Bring your love, light and laughter to our fun family in Devon, UK

Details

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  Description

  Hi there! We are a fun loving family living on a farm in the glorious Devon countryside - Mark, Cindy and our wonderful girls Evelyn, 8, and Frances, 6. We run a family farm.
  
  Our family have a great love for conservation and nature, having devoted the last 20 years to rewilding parts of the farm. Large swathes of farmland have been fenced off, creating a dedicated conservation area stretching the length of the farm. This ‘Conservation Corridor’ is filled with ponds, marshland, wild grasses and flowers, where all manner of wildlife thrives.
  
  We are accepting applications to become our next fabulous au pair from August 2024. For this role, we are looking for females age 25 or older, and you must have a valid and clean driving license. We give preference to those that can stay at least 4 a 6 months. If you love kids and have a creative and adventurous spirit, we'd love to hear from you!
  
  ***Au pair is our ONLY position, which in addition to room, board and car, includes a reasonable weekly allowance, as it will require additional hours. You must have a clean and valid drivers license, as we will provide you with a car and insurance. ***

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Our family is multinational (American/British) and we love to travel and meet new people and experience new cultures. Through various channels, we have hosted well over 25 amazing people from across the world, and have really enjoyed learning through living with them. We enjoy exposing our children to different cultures and would love to have them help teach you english while you teach them your language. Likewise, sharing food and our favourite recipes is a real treat!
  
  Cindy enjoys crafting and would be happy to share in craft nights, teaching crochet and knitting and learning any crafts you may enjoy. Mark enjoys maintaining the wildlife on our land. He could teach you a lot about preserving nature, managing wildlife while running a farm. And Mark can share his passion for planting of trees and increasing of waterways through our farm, and the resulting flourish of a variety of creatures.

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  Au Pair Help

  This host has let us know they’ll be complying with UK regulations for au pair stays.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  *****In our home and on a farm, being able to take initiative, be independent and being organised are very important. We are looking for people whom we can rely upon with common sense. Attention to detail and initiative are essential. *****
  
  Our lives are busy and full and we need your help in keeping order - we expect you to help contribute to order and cleanliness in our home; not to create further chaos and mess.
  
  The following list would include the type of typical activities we are looking for help with:
  MOST IMPORTANT:
  - ensuring the safety, security and love of our children
  - engaging the children with creative play and continuing their education through reading, writing and song
  SECONDARY: when the kids are away there are additional family responsibilities you can assist with such as
  - cooking of family meals, we enjoy eating together and trying new foods
  - weeding the garden
  - tidying the house
  
  Farmer Mark was born on our farm, same as his dad and grandpa (and daughters). He spends his time focused on our animals and arable crops. We have cows, sheep, chickens and the requisite dog; and we grow various crops like rape, maize and corn. Mark has no fixed schedule, but spends his days mostly outside of the house, but nearby and frequently checking in.
  
  Cindy is from Georgia in the USA but has been living in England for 15 years. Cindy works from home 3 days per week and travels into London or abroad for Tuesday/Wednesday spending the night away.
  
  Cindy and Mark could always use an extra set of hands on tasks involved in running our home and caring for our children.... a strong and willing body, ready to 'dig in' and help out where needed.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent

  This host offers a language exchange
  This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
  You can contact them directly for more information.
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  Accommodation

  Your home will be a 1000 year old manor house (yes one thousand years old!!) surrounded by beautiful gardens and grounds where you can spend hours walking and enjoying nature. We have a nature conservation corridor on the farm, housing 11 ponds and a variety of wildlife including 4 species of deer, fox, moles, barn owls, lots of fish and otters. We think of our home as a little piece of heaven.
  
  YOUR SPACE:
  A Private bedroom and bathroom as well as a private living space with tv to unwind.
  Family food is available and we hope you would join in on family meals as well as cooking.
  
  We are a NONSMOKING family, so if you smoke this would be required outdoors only, out of sight, and away from our children.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Space for parking camper vans

  This host can provide space for campervans.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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