Guy and Ruth
This is about normal kids who for whatever reason have found themselves without a bed for the night.
“When we first heard about SASH, all our children were at home and our house was full. But they’re at university stage now, and we’ve got a spare room so becoming a host seemed the obvious thing to do.
When our children were going through school, every now and then they would tell us about a child who’d fallen out with their parents. So we’ve heard a few stories of kids who’ve had a family breakdown and they’ve been without somewhere to go. We’re conscious that it can happen in any family.
Hospitality to strangers is embedded deep in our own understanding of the world and our own faith. So the idea that your home is a resource for hospitality and for those who are in need is a basic thing, if you’ve got the opportunity to do it then you do it.
The safety aspect is the only reason why you might be cautious, but it’s well covered in the way in which SASH approaches placing people. When we talked it through with the Host Coordinator it became obvious to us very quickly that this is about normal kids who for whatever reason have found themselves without a bed for the night, so we didn’t feel anxious about that at all.
We’d definitely recommend this to others, and we think it’s also good for our children to think about what they have themselves. They were all up for the idea anyway, because they know friends that this has happened to. It’s just a small thing you can do to be part of helping, a way of being thankful for what you do have and sharing it a bit.”
