The Homeshare Australia and New Zealand Alliance (HANZA) has published their latest newsletter. See HANZA newsletter August 2018 to download and read.
We are always delighted to discover new homeshare programmes are starting, or thriving. But to learn about a new programme in Prague from our colleagues in Australia is an unexpected pleasure.
Our wonderful Belgian colleagues, UnToit2Ages, are well ahead with plans for the next World Homeshare Congress and are already taking registrations! The congress will be held in Brussels from 21 – 22 March 2019.
The Congress theme will be Celebrating homeshare and it will bring together delegates from around the world: Australia, Japan, South Korea, Austria, Belgium, France, UK, USA, Spain, Germany … to share their experiences of running a homeshare programme.
Read more and register on the congress website
http://www.hiworldcongressbrussels2019.com/
You can also read more here.
The Trustees of Homeshare International have announced major changes to the Board. Rhian Bradley has stepped down as Chair having served in the role for more than four years. Rhian was uniquely qualified in the role, having been both a management consultant and homesharer/adviser to our founder, Nan Maitland. An outstanding Chair, Rhian steered us successfully through two World Homeshare Congresses (in Australia and Spain), supported us through a major status change and provided hands-on support to the Board.
“It has been a great privilege to chair Homeshare International,” says Rhian. “I have worked with some truly committed, inspirational people who are not only driving homeshare in their own countries but who are also generous in sharing their expertise with the wider homeshare community.”
Having lived in the UK and France for many years, Rhian has returned to Australia where most of her family live. She will be sorely missed but we wish her well in her ‘retirement’.
We warmly welcome Cheryl Snider as our new Chair. Cheryl is a leading light in homeshare in Canada. She too has been a homesharer, ran a homeshare programme for many years and now supports the homeshare community in Canada. Cheryl says: “I am looking forward to taking Homeshare International to its next stage of development. We face many challenges as a charity but there is much to celebrate. I am particularly looking forward to meeting many of you at the Congress next March (2019, in Brussels)”.
Hilary Todd has stepped down as a Trustee having been one of the charity’s founding members. A friend of Nan Maitland, Hilary joined the Board to manage our communications and she still runs our website in a voluntary capacity.
We are pleased to welcome three new members to the Board. Deborah Fox has played a big role in developing and supporting homeshare in the UK as she leads the Shared Lives Plus UK Homeshare Association. Régis de Kerautem is the President and co-founder, with his wife Claire, of homeshare in Belgium. Their programme 1Toit2Ages has spread from modest origins in Brussels to cover most of the country’s larger towns and cities. Marlene Welzl joined the Board in September 2017. She is the founder of a homeshare programme, WGE!-Gemeinsam Wohnen in her native Vienna.
Welcome to our new website – it’s not only a new design but has our gorgeous new logo and colours too! The content has been thoroughly updated so do explore:
Warmest thanks go to our web designers Michael and Jack from Archetype Design who have been simply brilliant partners to work with.
Please send us your updates, news, photos, case studies, documents and insights for other members of the Network. Together we can make the website a really great resource for everyone.
Our friends at HANZA recently met Ken Wyatt, the Minister for Aged Care in Australia, to make the case for homesharing to be recognised as a ‘proper’ service for older people and people living with disabilities. Currently homesharing is not listed as a service in personal care plans and because it’s not listed, it isn’t available for people to purchase. The challenge was not only to get homesharing listed but also how to put a price on a service that isn’t being delivered by the hour. The meeting in Canberra covered the barriers to getting homesharing included on that list.
Ken Wyatt is very keen on services where “people look out for one another” and so was delighted to receive the delegation which included representatives from Victoria and New South Wales. The Minister’s closing remarks highlighted the importance of keeping the discussion going and the group will re-convene in the New Year 2018 to review progress.
We have invited Beris Campbell to prepare a report on influencing policy that could be shared with other members of the HI Network.
