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Essential information when choosing and preparing for your Working Holiday

What is included in the cost of your holiday


Accommodation in a bunkhouse or specified accommodation. Food breakfast, packed lunch and dinner (except for the evening meal on your day off, if applicable). Local transfer from and to the nearest bus/rail pick up point. Where applicable, travel between the bunkhouse and worksite.

What is not included


Travel to and from the holiday remember that some locations such as Lundy Island and Northern Ireland may involve additional costs for ferries or helicopters. You will receive more information specific to these venues with your joining instructions.

Hindhead, Surrey National Trust / T. Lamerton

What you will need to pack


Please do not bring items of high or sentimental value

The most vital equipment for all working holidays: enthusiasm, energy and a sense of humour!

h A sleeping bag or sheet, duvet and

pillow. At some locations bedding is provided but this will be clarified in your holiday joining instructions. work boots are essential for construction, dry-stone walling and stone-pitching and recommended for other holidays. Trainers are NOT suitable for work outdoors. Strong sturdy footwear with a thick sole is necessary.

h Tough, old work clothes (please

h Strong footwear steel toe capped

do not bring anything which you mind getting damaged, high quality clothing can be ruined by thorns and sparks from bonfires)

h Warm, casual clothes for the evening h Work gloves strong gardening
gloves are suitable

h Wash kit, towel, flip flops. h Torch h Camera h Sandwich box, water bottle/flask h Tea towel h Set of waterproofs h Dressing gown (useful if wc /shower
in separate building)
Park Head, Cornwall National Trust Images / I. Shaw National Trust Images / A. de Serra

h Small rucksack h Insect repellent h Sunscreen and sunhat h Swimwear h Personal first aid kit h Any medication you might need
including aspirin, etc.

h Enough money for the day off, if


applicable, and evening leisure activities.

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National Trust Images / J. Millar

National Trust Images / J. Millar

National Trust / D. Lang

Your Accommodation
You will usually stay in a National Trust Bunkhouse a farmhouse, cottage or stable block which has been converted for volunteer use. Most have fairly basic facilities but usually include a well-equipped kitchen, hot showers and bunk beds in small dormitories. They provide simple accommodation which is a far cry from the luxury of a home or hotel expect basic, communal living conditions and you wont be disappointed. Some of our holidays are housed in alternative bases such as holiday cottages, yurts, isolated mountain huts or youth hostels.

Arrivals and Departures


Your Working Holiday commences at approximately 18:00 on the first day, allowing you time during the day for travel, and will end at approximately 10:00 on the last day. Short Breaks end at approximately 16:00. When booking your transport home, please allow time to travel from your accommodation to the station. Designated pick-up points will be given on your joining instructions and your holiday leader will contact you prior to your holiday to discuss your plans.

Free Time
Your holiday leader will have suggestions for group activities in the evenings and, if applicable, on the day off during your holiday (short breaks and some Active holidays do not have a day off). The activities may include visiting nearby towns or National Trust properties, or you might choose to go bowling, swimming or visit a pub or other attractions. You will need to bring enough money to cover the cost.

safe use of tools, safe methods of carrying out the work involved and emergency procedures. You must follow any instructions given to ensure that you and others are safe on the work site. With the exception of steel toe capped boots the National Trust will provide any other protective equipment including hard hats and goggles where necessary. It is your responsibility to make sure that you are protected by an anti-tetanus injection before attending the holiday.

A Hand Picked symbol has been used to help you identify where accommodation is in twin or triple rooms, at times with ensuite facilities, instead of in dorms. Kitchen and living areas however will still be communal. The bunkhouse description will give more precise details.

Meals
All meals are included (except an evening meal on your day off ). Under the guidance of the leader, holiday participants will help prepare and serve meals. While not restaurant standard meals they are hearty, tasty and plentiful. If you are a vegetarian or follow a special diet it is vital that you let the Booking Office know at time of booking or well in advance of your holiday so that the holiday leader can be told of your requirements. Our leaders are usually capable of catering for most diets, however your help in preparing meals which are suitable for you would be welcomed. If you have special ingredients which you think might be difficult to obtain, it would be very helpful if you could take some on holiday with you. If the leader needs further information in order to cater for you they will contact you to discuss your requirements.

