Christmas and New Year is a busy time for home and pet sitters. People want to travel to visit family, take holidays, go skiing, or take advantage of the long public holidays to have an extended break. All this makes for leaving pets and homes unattended a challenge.
Ben Irvine, Director of Operations at Homesitters Ltd comments: “No-one wants to feel guilty leaving their pets at boarding facilities, and especially not at Christmas. Homesitting is the perfect solution, and our cat and dog sitters are in high demand. We are also on a major recruitment drive to find new homesitters for 2023!”
Paula and Gavin Rose from Broadstone in Dorset have been home sitting for ten years and have really enjoy doing assignments over Christmas and New Year.
Paula says, “We have our family Christmas a few days before we leave for our homesitting adventure and then really enjoy spending Christmas away from home as it is a lovely break and the opportunity to spend time with pets.
“We’ve enjoyed Christmas assignments in different towns and homes. New Year is also a great time to home and pet sit, and we always make sure we, and the pets get plenty of exercise over the festive period! We can also make some savings on our own electricity costs as we don’t have to have the heating on for as many hours.”
There are several benefits for both home and pet owners and the house sitters:
1. Reassurance and peace of mind
The Christmas holiday season has a level of stress which can be greater than at other times of the year. There’s the additional worry of frozen pipes in bad weather, power cuts, snow and other extreme weather. Leaving a home and pets is hard enough, but knowing that your most valued possessions and pets are being looked after by people who truly care, is reassuring. Homesitters also get satisfaction from helping home and pet owners enjoy their time away without any stress.
2. Pets maintain their routines in their familiar environment
Caring for pets is the primary reason for using house sitters over Christmas. Boarding is disruptive and stressful for owners and pets, hiring a house sitter keeps dogs, cats and other animals happy at home.
3. Home security and protection against theft
During the Christmas period, theft often increases. A key benefit of having homesiters is they provide a higher level of security, keep the alarm systems in check, and give the house a “lived in” feel acting as a natural deterrent to opportunist burglaries.
4. A saving for everyone!
The Christmas and holiday period is the most expensive time of the year. Apart from the festive food and drink temptations, the gifts and the decorations, travel increases in price over the holiday season, and that includes the price of kennels, catteries and boarding.
Home and pet sitters employed by Homesitters Ltd typically earn around £170 as a couple for a two-week homesit, plus they get reimbursed for mileage at 45p per mile and get a daily food allowance while on assignment. If Homesitters do an assignment over the festive bank holiday days, they will also receive additional pay for each of the 3 bank holiday days.
At this expensive time of year, people welcome the money they make, often saving it up for treats such lunches out or holidays. When everyone is feeling the pinch, it’s an enjoyable role that retired people can easily do to boost their finances whilst feeling like having a break.
Homesitters Ltd is different to many other pet sitting agencies in that all their homesitters are employed by them, are fully vetted and insured, plus they provide 24/7 back up support for homesitters on assignment. Homesitters also meet clients and their pets beforehand to be briefed on the home and the pets’ routine to ensure the assignment goes smoothly.
For more information on Homesitters Ltd and to apply to become a homesitter visit: www.homesitters.co.uk