Granon

[Tonm]

i am wondering what is happening with the sleeping place in the church. We stayed there yesterday and learned that it is currently managed by 3 youngsters, and that the organization for which they are working is not sending replacements. I also notice that they do not have an own stamp that you will need to go to the bar to get a stamp. Furthermore the place is in need of little repairs, example adding a lock to the toilets or shower.
Which organization is running this place?

 

[dougfitz]

It is listed as a parish hostel in Brierley. Did you donate a little more for those things you felt needed fixing?

 

[jpflavin1]

It would be a shame to lose this Albergue. As I recall, it operated day to day by donations. The current days donations supported the next day. These types of Albergues are truly reflective of the Camino spirit, imo. Donativo, is often misinterpreted as free.

Ultreya,
Joe

 

[3walkingtoSantiago]

Granon has never had a stamp. And yes, if everyone left a little extra, maybe the upkeep would be better.

 

[NoQ]

Wonderful albergue and village. One of the few with the church open all day...and what a fantastic church. If it is in trouble, word should spread for pilgrims to stop by and donate a little extra to keep this fabulous place, that truly harbours the spirit of the Camino, open.

 

[Tonm]

I donated 20 euro, and honnestly I would have expected others to do the same.
To be honest it would be good if somebody that has some skills of making small repairs visits this place for a week. The three youngsters that currently run the place do not have the time to make repairs, at least that is what I get from their stories.

 

[Anniesantiago]

When you say youngsters, what age are you talking about?
To me, 30 year olds are youngsters

 

[Tonm]

20 years old, I have respect that they do the volunteer job. The young man of the three had to run the place for 6 days, while he was all alone. Currently there are also 2 young women same age, but they are not a team yet.
So my questions was: which organization is running this place. I am very curious how the volunteers are supported.

 

[dougfitz]

I donated 20 euro, and honnestly I would have expected others to do the same.

I remember putting in 25 euro on the basis of dinner, bed and breakfast (10, 10, 5) but I have no idea how much others might have donated. I always found it difficult in donativos to know what was a reasonable amount, but was generally happy to offer a little extra. I suspect many who used them made only a small contribution, but never felt it my business to pry.

The difficulty is that there may be no pattern of putting some small portion of the donations aside for running repairs. It is impossible to tell whether this is done and a small reserve created, or whether it is truly hand to mouth, as suggested earlier. However, it is hard for me to to imagine that they don't have a repair fund of some sort, run presumably by the parish if Brierley's information is still correct.

 

[Coleen Clark]

I will be going through in a few weeks. I am curious about this one, and will check it out. You are right, Joe. It would be a shame to lose this or any albergue on the Camino. Donations doesn't mean free, it means give what you can for the services rendered. What does it take to have a stamp made for an albergue? Permission?

 

[mspath]

...What does it take to have a stamp made for an albergue? Permission?

Over the years it has been my understanding that the absence of an albergue stamp at the Granon church albergue was due to a parish choice and not due to any financial limitations. In the past the gracious ambiance was always most generous with a sense of true caritas.

 

[Jochen_Schmidtke]

I will be going through in a few weeks. I am curious about this one, and will check it out. You are right, Joe. It would be a shame to lose this or any albergue on the Camino. Donations doesn't mean free, it means give what you can for the services rendered. What does it take to have a stamp made for an albergue? Permission?

Hello.
I think especially young folks interpret "donation" as "free".
Jochen

 

[Lydia Gillen]

I stayed in Granon last month June 14th and immediately noticed a difference to the previous times that I had stayed there.
Young hospiladeros/as with great kindness and good will, but they seemed to me to lack the organisational skills needed. It was the Sunday of the changeover of staff, so they all disappeared for hours for a meeting and then quite late one young girl came to organise dinner. she was all concerned about preparing the salad first, even though a few of us told her that the lentils would take a long time to cook and needed to be started. Eventually it was really the pilgrims that got the meal ready. Thanks mainly to one who owned an hotel and knew about cooking and what a tasty dish of lentils he prepared. Because we were so late eating we were also very late getting to bed.

What a contrast next day in Tosantos where Louis gently issued requests in an orderly fashion. An experienced hospiladero who knew what needed doing and in what order.

I do not wish to be critical of the young people. They would have been marvelous if they had had one experienced person to train them in. I also feel that if experienced hospiladeros had been there the little jobs like bolts on bathroom doors would have been fixed when needed.

Thanks to everyone who has ever been an hospiladero/a and may we who benefit from their generosity donate well and also pull our weight when residing in a Donativo albergue.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Chaos is a old Camino tradition that is disappearing to stainless steel and formica. Thanks should go to the young who carry on the tradition!!

 

[basquelady]

I will be going through in a few weeks. I am curious about this one, and will check it out. You are right, Joe. It would be a shame to lose this or any albergue on the Camino. Donations doesn't mean free, it means give what you can for the services rendered. What does it take to have a stamp made for an albergue? Permission?

A hospitalero that we met in another donativo albergue last year, told me that, when he was serving in Grañon, he banked 100 euros each day, AFTER paying for the current day's supplies.

 

[peregrina2000]

20 years old, I have respect that they do the volunteer job. The young man of the three had to run the place for 6 days, while he was all alone. Currently there are also 2 young women same age, but they are not a team yet.
So my questions was: which organization is running this place. I am very curious how the volunteers are supported.

The Grañon albergue is staffed with volunteer hospitaleros from the Federación Española de Asociaciones del Camino de Santiago. Webpage here: http://www.caminosantiago.org/cpperegrino/hospitaleros/hospitaleros.asp

This HosVol group staffs a number of albergues, I think it's about 20. I know it includes Ponferrada, Arres (On the Aragonés), Zamora, Nájera, and I just can't remember the rest. LTfit, who's currently a hospitalera in Nájera, volunteers with this organization and can tell us about it when she's back on the forum. I know that the group will only take on an albergue if it is a donativo, they will not staff albergues with a set fee.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

A hospitalero that we met in another donativo albergue last year, told me that, when he was serving in Grañon, he banked 100 euros each day, AFTER paying for the current day's supplies.

But before paying for the hot water, electricity, and the seven months of the year they are empty but have to keep it from freezing. When I worked, I wouldn't even get out of bed for 100E a day (as arrogant as that sounds...). Without free labor, it would make nothing per day.