promote friendship and social contact amongst members of OWN NSW.
The aim of FLOWN is to facilitate interaction between our members to alleviate loneliness, and increase social contact. It also plants the seeds which could grow into lasting friendships being formed and reciprocal visits!
A member who lives in the Central Coast could travel to the Southern Highlands, the Blue Mountains or the Illawarra and have a short break, staying with another member in a friendly environment, at very little expense, and vice versa.
FLOWN will be run as a pilot programme for 6 months, to gauge interest levels and to see how well the system is working.
Any OWN member can take part – either as host, or as visitor. If you would like to be a host and show other OWN members around, offer a cuppa, or even a guest room, please fill in the FLOWN Form to get listed in the directory.
For this pilot FLOWN, the Southern Highlands OWN (SHOWN) members have offered up their hospitality to get this project off the ground!
HOW DOES THIS WORK?
The principle behind this activity is simple. OWN NSW members can visit each other and interact in one of three ways:
You host a fellow member for a day and show her around places of interest in your local area and perhaps enjoy a meal together in a café or restaurant. You would be listed as a Day Hostess (DH) in the directory.
You host a fellow member for a day, show her around areas of interest in your local area and invite her home for a meal or a snack. In this case, you would be listed as a Home Visit (HV) in the directory.
You host a fellow member, show her around your local area and have her stay overnight with you in your home. You would be listed as a Home Stay (HS) in the directory.
We suggest that members only ‘stay over’ for a period of one or two nights in the first instance. Once the relationship is established, it would be up to those members to decide whether they are willing to have that guest for a longer period, at some time in the future.
INSuRANCE
Please note that travel arrangements are made personally between OWN NSW members, just as you would with a personal friend or relative. Neither OWN NSW or the host takes any responsibility for travel arrangements, consequences, or events happening during travel. All members are responsible for their own travel insurance.
If you would like to visit the highlands during spring or summer, please email us or phone Sue Hayward on 0439 550 976. Sue can forward you the FLOWN NSW Travel Hosting Directory. The Directory contains all the names and types of host available for your visit.
Love the idea or just thinking about being a FLOWNer? Just fill out the form and we’ll be in touch!
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