As the birthplace of the Camphill Movement, Aberdeen is a source of inspiration internationally. Young people from all over the world travel to Aberdeen to work on a voluntary basis within the Camphill Aberdeen City and Shire communities.
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Camphill Aberdeen City and Shire has a number of centres in and around the Bieldside, Milltimber and Banchory-Devenick areas of the city.

The communities which were originally affected by the proposed Aberdeen Western Peripheral route were Newton Dee and Camphill Rudolf Steiner Schools' Murtle Estate. These linked communities are the largest in Aberdeen and are home to around 150 children and adults with special needs.

"Home life mainly centres around large and small households ranging from four to 16 people, which provide an extended family setting."

The new dual carriageway trunk route and its associated slip roads, would have sliced through the two communities - passing around 100 metres from the living accommodation of children with special needs and demolishing the entire top end of Murtle Estate.

As the original home of the Camphill Community, Aberdeen is a source of inspiration for the international movement. Young people from all over the world travel to Aberdeen to work on a voluntary basis within the community.

Camphill Estate – the birthplace of the international movement

Camphill Estate, home for more than 40 children with complex learning difficulties, is in Milltimber – right alongside the new proposed route for the Aberdeen by-pass.

Camphill Estate is where the international movement began and from where it takes its name. In 1939, having escaped from Nazi persecution,Dr Karl Konig and his followers were welcomed into Aberdeen to establish a community dedicated to children with special needs.

Sixty-six years later Camphill Estate is a living memorial to these pioneers. Part of Camphill Rudolf Steiner Schools, Camphill Estate provides home life, therapy and learning for more than 40 children with complex learning disabilities, including autistic spectrum disorders.

Extending to 25 acres Camphill Estate has five homes in which the children with special needs live, with the co-workers and their families, in extended family units. It also has specialised school buildings, therapy rooms, a biodynamic market garden, animals and peaceful woodland.

Much of the focus of Camphill life is on healthy activity and learning experiences outdoors. The calm, tranquil therapeutic environment of Camphill Estate’s wooded grounds on the banks of the River Dee at Milltimber is therefore central to the work.

Camphill Rudolf Steiner Schools
Camphill offers an inclusive, comprehensive holistic education programme known as Curative Education for 90 pupils with complex special needs ranging from deprivation to autism, from the age of 3 to 19 years.

Camphill-Rudolf Steiner-Schools is an independent voluntary school situated on three campuses on the outskirts of Aberdeen. The location enables the pupils to benefit from the calm therapeutic environment while being close enough to the city to feel part of the community.

For pupils aged 16-19 years there is an Extended Schooling Programme that offers a more individualised programme geared towards graduation and preparation for the future. This may include attending a 'Links Course' at Aberdeen College and/or work experience outside Camphill.

All pupils whether day or residential, belong to a house community that is made up of groups of one or two pupils cared for by a co-worker who guides the pupils in his or her personal care. Within the house community, life is shared with houseparents, teachers, therapists and student co-workers, most of whom live in, some with their families.

Older pupils participate in a variety of craft workshops: pottery, willow-work, felt, candle, weaving, metal work, woodwork and Tools for Self-Reliance Workshop.

As part of its commitment to training the School offers co-workers a Foundation Year and, to successful applicants, a chance to participate in the four year BA Programme in Curative Education run in partnership with Aberdeen University.

Newton Dee
Newton Dee's home life has large and small households ranging from four to 16 people, which provide an extended family setting. There are also some shared houses, apartments and bed-sitters. In all there are 35 houses in the wooded grounds, which extend to 180 acres, 120 of which are farmland.

Aberdeen is also the focus for some specialist services, for example the architects' practice at Newton Dee handles design work for the international centres around the world.

		In the biodynamic gardens at Camphill Estate the children help to grow vegetables, fruit and flowers as part of their therapy.

The farms and market gardens at Newton Dee rear cattle, pigs and poultry and grow vegetables, fruit and flowers. The community also operates a bakery and toy, metalwork and joinery workshops.

Camphill Medical Practice
The Camphill Medical Practice on Murtle Estate provides a full range of NHS services to the local community along with the intensive specialist care required by the adults and children in the Camphill Aberdeen City and Shire communities.

The practice has a patient list of more than 1000 and provides an innovative approach with anthroposophical complementary therapies. In 2006 Camphill Medical Practice was presented with the Quality Practice Award by the Royal College of General Practitioners in Scotland.