Today WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms but it started out as Working Weekends On Organic Farms in 1971 when Sue Coppard organised a trial weekend for herself and three other Londoners on an organic farm in East Sussex.
The deal was that Sue and her friends helped out with the farm work in exchange for food and accommodation. This was so successful that other organic farms wanted to get involved, offering their hospitality in exchange for help from willing volunteers. There are well over 580 hosts in the UK and Portnellan became a host in February 2013. Since then we have hosted well over 100 WWOOFers, most whom have become great friends and some have returned to see us again.
WWOOFers stay with the family and learn about welfare-friendly, organic beef production in a stunning Scottish setting. They often have to help with other jobs on the farm like maintaining the moorings and changeovers in The Old Farmhouse.
If you are interested in WWOOFing at Portnellan, see www.wwoof.org.uk for more details on how to join up and apply.