Volunteerism is probably the greatest way of making real change happen and learning new skills, knowledge and attitude. Quest organizes a range of different volunteer activities. The favorite at the moment seems to be the Charleville Castle Restoration Project itself. People of different age groups and backgrounds come, stay at the castle and work on various aspects of the project. The work ranges from roof restoration to gardening to simply clean-up. Duration can be anything from a single day to manyweeks. Volunteerism is limited only by support funding. Some donors contribute funds to assist this activity. More are urgently needed. Volunteers have been even known to fund the activity themselves. Generally we finish off with a good old party, bonfire or bar-b-q.

 

For more information contact: charleville.castle@ireland.com. The castle website is www.charlevillecastle.com and more information can also be found on www.quest-university.net

Students attending Quest also do voluntary work by way of work experience or laboratory assignment. Action-learning calls for a high degree of hands-on activity both from the point of view of developing adaptability and confidence to move between theory-action-reflection in a group setting. But also the individual disciplines advance faster when inadequacies of knowledge are discovered through working in the area of study. Reading, discussion and mentoring take on higher levels of effectiveness and levels of relative alertness generally improve