First Taster Day of the year
We recently held our very first Taster Day in Kent, a small but exciting step in giving people a chance to experience WWOOFing for a day along with fellow prospective WWOOFers of the future. The event offered a taste of life on an organic veganic forest farm, with hands-on activities, time with the host, and plenty of good conversation (and tasty food of course!)
Although it was intimate gathering it was a fantastic start, and we’re looking forward to building momentum and running more taster days across the UK in the future. Stay tuned for upcoming dates!
You can read all about the Taster Day which was held on Saturday 26th July in an article by Jo Kidd who hosted the event and created a record of the event in words and pictures.
As a little reminder: Taster days are a way for hosts to go beyond the norm and commit to holding a special educational day for newbies. We support the hosts (including financial) who’d like to share their skills and offer a hands-on introduction to WWOOFing on their farm or holding. Taster Days are for those who need to dip their toe into the water before jumping in!
Here’s a link to more information about Taster Days and other opportunities beyond the norm.
A Gathering from Around the World
This September, WWOOF organisations from across the globe will come together in France for an International WWOOF Meeting. Representatives from dozens of countries will meet to share ideas, learn from one another, and explore how we can continue to strengthen the WWOOF movement worldwide.
It’s a rare chance to celebrate the global community that makes WWOOF possible; hosts opening the doors to their farms and homes, the WWOOFers offering their energy, curiosity and willingness to learn, and the shared values of sustainability, cultural exchange and connection to the land.
We’ll be sharing updates and behind-the-scenes moments from the four-day event, so keep an eye on our social media channels in September to see how the WWOOF family is working together to create positive change around the world.
We have vacancies for new trustees
Are you passionate about sustainable living, organic growing and building community? We are seeking new volunteer trustees to join our board. As a trustee, you’ll help guide the strategic direction of the organisation, ensuring we stay true to our values while continuing to grow and support our network of hosts and WWOOFers.
We’re especially keen to hear from people with experience in any of the following areas: governance/legal, finance, fundraising, marketing or digital communications – but most importantly, we’re looking for people who share our commitment to sustainable agriculture.
You can read an incredible article from one of our new trustees, Carmen Ho, which we are sure you are going to love. Carmen has also shared some thoughts on becoming a Trustee:
My relationship with WWOOF began in December 2015, when I first experienced the richness of learning from the land—and from the people who care for it. Since then, I’ve WWOOFed and worked on food and growing projects in China, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the UK, working on everything from permaculture farms and community food gardens, to food waste networks and agriculture cooperatives. WWOOF introduced me to the interconnected themes of food, ecology, and land justice—threads that continue to shape my work and worldview.
With an MA in Global Political Economy, with a focus on seed sovereignty, plant-breeding, and futures thinking, alongside over a decade of experience in building community initiatives, qualitative research, and hands-on horticulture training, I now serve as a Trustee of WWOOF UK. I see this role as a way of giving back to a network that has nourished me—personally and politically.
WWOOF has been a quiet but powerful thread through the last ten years of my life: a space of learning, exchange, and deep connection. As a Trustee, I aim to help strengthen that thread for others—to support a movement of growers, thinkers, and stewards shaping the food futures we all need.
For more information on becoming a WWOOF UK Trustee including how to apply, please follow this link. Thank you.
Welcome to new hosts
These lovely hosts have joined our UK WWOOF community since our last newsletter was published and we hope their experiences of hosting will be rewarding, fulfilling and of course fun!
Heatherfield Organic Garden – House and garden in beautiful West Yorkshire. Establishing an orchard, soft fruit growing, wildflower meadows and introducing elements of forest gardening.
Lurgan Farm – Family run organic sheep and cattle hill farm with native woodland and cottage garden in the Highlands of Perthshire, Scotland.
Glenbield – Smallholding with goats, hens, ducks and bees. Running a dog kennels near Peebles in the Scottish Borders offering many activities.
Achnahard Croft – Vegetable producing croft in the Scottish Hebrides on 45 acres surrounded by natural beauty.
Animals in Reach [Charity] – Sanctuary / education farm in North Yorkshire using forest school and outdoor learning as a way for young people to connect to nature.
Little Bray Estate – An English country garden, organic vegetable garden and smallholding in North Devon keeping chickens, ducks, guinea fowl and a friendly sheep.
Spout Cottage – setting up a smallholding in the Welsh Border Hills on 7 acres of hillside this family plan to bring people together to world school, live consciously, run workshops and grow food.
And returning host:
Dairy barn – Teaching about Organic Pools for clean water and aiming to be as self-sufficient as practical on 2 acres in Norfolk.
Keep in touch with us
We’ve created a page where you and your friends can sign-up to receive our newsletters as a way to keep in touch with us. Those with an active membership will receive our newsletters automatically but we also produce a non-members’ edition to help those thinking about joining and for staying in touch even when your membership has expired.
Share this link to sign-up to our newsletter.
Also, as you know, social media is a great way to help promote WWOOFing and to show the world what we do. We love sharing your photos and videos, so please include #wwoofuk and/or tag @wwoofuk on your posts so we can share them. Feedback from hosts is that when we’ve shared their social media they’ve noticed in an increase in the number of WWOOFers wanting to stay at their farms.
And last but not least….
We’d love to hear about your events, your news, your stories. It’s you who make our newsletter the colourful, relevant and engaging read that we all enjoy throughout the year. Please send your valuable contributions to: editor@wwoof.org.uk
Many thanks for being part of the vibrant and buzzing WWOOF community in the UK, we really appreciate your support.
