A good friend of mine, Jackie Bryans, runs the Horse Rangers, a children’s charity based at Hampton Court in south west London. As my parents live nearby, I had heard about the Horse Rangers, but until recently didn’t know how they were run or that they are a charity. I don’t normally write about charities or ask for help or donations, but this story struck so many personal and yours2share chords, I thought I’d write about them to see if you can help.

Over 350 young people attend the Horse Rangers each week – many of whom are from disadvantaged backgrounds. In addition, they operate a Riding for the Disabled section throughout the week during term time and in the school holidays there is a ‘Horse Ranger for a Day’ experience for Young Carers to help ensure that these vulnerable young people have at least one positive day away from their commitments at home.

However, it is not just about learning to ride and look after horses, rather it is a very positive tool for personal development. The older Rangers are encouraged to mentor the younger children resulting in many of them growing up to become volunteers and leaders, thereby giving back to the charity.

During the current climate everyone’s budgets are really tight: Horse Rangers relies on volunteers to deliver most of its activities and therefore has a very small staff so the main costs are feeding and looking after their 30 horses and ponies.

Unfortunately a number of their horses are getting rather old: one (who is over 30 years old) is not expected to last the winter and several others are ready for retirement. Because of tight budgets this year the Trustees are unwilling to take in any new horses to replace those that are lost, unless they can raise the funds to feed them over the next year.

Finding the right horses and ponies is never easy, but the Horse Rangers has been offered a pony called Disney who was rescued from abuse at Spindles Farm. Disney was nursed back to health by the Horse Trust where the Horse Rangers retire their horses. Disney is only 5 years old and at 14.3hh he is the perfect size and build for the majority of children to ride. Moreover despite all the abuse he has received in the past, he continues to have a very gentle nature and the Horse Trust think he will therefore be the perfect pony for the Horse Rangers and he should be able to give a good 20 years of service before retiring (so a great long term investment!).

If you are in a position to make a donation, please go to Virgin Money Giving,
or if you know someone who may be interested in helping with fundraising, the Horse Rangers would be extremely grateful for any help.

I had an email today from someone looking for house sitting opportunities in France.  She asked if yours2share catered for this, which is doesn’t.

Not knowing anything about housesitting, I went to have a quick look around and sure enough there are several specialist websites including:

Mind My House

House carers

Over the weekend were two thoughtful articles about fractional ownership in the Independent and Travelution.  neither considers private syndicates like those enabled by yours2share, but otherwise they give a balanced view of the concept.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about our couch surfing experience with Australians Jeff and Gerda.  As we chatted over dinner, conversation turned, as it so often does when I’m around, to sharing and yours2share.  They explained that they shared a ski chalet in the Snowy Mountains with three other couples/families and had done so for many years.

One aspect of their sharing arrangement was a bit unusual and yet a good idea, so I thought I’d record it.  The ski chalet does sleep eight at a push if all the sofabeds are used, so it can sleep all the owners.  Their usage is a rotating weekly calendar: so each couple gets the fourth week.  However, if any of the others want to ski at the weekend, if the couple whose week it is don’t have all the beds taken, they can stay there just for the weekend.

Jeff explained that it was rare for them all to be there at the same time, but fun when it happens.  The arrangement also means that everyone feels like they can take advantage of particularly good weather or snow at short notice if they wish.

I’ve just stumbled over a good blog called Homes & Travel.  Two articles caught my eye, both written by solicitor Peter Esder.  The first is about fractional ownership where he explains some of his (and my) concerns.  The second is about guaranteed rental agreements on holiday homes, something that I’ve always thought suspect, and, apparently, rightly so.

Several months ago I stumbled upon the website couch surfing,  a worldwide network for making connections between travellers and the local communities they visit. (According to Wikipedia, couch surfing is the practice of moving from one friend’s house to another, sleeping in what ever spare space is available, floor or couch, generally staying a few days before moving onto the next house.)  Couch surfing, with its community ethic, accords well with yours2share and my views.

So I signed up and put a few things on my profile and, well, I’ll admit, I forgot about it.  Then a couple of weeks I received a message from Jeff and Gerda who live in Canberra and who wondered if they could stay with us as they cycled through Norfolk.  Explaining this to my partner was a bit tricky: he didn’t quite get it.  I was perfectly happy to make excuses and remove our profile and say no more, but he did at least have the courtesy to read Jeff and Gerda’s profile.  Then he realised that maybe this would be OK and agreed to let them stay with us.

They stayed for one night on Monday.  They were perfect house guests and lovely company.  This is a fantastic idea.  I love travelling, but hate the anonymity of staying in hotels.  Hotels are great for a lovely break, but moving from hotel or hotel (or bed and breakfast) constantly is very wearing not only because of the constant moving, but because they are all the same.  You learn very little about the place you are staying in and don’t experience what it is like to live there.  I usually try and stay with friends when I travel not just because it is cheaper, but because I learn more and enjoy finding out what it is like to live in that country.  You can’t really do this if you are staying in a hotel.

My partner’s just asked me if anyone else is coming to stay!