Housesitting for teachers?

Hello, I'd be grateful for any comments people might have on this.

My parents are retired and in their late fifties and live in the North
East. My sister has two young girls and lives in Surrey, and over the
past few years my parents have spent a lot of time down south visiting
and helping to look after the girls. My sister's house isn't really big
enough to for my parents to stay there for weeks at a time, so a couple
of years ago they bought a big caravan on a very nice site near
Guildford.

Since my eldest niece started school, my parents have spent less time in
Surrey. They're now finding it harder to warrant the large proportion of
their savings that is tied up in this caravan which although very nice
and in perfect condition depreciates in value quite worryingly from one
year to the next.

The question I'd like to ask people on the newsgroup is how realistic
it would be for my parents to look into house/dog/catsitting for
teachers during school holidays (the time when they spend most time in
Surrey). They house- and cat-sat for a colleague of my sister's last
year for a couple of months while they were in Australia. I imagine
though that the biggest issue is with trusting strangers to live in
someone else's house.

It seems to work quite nicely in theory -- the house owner has their
house/cat/dog looked after for free while they're away and my parents
have the benefit of living in a house close to my sister's during the
school holidays.

Thanks for any comments you might have,

Gavin Dormand

Reply 1

Unregistered

Suggest they get in touch with The Cats Protection League Headquarters,
I think in Crawley, and then ask for the contact covering Surrey. There
is one as my mum and dad live in Cobham - just up the A3 from Guildford
- and they belong to the local group. This local group has a list of
such people. Try for them to get on that list. IF they get really stuck
in getting hold of anyone e-mail me [email protected]
and I'll ask mum and dad for local details. They will need references
and probably be prepared to do telephone interviews or travel for
interviews.

Kyrstie Burrows

Primary teacher, Wiltshire. Gavin Dormand <[email protected]> wrote in
message news:[email protected]...
[q1]> Hello, I'd be grateful for any comments people might have on this.[/q1]
[q1]>[/q1]
[q1]> My parents are retired and in their late fifties and live in the North[/q1]
[q1]> East. My sister has two young girls and lives in Surrey, and over the[/q1]
[q1]> past few years my parents have spent a lot of time down south visiting[/q1]
[q1]> and helping to look after the girls. My sister's house isn't really[/q1]
[q1]> big enough to for my parents to stay there for weeks at a time, so a[/q1]
[q1]> couple of years ago they bought a big caravan on a very nice site near[/q1]
[q1]> Guildford.[/q1]
[q1]>[/q1]
[q1]> Since my eldest niece started school, my parents have spent less time[/q1]
[q1]> in Surrey. They're now finding it harder to warrant the large[/q1]
[q1]> proportion of their savings that is tied up in this caravan which[/q1]
[q1]> although very nice and in perfect condition depreciates in value quite[/q1]
[q1]> worryingly from one year to the next.[/q1]
[q1]>[/q1]
[q1]> The question I'd like to ask people on the newsgroup is how realistic[/q1]
[q1]> it would be for my parents to look into house/dog/catsitting for[/q1]
[q1]> teachers during school holidays (the time when they spend most time in[/q1]
[q1]> Surrey). They house- and cat-sat for a colleague of my sister's last[/q1]
[q1]> year for a couple of months while they were in Australia. I imagine[/q1]
[q1]> though that the biggest issue is with trusting strangers to live in[/q1]
[q1]> someone else's house.[/q1]
[q1]>[/q1]
[q1]> It seems to work quite nicely in theory -- the house owner has their[/q1]
[q1]> house/cat/dog looked after for free while they're away and my parents[/q1]
[q1]> have the benefit of living in a house close to my sister's during the[/q1]
[q1]> school holidays.[/q1]
[q1]>[/q1]
[q1]> Thanks for any comments you might have,[/q1]
[q1]>[/q1]
[q1]> Gavin Dormand[/q1]

Reply 2

Unregistered

yeah