Give and take: I went on a volunteering holiday in Dorset – and learned stone masonry in return A stay near Bridport with a community group offers friendship and the chance to learn new, useful skills.
If you had asked me this morning, as I sat nursing my coffee in the dining room of the Othona Community near Bridport, Dorset, what either of these things meant, I wouldn’t have had a clue.
The Othona Communities in Essex and Dorset are dedicated to simple living and a down-to-earth spirituality centred around Christianity, but are open to all, particularly those who feel uncertain of their faith or are on the margins of traditional church going.
The community’s stone-clad guesthouse is in six acres of gardens amid the pine-scented woodlands above Chesil Beach, where groups of men and women are gathering apples from the orchards, making compost bins and laying turf.
That’s the thing about volunteering: in giving your time to a good cause, it allows you to also grow in confidence, stretch yourself and learn something new.
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