giraudiere work.

chinese volunteer in france

Vince with his deserved volunteers certification

This year in July 2018

Thank you Vince for volunteering at La Giraudiere all the work you did here did not go unnoticed, the hedges, the help with the Chinese Brossac culture shock evening and the website and the other Chinese volunteers and now you continue by introducing La Giraudiere to you fellow students. Take care and best wishes for 2019 and looking forward to seeing you in 2019

Paul

 

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Volunteer Gwen returns to France

Posted on December 27, 2018 by La Giraudiere
gwen_british-volunteer

Returning Volunteer Gwen

A volunteer who knows here gardening Gwen from UK

Gwen who is a retired Exams Administrator in the UK  is yet another returning to La Giraudiere to volunteer again this year (Yes second trip this year) and has taken advantage of working outside to enjoy the sunshine and the beautiful views of the french countryside that La Giraudiere offers.

Gwen was only here for a week for her second visit and boy did she get a lot of things done; she started each day with watering all the new plants that had been previously planted by other volunteers and has taken great pleasure and pride in pruning the beautiful wisteria vine, which incidentally had bloomed twice during the year. To top it all off she trimmed all the hedges in the front of the property; we think she can come again. Lets hope Gwen will be returning again next year.

gwen_returning-volunteer

Gwen Pruning Wisteria

Gwen also took advantage of the beauty and tranquility of La Giraudiere when not working, enjoying lazy afternoons and the occasional wander to the local lake. I for one enjoyed a lovely spaghetti bolognaise which she prepared on her night of cooking.

Even in the short time Gwen was at La Giraudiere she enjoyed a variety of excursions including a trip to St Emilion with Paul, Shao-Ping and Andrea

A Bientôt Gwen

Andrea

 

Gwen, Thank you for returning to La Giraudiere and making ready the gardens for the coming of winter you for sure have the green fingers. The cuttings you prepared are safely away and they are being waters once a week as you instructed, thanks again for all you have done at LG and enjoy the Christmas holiday and best wishes for 2019.

Paul

 

 

Posted in France, Learning French, volunteer, Volunteering, Volunteering Holidays Abroad, Volunteering in France, Volunteers Holiday Abroad | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Volunteer Gwen returns to France