St. James’ Park
An Alternative Campsite and Hostel in Bulgaria
Background
A brief bit of background – my daughter Elly graduated as an Engineer in 2005. Recognising how difficult it is to get on the property ladder in Britain, with her first job she bought this property in Bulgaria. Foreign investment has been encouraged by the Bulgaria government for a few years now and is an integral part of the country’s development within the EU – where ethics come into that investment is another question.
We spent quite a few months researching properties on the Internet before coming here in July to view them. This house in Voditsa was the second place we saw and it really fitted the bill in terms of land space and outbuildings. But the thing that really sold this place for us were the neighbours and the general feeling about the village. People in nearby houses came out to see what was happening and who we were – everyone was friendly and welcoming and they were very happy (and surprised) that anyone would want to come and live in their village from another country.
The plans for the campsite developed and grew over the next 12 months with thanks to everyone who wrote in the Ideas Book. I came here in August 2006 with a 3 month visa and began to change the land area – the fences and gates all came down, I began my battle with the 50 years old nettle plants and gradually the campsite began to take shape.
You may be wondering about the name of the campsite, St James’ Park. I’m a Geordie and recognising where a big piece of my heart lives, I thought I’d name this lovely piece of land after another beautiful patch of green. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, St James’ Park is the home of Newcastle United. Everyone is welcome of course but anyone who arrives in a Newcastle shirt, gets a free breakfast!
I’ve had the most amazing help ever since this idea was born but most especially this summer, I’ve been lucky enough to have fantastic volunteers through Willing Workers on Organic Farms. They are all named and thanked individually on the People page and I can only say that this campsite would not be happening in this way without them. As Ingrid said, it truly is a handmade campsite.
But volunteering is not just about people coming to hoe and rake my field – there have been 13 people from 5 different countries here in the summer of 2006. An unusual amount of international visitors to Voditsa but the general feedback in the village has been very positive (even if people are still a bit puzzled). Every visitor has tried to learn a little Bulgarian, they’ve smiled and talked to everyone in the street and of course they’ve had a positive effect on the local economy – especially the bar at times.
So people in Voditsa are slowly being introduced to the idea that their village is about to become an international tourist centre.
But for me, the other benefits of volunteering have been around sharing of knowledge and experience – I’ve learned loads from the people who’ve been here and I’ve been able to run my ideas by them and get some feedback. We’ve had some very interesting cultural conversations on a huge range of topics– politics, the EU, Anglo-American relations, the Sound of Music, the ethics of foreign investment and organic farming, bidets, the rules of American football, men’s role in a caring society – to name but a few – there has been no shortage of conversation and different viewpoints. We’ve also shared some great food and recipes.
One unexpected thing for me was the interest locally about volunteers – the idea that anyone would work for no money was astonishing – quite a conversation stopper! The next question was how could Bulgarian farmers get volunteers and this of course led on to organic farming. It appears to me that one of the legacies of the years of communism is the reluctance to question things so people do not generally question the use of chemicals and fertilisers that are routinely put on their products and on the earth. This is a big issue and I’m not here to preach but I’m now under some pressure to produce good vegetable next year without the use of chemicals!
For more information about what’s happening at the moment at St. James’ Park, head over to the blog & news page