The Sweet Charity : January 2018

About

The idea

Sweet Charity is a marriage of my two great passions. Traveling and Charity . I am a couchsurfing member and for years I have been hosting travelers in my house for free. One day I came up with this idea of doing it with a bit of a charitable twist. So the deal is simple : You are very welcome to stay in my house for as little as £10 per night. The money is not my profit, but it is going to be donated to a charity.

About me

My name is Weronika and I am originally from Poland. I live in Broadway with my family – my partner Henry and my daughter Iris . I want to believe , we are very open minded and creative people. The Sweet Charity Project is my very first attempt of raising money to help people. In the past I made some donations myself but I always had a feeling that it wasn’t enough.

What to expect

What can you expect in our house for £10 per night ? Since this isn’t quite the same as AirB&B and the price in minimal , we will expect you to understand some limitations of what we can offer.

Still we are going to do our best to make you feel comfortable and Happy ! You are going to be offered a nice and private space in our lounge. Since the idea of Sweet Charity has its origin in a couchsurfing culture, we will offer you our sofa bed. We are taking large and comfortable sofa bed ! You don’t need to bring any sheets or sleeping bags- Everything will be provided.

You will have an access to the kitchen, where you can prepare your meal, or if you choose- we can cook together. The more friendly- the better.

We have a child in the house, but she sleeps upstairs so she won’t bother you during the night. However during the day she will probably come downstairs and spend some time in the lounge.

The other thing you need to be aware of is that you won’t be given any keys to the house. Therefore your arrival and booking has to previously discussed and agreed with us. We need to make sure that we are at home during the days of your stay. Having said that ,I am a stay at home mum , so it is almost guaranteed that we will be available. If you have any question- just send me a message .

Is this place suitable for couple or larger groups ?

Unfortunately at this moment we can only offer a place for two people. So this is really an option for sole travelers and couples. However, if you have a tent during the summer time, and you would like to put in in our garden – this can also we arranged.

Location

Broadway is a well known tourist place in the heart of the Cotswolds. Beautiful landscape , stunning architecture , romantic Tea Rooms and old history. The only thing that this place lacks- in my opinion -is an affordable hostel or any other sort of alternative cheap accommodation. But here is a Sweet Charity for you. Our house is located close to the Main Street of Broadway. We live in a quiet and safe residential area. The best way to get to Broadway is by driving , but you can also use a public transport. There are daily buses arriving here from Cheltenham, Stratford-upon-Avon and Moreton-in -Marsh

Is there an option for staying for free ?

Yes, there is. Every person who has a couchsurfing profile WITH REFERENCES is going to be accepted on ‘ CS terms’. In return I will only ask to spread a good word about this place ( if you like it !) However , I need to make it clear : people who are willing to make a donation are going to be prioritized.

Safety

You can check my references with people . Hopeful people who are going to visit us are going to leave some valuable feedback.

Can I choose the charity I would like to support?

I support Red Cross ( I have direct debit set up with them) and a charity called Kiva. Because I strongly believe what Kiva does, I will encourage you to give your money to them. However if you prefer to invest your money into a different philanthropy project, you are more than welcome. As long as there is option of one off payment done with a paypal button – we can do it.

How is the donation made ?

When you choose a receiver of your donation, we are simply going to use a paypal button or your card. I do not handle money , you won’t give anything to me. You just choose an organization and before leaving my house you make an online transfer. One thing : I want to witness this transaction , so I know for sure that the money was donated. That’s all

Get in touch with me !

Thank you so much for reading this. Just the fact that someone is curious about this idea means a lot to me. Maybe you would like to give me some suggestion of how to improve this project ? Or maybe you like it so much, you would like to do something similar and we could try to BUILD A WHOLE NETWORK of Sweet Charity places ? Or maybe you like the idea and you are wiling to invite me to your house ( somewhere in Europe) so I CAN DO MY Sweet Charity Holiday !?

Wednesday 31 January 2018

But how can I get there ?

