Our Spring season runs from February to the middle of July and our Autumn season from September to the end of December.
The groups generally arrive by coach on a Sunday, Monday or Tuesday evening and stay for 3-4 nights at a time. The following week we have new groups arriving.
The simple answer is YES! We want to give the groups a diverse range of experiences which they can then share with their friends and teachers. As long as you meet our criteria, then your age, gender, ethnic background or relationship status really doesn’t matter.
You must be able to take a minimum of 2 students, maximum 4 - in a separate bedroom to your family members. Students can share a room and actually prefer this (but they can't share with your family members.)
No mattresses on the floor/airbeds are allowed – it must be proper beds. Single beds, trundles & bunks are all ok and many hosts invest in bunks to double their income once they have given it a go.
If you have a double bed in your spare room, we appreciate that you want to try hosting before you think about investing in other beds - so we are happy for you to host 2 students in a double bed for a couple of groups - provided you use sleeping bags or something down the middle to create 2 separate sleeping areas.
We also need households to host the accompanying teachers & drivers. There is no minimum or maximum number you can take but you must have suitable rooms, beds & bathrooms.
You must be able to drop your students/adults to the Meeting Point by 7.45am in the morning (sometimes earlier) and collect again from 6.30pm – according to the timings on the group programme that you receive in advance. Our Coordinators will be there about 15 minutes prior to programme times to take the register and deal with any queries hosts may have – so you can drop a little earlier if needed.
You must provide your guests with an “English Experience” by providing certain foods, talking about manners and encouraging them to chat in English. We will give you full details of what to do when we visit.
We look for households that will make the students feel very welcome and who will enjoy the experience of hosting themselves. It is great fun and an easy way to earn extra income!
Your house must be clean and tidy. We are not expecting show home or hotel standards - just good standards of cleanliness.
In a nutshell, the way we work is that if we would be happy to place our own children with you, we will take you on and if not, we will tell you and we can go from there to rectify the problem or part ways with a smile.
If you host 4 students for just 4 nights in 2019 you will receive a tax-free cash sum of £240 on the first morning of the stay. The money is classed as tax free under the government’s Rent a Room Scheme.
That means if you host for 4 weeks each month you could earn up to £960 extra cash, tax free each month.
The beauty is that hosting is incredibly flexible. We have new groups arriving weekly and they only stay for 3-4 nights at a time, so you can dip in and out to suit your life commitments. There are no weekends involved either.
Obviously if you take less students or the stay is less nights, the rate drops accordingly, but it’s all extra income and we show you how to budget carefully to make a good profit no matter how many you choose to host.
In 2020 the rate will be rising to £256 for 4 students for 4 nights – making the 4-week amount £1,024 extra income for your household.
For more information regarding our hosting locations in Wiltshire, please contact our teams direct on the following numbers:
+44 (0)7707 864489 for Westbury and Warminster centres
+44 (0)7707 704822 for Melksham, Warminster and Trowbridge centres
or complete our online enquiry form on the Contact Us page and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.
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