Celebrating 25 years by sheer hard work

AOL, celebrated their 25-year anniversary around the world by donating a day's work to
charity. Last Thursday, the 20th of May, 40 AOL personnel invaded Camphill Dunshane armed with
wheelbarrows, shovels, cleaning equipment, shears, buckets of gardening gloves and bags of enthusiasm. It was a beautiful day to get away from the computer screens and to shift from software engineering to shovelling, scraping, cleaning and painting. It soon became apparent that this was not seen as just a bit of fun. Serious work was undertaken and in only hours houses were spring-cleaned, the secret garden was brought back to a civilised state, a poly-tunnel was filled with compost and rotivated, garden walls were de-ivied (figure that one out) and the garden was weeded. All that deserved a good lunch...and a good lunch was had. Both parties genuinely enjoyed the day and we wouldn't be surprised if some of the Aol workers would become regular visitors. Not only is Dunshane very grateful for all the work done, but also for the spirit in which it was undertaken. It's a terriffic example that we hope will be followed by other companies.

............The Aol team arrives in Dunshane.................. Satisfaction after a hard day's work.........

You can see and/or download lots more photographs of the day by clicking on this link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/NickvanVliet71/AOLInDunshane#

Camphill Community Trust (Republic of Ireland)

The 'Guide to the Camphill Community Trust (Republic of Ireland)' was launched recently and full details are now on this website

The obect of the Trust is

(a) To make provision for the support of persons who are, or have been members of, or substantially associated with, the Camphill movement in its various organisations in the Republic of Ireland and who have become through sickness, infirmity, old age, poverty or other necessitous circumstance, in need of financial support, care, nursing, accommodation and/or anthroposophical, medical or other treatment and to make donations, loans and other financial help available to such persons.

(B) To make provision for the support of such persons to enable them to participate in the benefit of support, care nursing, accommodation and medical and other treatment provided by any similar social fund, or sickness or pension scheme administered by any other trust, home, school, community, centre, colony, incorporation, company, society, association, institution or other body whether incorporated or not and whether having anthroposophical or other similar interests or otherwise.

( c) To make provision for the support of the dependants of such persons in comparable manner.

The Trust has been accepting applications since January of this year and is happy to consider applications for support from communities on behalf of individuals who are eligible in accordance with the above.

We are currently working with the other similar Camphill Trusts in this region to co-ordinate our responses to requests for support that involve more than one Trust.

For further information or a copy of the Guide please contact the secretary of the Trust:

Pearse O Shiel
Secretary
Camphill Community Trust
Cappaduff
Mountshannon
Co.Clare

email: poshiel@gmail.com

MUSIC WEEK IN DINGLE

For the first week of November the Blasket Centre on the Dingle Peninsula resounded with music. An inclusive group of about 70 musicians, made up of members from all the different Camphill Communities of Ireland , practised music under the baton of our patient conductor John Billing, whom some of the readers might remember from the Celtic Lyre Orchestra.

It was a truly wonderful experience to sit in the bright and spacious Blasket Centre, which the OPW generously made available to Camphill for that week. The orchestra was unique; it was an ad-hoc orchestra made up of the talents and abilities of the people present at any given time. Some of the musicians were accomplished players, some humble beginners. There were hand bells, various drums and percussion instruments, polychords, lyres, violins, a cello, flutes, and even a saxophone and a trumpet. Each instrument had an important part to play and each voice, however humble, contributed to the sound of the whole; a true and wonderful experience of Community.

The members of the "Camphill Orchestra" stayed in cottages in a courtyard in Dingle; this was a great opportunity to meet old friends and to make new ones. We went out together for meals, listened to music in the pub and danced together at a ceili. With so many Camphillers in town the music week definitely was the talk in town.

The Community in Dingle, together with all their friends, looked after all of us so well. Tea breaks with delicious homemade cakes appeared miraculously just at the right moments, and a local chef cooked our lunches for us in the local youth hostel.

Next to practising in the orchestra we all had the opportunity to do some singing, drumming, dancing and bell ringing. Some of us discovered our talent in salsa dancing!

At the end we performed the fruits of all our hard rehearsing at a fundraising concert organised by the Dingle community. The sound of the music, the memory of the wonderful time spent with new and old friends, and the sound of the waves on Dingle Peninsula will live on in me for a long time.

Thank you to all the friends who helped to bring about such a truly inspiring week!

Claudia Brave