Long Term Residential Volunteering

Develop practical skills in sustainability, work with a great team in a beautiful location, while supporting CAT’s work.

What does the Centre for Alternative Technology do?

CAT’s mission is to inspire, inform and enable humanity to respond to the climate and biodiversity emergency, sharing skills, knowledge, networks and tools to help people create change.

From activities for pre-schoolers through to postgraduate degrees, we work with a wide range of people and organisations to help inspire change across every sector. Key activities include our visitor centre, short courses, school and university visits, postgraduate degrees, information service and Zero Carbon Britain Hub and Innovation Lab – all supported by an incredible network of members and supporters across the UK and beyond.

As a volunteer, you will be a crucial part of this organisation, no matter which department you work in how long you volunteer with us for.

How does long-term residential volunteering work?

We have two annual intakes of volunteers: summer and winter. Applicants must be available for the full duration to be considered (excluding reasonable periods of holiday/time off, of course!).

All residential volunteers work full time, usually 9am–5pm Monday to Friday. There are morning and afternoon tea breaks at 11am and 4pm, and an hour for lunch at 1pm.

Long-term volunteers live in our dedicated volunteer accommodation on site, either in Di’s Diner or the Hobbit Hole.

Di’s Diner contains five small single rooms and two twin rooms, two shared bathrooms, a private balcony area, and a shared common room with sofas, computer, dining table, and kitchenette.

The Hobbit Hole is a small but cosy house containing a double bed (ideal for couples), living room/diner with a log burner, bathroom, compost toilet, kitchen and balcony.

Regardless of where you live, all meals are catered for in our on-site vegetarian café.

What does CAT provide?

• Initial and ongoing training as required.
• Support and direction from a supervisor in your own department.
• An environment in which to learn new skills and gain valuable knowledge.
• The opportunity to meet new, like-minded people.
• Full food and board (described above).
• 40% discount on most products in our shop.
• Discounted short courses: one free short course, and another at 50% discount (please note that this only applies to courses run by CAT, not courses that are run externally but hosted at CAT).
• A certificate of your contribution to CAT.
• Free CAT membership for a year, including an invitation to the annual Members’ Conference, and copies of CAT’s quarterly magazine Clean Slate.

Who are we looking for?

We’re looking for people who:

• Are willing to make a full six-month commitment to volunteering at CAT.
• Are enthusiastic and keen to get stuck-in with tasks, whether alone or in a team.
• Are friendly and respectful to others.
• Are reliable and dependable.
• Will follow their supervisor’s instructions and CAT’s policies and procedures.
• Have knowledge, interest or a willingness to learn about sustainability and CAT’s work.

Departments may also have other requirements, which will be detailed in the role description pages on our website.

Apply to be a volunteer at CAT