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Hosting a child for a month can be very rewarding, it means welcoming them into your home, caring and nurturing them as if they were your own. By providing them with nourishing food, fresh air and a bed to sleep in, you are not only giving them a holiday of a lifetime but you are benefiting their health. There is no need to spoil the children. Home comforts and the organized trips that they will go on during their stay means that the month they spend here is a very special time for them. All children like the occasional treat but it is not required for you to spend a lot of money - your time and love are far more worthwhile.
Each weekday that your host child will need to be dropped off at a pre-arranged destination (usually Burley) before 9am in the morning and to be picked up at 5pm in the afternoon. On most days they will require a healthy packed lunch and a drink. During the weekends, you are free to entertain the children with your own families. A simple trip to the beach, perhaps a picnic in the New Forest or an afternoon at the local park will keep your charge active and ensure they are early to bed! It is best to keep things simple and travel to a minimum. The children are not used to long car journeys and one of the effects of living with radiation means that they will tire quickly.
The children who come to stay will have been chosen because they live in very poor conditions, perhaps come from a very large family, only have one parent (or sometimes living with other relatives for various reasons). Apart from living with the constant radiation, they are generally 'healthy' and have had medical clearance to travel to the UK so will not pose any threat to your health or the health of your family.
The charity aims to bring the same children over for four consecutive years to ensure that they receive the maximum benefit. Most hosts are usually happy, and indeed look forward to these return visits. For continuity, we aim to place the same child with the same family for each visit. We are mindful that peoples circumstances change and there could be many reasons that you may not be able to fulfill the four year commitment, please do not let this put you off making further enquiries. Alternative arrangements can usually be made for the child and you will not have 'let them down'. Ideally it would be great if the children could visit the same family each year but we would rather have a host for a year or two than not at all.
If you are interested in hosting a child then we would love to hear from you. We can then arrange an informal meeting with our charity coordinator who will talk through the process with you and answer questions that you will have. You are under no obligation to proceed at this stage. Because of the nature of this hosting, all hosts will be subject to charity approval and an enhanced disclosure CRB check.
Interested? Want to make a REAL difference to a child's life? Contact us about being a host!
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