Beannachar Open Day

Public invited to see new developments at Beannachar

First published 26 May 2008

Beannachar, the Camphill Aberdeen City and Shire community for young adults with special needs, is to open its doors to the public this Saturday (May 31) between 10am and 4pm. Beannachar is located just off the South Deeside Road, about a mile west of the Bridge of Dee.
 

Visitors will be able to take part in a host of activities including guided tours, a weaving workshop, an exhibition, music and folk dancing.  Beannachar will be providing refreshments throughout the day including a barbecue, ice creams, teas and home baking.

The community hosts a herb workshop where the community creates a variety of herbal anthroposophical products from herbs grown in their organic, bio-dynamic herb garden.  A large walled garden, a small farm, a playing field and extensive woodland makes up the 30 acres of ground on the site.
 

The open day will also be a chance to view Beannachar’s much needed new six-bedroom house, which is nearing completion. It will provide better accommodation for residents, providing students with their own single room. 

The house demonstrates Camphill’s long-standing commitment to reduce its environmental impact. The new building gathers heat from the soil using a ground-source heat pump with under-floor heating.  A games room has also been constructed using straw-bales as an eco-friendly, sustainable material. It is one of two straw-bale buildings within the Camphill Aberdeen City and Shire communities. 

 
The games room provides an indoor recreational space for students and co-workers and will also feature two guest rooms, a practice kitchen and laundry facilities for independent living courses. Besides being built from straw-bale, the games room also features an eco-friendly turf roof.

Beannachar is a community of approximately 22 students aged between 17 and 30 and 22 co-workers.  It balances work, home life and personal development to help students live meaningful, wholesome and fulfilling lives together.

More than 700 people live and work in the six Camphill communities in Camphill Aberdeen City and Shire. The Camphill Movement, which now extends to 100 centres in 23 countries, started in June 1940, taking its name from the Camphill Estate in Milltimber.

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