Jo is the National Environment Officer at The Church of England. Since she and her husband signed up to host with us last summer, they’ve opened their Sheffield home to guests from Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yemen. Here, she talks about the practicalities of hosting, respecting her guests’ boundaries, and the power of a shared meal.

“I first started thinking about the idea of hosting through another charity who provided emergency accommodation for young homeless people. It’s a good time in our lives – our children have moved out, we’ve been gifted with this house, and what better way to help others than by making it available? It’s such an obvious, easy thing!”

Jo heard about us through our outreach work at Sheffield Cathedral and Greenbelt Festival, and after filling out a host application, she and her husband soon welcomed their first guest – a young man from Vietnam. “I’ve had four guests so far,” she said. “It’s been a joy, and everyone has been so easy to look after. The unknown is always a bit of a worry but there’s plenty of support available. Someone else does the difficult, complicated things and you’re just providing a sanctuary.”

Setting boundaries and explaining how things work can be a source of anxiety for many of our hosts, but Jo has found it works best for her to keep things simple:

“We just have a sheet of paper with some information about where things are and what you can do.”

“Our alarm system is very complicated, so we always have to demonstrate it. We do a lot of conversation by text because it’s easy for us all to use Google Translate. Once I was working upstairs and one of our guests just sent me a photograph of the washing machine because he couldn’t figure it out!”

“We’ve tried not to be too limiting, but there obviously are a few restrictions, and they’ve all been very respectful. Nobody has smoked in the bedroom, and everyone has come back home by the time we asked.”

For Jo, one of the most memorable moments of hosting was when one of their guests wanted to return the couple’s hospitality:

“Our second guest was an Iraqi Kurd, and he said he wanted to take us to experience some food from his culture. We went to a restaurant where he knew the people, and it was a part of Sheffield that we’d never been to before. It was great to experience a totally different side to our city and to see him completely relaxed with people from his own culture. It was a nice evening, and we were really touched.”

Although they may share a house, Jo finds it works well to respect their boundaries and encourage them to embrace the next chapter of their lives:

“I’ve tried to keep with the idea that it’s not my place to go to find out their history. I’m a host, my guests don’t have to divulge anything so I don’t get into people’s stories.”

“When they move on, I’ll message them asking if they’re alright and they’ll say ‘Yes, here’s a picture of my place’ but nothing other than that. This is a step in their journey and now they’re making their own way in the world.”

More stories