Paula and Gavin Rose Case Study

Posted on 3 August, 2019

Paula and Gavin Rose from Broadstone in Dorset, both 51 years old, joined Homesitters, the national pet and home sitting company, over three years ago when they no longer needed to work full time and wanted to try something new.

Previously, Paula ran a swimming lessons business with her sister, while Gavin worked for a company that designed and installed interiors for boats.

Paula explained, “We wanted a lifestyle change - to live in different parts of the country and meet new people and we researched different ways to do this. We discovered Homesitters Ltd and it sounded perfect. We love animals and are keen walkers, and being a homesitter involves travel and the new experiences we were looking for.”

Following an interview, the Roses became homesitters. Today, take on around 12 assignments a year, varying in length from three or four days to a month at a time. They usually look after dogs and cats although they’ve also looked after chickens and a tortoise, and one of their assignments involved working at a hedgehog sanctuary.

The couple were asked by their client if they would help out at a hedgehog sanctuary while they looking after the client’s home and two dogs and a cat. The job involved feeding rescued hedgehogs that were sick and injured hedgehogs and weighing them to check they were progressing well. Once the hedgehogs recovered they were reintroduced to their natural habitat.

“It was a really interesting homesit” said Paula, “we enjoyed learning to handle and care for the hedgehogs, it’s not often you get to see these little creatures close up and we took great pleasure in helping with their recovery.”

Whilst the couple live in a small bungalow, the places they stay are often far grander.

Paula and Gavin prefer to be in the country rather than a town and many of the homes they stay in are surrounded by land or woodlands where they enjoy walking. Sometimes, there are swimming pools and table football or pool tables, so there is always something to do whatever, the weather.

Paula recalled one of her favourite homes, “It was like staying in a National Trust property, the gardens were very well kept and beautifully laid out, there were ponds and statues. It was such a pleasure to stay in that beautiful setting.”

In their spare time on assignments the couple visit nearby towns, read, or research holidays on their computer.

They find it reassuring that Homesitters are there as a back-up should anything go wrong and that someone from the Head Office calls them regularly to check they are happy and comfortable. They also appreciate the fact Homesitters tries to match them to assignments in the countryside.

Paula concluded, “We speak to a lot of people about Homesitters and how much we enjoy the role, we are always recommending it to other people.”

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