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8 Feb 2025
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I'm a home birth midwife and massage therapist living in Hampshire, UK (about an hour SW of London) with my engineer partner Mark, 21 year old son Elliot, 3 cats Chica, Hugo & Milo, Labrador Nyx born in 2023 and 3 chickens. We have a self contained caravan in the garden with a super king sized bed (can be made into 2 small single beds), little kitchen, and toilet and enjoy having guests from other places. I'm originally from the USA and travel around the world catching babies when I'm not home in England. We also have a VW campervan for those occasions we have an overlap of volunteers.
We have a wide variety of interests. I swim, play netball and enjoy hiking in nature. Elliot is into the gym, weights, swimming and fitness in general. Mark can fix anything and has restored our VW van Annie as well as other automotive and household projects. We all love animals, the cinema and enjoying life and new friends. We are trying to live simply and are big into recycling, reusing and repairing.
Our daughter has identical twin boys who are 2. They live about a 5 min drive away. They, along with our neighbour Amy two doors down are usualy close by in case anything is needed while we are away.
We enjoy learning about other cultures and like to speak around holistic health, fitness, growing food and many more topics. We enjoy foods of the world and I'm trying to eat mainly keto and lots of fresh homecooked food. We do eat meat (aim for local responsibly sourced) but don't mind if you don't. I frequently do yoga, walking, netball and more and you're welcome to join in during the initial settling in period.
We have a new family addition, Nyx (after goddess of darkness) a black lab. Help with her training would be lovely. We are training her to be a therapy dog. Sometimes she travels with us and at other times she will be home with our volunteers. She needs at least an hours walk every day. Our neighbour Amy is her co-family and happy to keep her for long periods but does work in London once or twice a week when dog sitting is required.
We prefer longer term guests and the space is more suited to one volunteer but are happy to consider all requests.Types of help and learning opportunities
Help around the house
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We are happy to help you with English skills (USA and UK!). I also speak a little Spanish. We can show you around and you can be immersed in our culture. That said, we have had some workawayers who prefer the seclusion of our rural space and their own caravan to have some peace and keep to themselves. This is up to you. We have been hosting a long time and our friends and family that live nearby are happy to make you feel at home and help when needed while we are away.
Au Pair Help
This host has let us know they’ll be complying with UK regulations for au pair stays.
Help
House and pet sitting while we travel. I'm a travelling midwife and we spend a lot of time away.
I will keep the cupboards and fridge stocked with healthy food (prefer no junk food, or to be kept in your caravan out of site).
As above we have chickens who need keeping an eye on. They have an automatic door which opens at dawn and closes at dusk. Their food & water needs topping up about once a week.
The cats need their food and water topping up when it is low. Otherwise they more or less look after themselves.
The dog needs feeding twice a day and plenty of fresh water. An hours walk a day also and some training apreciated. Our neighbour can have her most of the time though.
We would like you to stay while we are here for a short period to enable us to show you around and get settled in.Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: BeginnerAccommodation
Super King bed (or can be a double or two small ish singles and a table in the middle) in your own caravan. The caravan is ok year around as there is electricity a heater and electric blanket. There is a refridgerator, gas stove and grill, cassette toilet and plenty of storage in the closet. You are welcome to hang out in the house of course. We live in a 3 bedroom farm cottage with a large garden. The house is cluttered and chaotic at times but we call it home. We are about 3 miles from the nearest market town Alton (which has most things) and a train connection to London. There is a bus nearby. I'm happy to taxi when I'm on my travels. There is an electric bicycle available if we are not using it and you are a competent cyclist. Only requirement is that you're a non-cigarette smoker (or occasional one outside could be tolerated).
English weather is notoriously wet and certainly a summer visit is considered nicer by many. The three bedroom farm cottage is old but not by English standards. We do our best to help save the environment and keep the heating on low in the winter. We hope our guests will feed back any issues they have.What else ...
We are just over an hour outside of London (there is a train from Alton, the local town) and 40 minutes from Stonehenge. There are thatched cottages and Jane Austen's house is a few miles away. We are lucky to have miles and miles of public footpaths to hike and enjoy the countryside. The back garden overlooks fields and there are many hikes nearby.
Alton is a vibrant Walkers are Welcome Hampshire town which truly has community spirit at its heart. Situated at the source of the River Wey and enjoying a stunning rural backdrop at the gateway of the South Downs National Park, Alton is known by many as 'Jane Austen Country' with its close ties to its charming neighbouring parish of Chawton. There is plenty to see and do in and around Alton and the town serves as a convenient base to explore the local area. The town is easily accessible by public transport, has direct road links from Winchester, Basingstoke and Guildford and is located just off the A31 with ample parking throughout the town.A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
Our wifi is basic as we are rural. I find it satisfactory and we have had internet workers who have been happy but it is important to keep in mind that it is not super fast.
Space for parking camper vans
We have several vehicles ourselves and so limited room for another but could consider it on a short term basis.
Can possibly accept pets
we have chickens so it would be best if any pets were OK with chickens.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Feedback (16)
The overall experience was perfect and I’m truly privileged that i had the chance to spend these times with you ..Thanks again Kathryn for everything you are the Best !
Katryn and Mark are very good and warm people. I felt very welcome from the first day I arrived, and I was with them for almost two weeks at the beginning of August. They are quite flexible in terms of work, sometimes they ask you for something specific that they need at the house, or some other ask you for proactivity, which made… read more
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The overall experience was perfect and I’m truly privileged that i had the chance to spend these times with you ..Thanks again Kathryn for everything you are the Best !
Katryn and Mark are very good and warm people. I felt very welcome from the first day I arrived, and I was with them for almost two weeks at the beginning of August. They are quite flexible in terms of work, sometimes they ask you for something specific that they need at the house, or some other ask you for proactivity, which made… read more
This was our first time being 2.5 weeks away from our home at a totally unknown family. In the beginings we were afraid but now we know that there was nothing to be afraid of.
Kathryn gave us daily tasks and we had also weekly tasks that we always had to do, for instance cleaning the chicken house or cleaning the… read more
I moved back to the UK from Turkey with nowhere to stay when I arrived and wasn't sure what to expect as a volunteer.
Kathryn and her whole family made me feel incredibly welcome. They're all very easy going, easy to communicate with, extremely flexible and generous… read more
It was my first time as a workawayer - and in fact as a traveller. I was looking for a true cutural exchange and the chance to form a bond with my hosts but I never expected that I would end up being so attached to this family. I left… read more
Kathryn went out of her way to provide plentiful vegetarian food options, she took me out and about and 'checked in' with me… read more
I spent nearly three lovely weeks in Kathryn's home and with her nice family. I had an absolutely balanced and relaxing time. If you're looking for a truly English experience, this is your place! This is a beautiful, cosy, house and you just love every minute of living there. The doggy called Romeo and… read more