For those of you , who are planing on having a longer trip around England, getting to Broadway is going to be easy. Broadway is located near to few 'must see' hot spots, such as Oxford or Stratford-upon-Avon. However -for those of you who simply like the Cotswolds and wish to come to see us, I prepared a mini guide and bundle of basic information about the public transport system.
When you do your own research on a public transport around the Cotwolds , you will probably notice that the services are rather limited and it all looks a bit complicated. I must admit that is truth, but with a bit of preparation it can be done quite easily !
Lets start with the airports. In order to get to Broadway I recommend those 3 airports : Birmingham, Bristol and Gatwick. Choose the earliest fly possible , to allow yourself plenty of time to move around the UK.
From Birmingham, you must take a train to Honeybourne. The journey takes about 2 hours. Honeybourne is very close to Broadway and we should be able to pick you up from the station.
The second option is Gatwick. When you look at the map, it seems that it is very far from our place. However there is a brilliant and fast train connection . I covered this route many times and I highly recommend it. From Gatwick book a ticket to Moreton-in- Marsh . You will need to change in Reading and the journey takes about 3 hours. You can catch a local bus from Moreton to Broadway.
Finally the third option- Bristol. From Bristol take a train to Cheltenham, or alternatively you can opt for a National Express Couch. The couch might be actually cheaper than a train and also you will arrive right on the spot where you will need to catch a bus to Broadway. I personally never tried this route , but it seems easy enough. The one thing you need to remember about : the local buses unfortunately stop between 5-6 pm and you need to plan your journey around it. Also keep in mind, that it is MUCH cheaper to travel on the pre-booked ticket rather than buying then on arrival. Public transport in the UK is shockingly expensive , but if you pre-book your ticket most of the time you can get yourself a bargain for 10-15 pounds.
Here are some useful links for you :
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
https://www.nationalexpress.com/en
If you have any questions- just email me ! Anyway, I believe that most of you will actually hit the Cotswolds as a part of a 'round the England' experience, and as I mentioned before , getting here form London or Oxford is very very easy ! Hope to see you soon !

Monday 22 January 2018

About our family

You probably wonder, who are you going to meet , when you come to visit us in Broadway. We are the family of 3. Myself, my partner Henry and our daughter Iris. We are very easy-going people. We love traveling, nature , music, art and good food. We don't like the rush of the modern life . We don't have tv. We sometimes get lazy. We sometimes work very hard. We love listening to people's stories . Our daughter is still very little , but she has a brave spirit. Before she turned 10 months, she already visited Poland , Romania and Slovakia. She likes people , animals and outdoor activity. We would love to teach her love and respect to people and the value of sharing. That also is one of the reasons for why we decided to create The Sweet Charity Project . All 3 of us are going to be very happy to meet you in our home.
Here are some pictures taken during our trips.

Tunisia

Jordan

Cambodia

Berlin

Iris in Romania

Saturday 20 January 2018

Kiva

The Charity I chose to support is called Kiva.

Kiva is an international nonprofit organization , founded in 2005 and based in San Francisco, with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. By lending as little as $25 on Kiva, anyone can help a borrower start or grow a business, go to school, access clean energy or realize their potential. For some, it’s a matter of survival, for others it’s the fuel for a life-long ambition.

I chose this organizations for two reasons. Reason number one : I believe, that the key to eradicate poverty is stimulating local businesses . Empowering people to have the control and ownership of their lives, requires an array of opportunities to choose and decide. These empowering people are the actors of their own development. In other words , I believe that ,people from developing counties can achieve financial stability and independence ,as long as provided with tools such as education, access to fundings, guidance , health care etc. Yeah, I know ...it is gonna be a long , hard way , but we have to start somewhere !

Reason number two: Money given to Kiva goes long way ! As the loan is repaid, the kiva lender can repay the money to another person. That way the funding goes round in the circle . Any dollar given to Kiva can be used 3,4,5 times ! As many times as you like.

You can learn more about this organization from their site, or from old good Wikipedia.

Going back to my Sweet Charity Project. You are very welcome to support any charity. I appreciate that we all have different principles, views and ideas ! As long as together we can achieve something good , doesn’t matter to where exactly this good energy goes !

Thursday 18 January 2018

The house

So how does it look like inside ? This place- that probably is the cheapest accommodation option in a whole Cotswold area ? The pictures presented below, are photographs taken just before a 'Moroccan party' . This is our lounge - the space for you, where you can sleep and make yourself at home. You can see we are great fans of oriental and bohemian interiors. Our house is very colorful and full of interesting souvenirs from all around the world. And yes ! The lounge still looks like this even though we now have a child. We didn't actually need put any 'child proof' lockers or hide any our 'dangerous ' decorations. Our daughter is quite sensible little person, who actually prefers our colorful pillows over her soft toys :) We are going to be very happy to welcome you in our friendly home !

Sweet Charity ! Only £10 per night !

Tuesday 16 January 2018

Waiting for the summer !

January. Drops of rain on my window. Today it is windy and cold. But soon...soon my beautiful Broadway will come alive again ! In April and May the happiness will be back!! I hope that some of you are going to visit us during this magical time ! It is never to early to plan your holiday , little breaks and weekends !

Just to remind you about our £10 deal ! Come enjoy amazing and peaceful village life and help to rise money for charity at the same time !

For more details send me an e-mail or you can find me on Facebook

And for now : enjoy the pictures from Broadway !