Volunteer at Tara – volunteering is for anyone who has the will and the heart to offer to an animal. Before you arrive at Tara, read this!

TARA is a home for both animals and people, so our guests do not cook or eat meat on the grounds of the Foundation.

For volunteer contact:
piotr@fundacjatara.info
Tel. 785-511-630

Volunteering at Tara means – a preceding phone call, a sleeping bag, willingness to help, enthusiasm and love for animals and the minimum age of 16 – that’s all what is required to become a volunteer at Tara. Every pair of hands ready to work counts at the shelter. Work is sometimes hard, sometimes physically exhausting but incredibly satisfying and rewarding. Everyone works of course to the best of his/hers ability. The hostel is a place where everyone will find something for himself. Even if you have not had any contact with horses before, you will definitely find tasks that you can carry out without problems. Construction of the stables, clearing manure from the boxes, daily bedding, giving hay, letting out on the paddock, repair work, caring for the horses and other animals – those are just some of the activities you can do here. Regardless of their age and ability, our volunteers are always working in a cheerful atmosphere on all fronts.

Although for so many years the water was brought in buckets and the toilet was standing outside, there were always people willing to help. But today, the conditions are a lot better! There is a bathroom, toilets and shower cubicles with warm water and the rooms are heated as we have installed a central heating in our “Youth Quarters”, the kitchen is also well equipped – well, it even has a washing machine. Of course all things come “from recovery”, so do not expect a luxury. In the Youth Quarters everybody will find a bed, although sometimes the rooms can get overcrowded. Therefore, before your heart starts galloping to Tara, you must call and inform us about your arrival!

Volunteers are subject to regulations. This is necessary for the safety of everyone, both humans and animals. Drugs or alcohol are out of the question and have no place at Tara. Naturally, the time is divided between work and free time, and in the evenings you can sit together around the fire, but during the day, beginning early in the morning, it is mainly work for the animals which will occupy you. Every year, a lot of people arrive to Tara also during long weekends or for example to spend a New Year’s Eve with us. As we do not have holidays or free time, the animals have to eat and go out every day, so help is really needed around the time of holidays because the staff of Tara are free and Scarlett, Peter, Ikar, and David are then the only ones who care for over 200 animals. However, our precious volunteers are there and spend each year this joyful season by rolling up the sleeves in the stables.

Volunteering is a brilliant concept for spending your leisure time in the environment full of animals, offering them something from you and feeling the joy from helping them! It feels completely different to look at a fence which already stands there, than at the fence which you built with your own hands. The feeling that you have contributed to the well-being of some of Tara’s protégés makes you want to come back and do a bit more. The animals need care every day and every day is good for coming here. Sundays or holidays are no different for horses from normal weekdays. Piskorzyna is reached by bus from PKS bus (check carefully the schedule). The nearest railway station is located in Wołowo. All you have to do is to call before you arrive, and maybe Scarlett will be somewhere around there and brings you personally to Tara.

Since its existence, many volunteers have passed through the shelter. They all added a brick to the wall that surrounds the animals living here. The wall which ensures their safe and happy existence. Every added plank, emptied wheelbarrow, measured portion of oats, straw spread in a box, a combed mane or a scratch behind the ears is a special “brick” in that “wall”. Come you too and add your own to make the construction even more solid.

  1. Minors staying at Tara must have a valid permission from their parents.
  2. Persons under the age of 16 may stay in the shelter only under the supervision of an appointed legal guardian / parents / adult volunteer for the time of their staying at Tara.
  3. Persons who violate the Rules will be escorted from the grounds of the Foundation, and in cases of flagrant and notorious breach of the Rules, they will be banned from future visits to Tara.
  4. The Foundation may, on the request, issue a certificate of voluntary work and its duration.

What to take with you

  • Clothes – do not overdo it, Tara is not about fashion, but rather about practicality. And the environment is perfect for military clothes and shoes, they do not show dirt and are durable. Useful are also rubber boots and rain clothes, as the weather can always play tricks, even if the sun is shining in the morning.
  • A sleeping bag – you can also take a mattress or a matt, just in case, and if someone wants to have more privacy, there is a possibility to put up a tent. The accommodation is heated.
  • It is good to bring with you a mini first aid kit, abrasive patches, a torch – can be a head torch, work gloves and a colleague or a friend.
  • Food – the nearest shop is located only 200 m from the shelter, plus 4 times a week on average, someone drives to a larger town where you can make bigger purchases.

At Tara’s Animal Shelter in Piskorzyna you can spend a lovely time, breathing fresh air, away from the hustle and bustle, among the rescued animal, have a picnic in a beautiful park, sit at a campfire with a guitar and help us with various jobs – in the pastures with horses or taking our dogs for a walk. Tara is 33 hectares of land – paddocks, large meadows, a German park next to it, large stables, small stables and a whole lot of positive energy from happy animals!

We warmly invite you to volunteer at Tara – an adventure with horses and other rescues from death!

Contact for volunteering:
Piotr Szyłogalis
tel. 519-609-698
e-mail: piotr@fundacjatara.info