The Sweet Charity : July 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 !?

Sunday 22 July 2018

More money !

It has been a truly great weekend. I had a great pleasure of hosting Bozena. Bozena is a Polish blogger , who writes some very interesting stories about her life in the UK. She came here specifically to learn more about the Sweet Charity and write an article about it. When we met , we discovered that we have so much in common ! Bozena took me and Iris for a wonderful daily trip, we discussed many different topics and ...we raised some more money. We decided ( again) to support children by donating to Save the Children ! Thanks to her I finally made it Bibury. This magical place was voted " the most beautiful village in the Cotswolds ". And here is the best bit ! I am so pleased to announce that The Sweet Charity raised the first £100. £ 110 exactly ! I hope to host more of you people . Have great fun, chats and do good things at the same time.
I would like to invite all my Polish followers to read some of the Bozenas stories. Check it out at http://mojaanglia.mozello.com/blog/

Wednesday 11 July 2018

Lavender fields

I am a big fan of the idea of skills/language exchange projects. This is a perfect way of creating a community spirit, bringing costs of living down, learning. And in my case skills exchange is a fun way of raising money. So here is my little idea I would like to share with you. I always had this dream of having a beautiful photo session in lavender fields. Being a full time mum, without a real income I would never allow myself to spend money on such a 'unnecessary' thing. So I thought ...why not to invite a couchsurfer , who has a proper camera and good 'eye' for taking pictures ! That's how I met Sanna :) We had such a wonderful time together chatting , cooking , walking around my little village. And the photo session was just perfect. Sanna managed to capture some awesome moments. My daughter grows and changes so fast, so I am so grateful that someone was here to take some pictures. Because I didn't have to pay anything for this stunning session I am more that happy to give another £20 to the charity. I haven't decided yet, where the money will go this time. Any ideas or suggestions ?

Saturday 7 July 2018

Hello from Windsor

We have been so lucky with the weather this year. Hot sunny days are perfect for little trips with a toddler. I decided to visit beautiful Windsor , which is not that far away from where I live . You can get there withing 1h40minutes of the train journey. To make the whole thing ever more exciting - we were offered a free accommodation there. Therefore I am so happy to tell you , that we managed to raise another £20 by doing the "Sweet Charity thing". This time the money went to support British Red Cross.