ISLAND NEWS
14
JUNE 2023
By Beverley Ward
VOLUNTEERS AT
ISLA
DEL REY Increasing numbers of visitors and activities
Since the last edition of Roqueta, the Isla del Rey has undergone some important changes and developments. We seem to be in a constant state of evolution. To bring you up to date, I have summarized the most notable differences.
As most readers are no doubt aware, we have managed the restoration of this British Naval Hospital since 2004 through volunteers and donations. This is an amazing feat by anyone’s standards when you look at the enormity of the building. In the eighteenth century there were 1,200 beds for sick and injured military personnel and it was abandoned to its fate in the last century. Now, with Hauser & Wirth open on the island and attracting huge numbers of visitors, some 60,000 by last year’s figures, it is buzzing with activities and people all summer. We’ve had to double our efforts to take advantage of all the visitors to Hauser & Wirth. Initially, many are unaware of the story of the old hospital, but now there are more guided tours being offered, including some with a professional guide. The shop is kept open all morning as well.
The volunteer group continue to turn up every Sunday morning. Our numbers may vary from one week to another, but the enthusiasm and determination doesn’t wane. One of the biggest advantages of volunteering here is that there is no obligation involved, you just turn up when you can. Everyone goes to work where they choose, although you might get called upon to move a pile of chairs or clean and tidy a room when it is being prepared to open. Many new skills have been learned, such as how to drive a supermarket floor cleaner or mix cement! If that doesn’t appeal, there’s restoration of antique furniture or medicinal gardens needing care, and there is work in all the hospital rooms. Volunteers who are flexible and willing are welcomed with open arms. Those with skills at dusting are especially welcomed! Can you imagine the amount that accumulates each week on all the items on display inside a room of mares stone? During the winter, our numbers have benefitted from some new international volunteers. We have welcomed Ukrainian, Dutch, French and even an Australian who turns up when his young family allows him. It is one of the most international groups that I know of in Menorca. D O N ’ T M I S S A N E D I T I O N , S U B S C R I B E T O D AY ! V I S I T: R O Q U E TA M A G A Z I N E . N E T