Working Holiday Groups and Leaders


On your working holiday you will be working alongside up to twelve participants of all ages who want to contribute their time towards the preservation of National Trust places. Your holiday leader is a volunteer. They are trained to help you have a rewarding and enjoyable holiday and work with Trust staff to ensure its smooth running. The leaders help with the day-to-day running of the work site and organise the domestic and social arrangements of the holiday. We could not deliver our programme without our skilled and enthusiastic team of leaders.

Admission Card to Trust Properties


At the discretion of the National Trust an Admission Card may be offered to participants who have completed a Working Holiday. This non-transferable card, valid for one year for participants of week long holidays and six months for short break participants, from the start of your working holiday, will allow the volunteer free admission to properties owned and managed by the National Trust and the National Trust for Scotland.

Bunkhouse Facilities Key


Look out for the following symbols in the Bunkhouse information panels throughout this brochure

G Garden o z M
Open fire / woodburner Drying room Washing machine

O 3 K

Tumble dryer Recycling facilities Bunkhouse payphone

Give us your Feedback


We would like to hear about your experiences on your Working Holiday. You will be invited to provide feedback at the end of the holiday which will give you the chance to comment on your favourite and least favourite aspects of the holiday.

Health and Safety


The National Trust is committed to ensuring that all the necessary precautions are in place to protect you from dangers or hazards whilst on a Working Holiday. Trust staff will explain safety on site, including the

Booking hotline 0844 800 3099

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Booking and enquiries


Overseas Working Holidays The National Trust does not sell or offer for sale the Working Holidays that take place overseas. The Working Holidays that take place overseas are provided by National Trust organisations overseas. We are not affiliated with these Trusts. For full details of the overseas Working Holidays please contact the providers of these holidays. Details for the providers can be found on pages 52 and 53 of this brochure. The following provisions apply to holidays in the UK booked through The National Trust: Booking a Working Holiday There are a number of ways you can book a National Trust Working Holiday: By Phone You can call our booking office from the the first working day in January (excluding bank holidays) giving your choice(s) and the codes of the holidays you really like the sound of. Just call 0844 800 3099, and dont forget to have your Visa, Mastercard, Delta or Switch card details at hand. Telephones are open: Monday to Friday 9am 9pm Saturday 9am 7pm Sunday 9am 1pm Bank Holidays 9am 1pm (Closed Christmas and New Year) By Post Send your request(s) to National Trust Working Holidays Centre, PO Box 536, Melksham, Wiltshire SN12 8SX. Please remember to include your phone number to pay by credit card or a cheque made payable to The National Trust (Enterprises) Ltd. Online Enquire by email on working. holidays@nationaltrust.org.uk or book online at our secure website www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ workingholidays Booking Confirmation Once your booking has been accepted, you will be sent a confirmation pack giving details about your chosen holiday, arrival times and travel instructions. Allow up to seven days for your confirmation pack to arrive unless your holiday is imminent, in which case it will be given top priority. Coming from Overseas? Until further notice, we are only able to accept bookings from participants with a European Economic Area or Swiss passport. We ask for participants to be at least 18 years of age and to have enough of a grasp of the English language to understand safety instructions. Unfortunately we cannot offer Youth Discovery or Touchwood holidays to European participants. Call the booking office on +44 1225 7922 74 giving your choice(s) of holiday using the codes. Please pay for your holiday using Visa, Access or Switch only. A non-refundable supplementary charge of 10 per person is made on overseas bookings to cover our bank charges in the UK plus telephone calls and postage. Please note that we cannot organise work permits or visas for any overseas participants. Although we are unable to help with travel arrangements within the UK, we recommend you go online to www.visitbritain.com Special Assistance If you use a wheelchair or cant walk more than 500 metres without help, certain Working Holidays may not be suitable for you. You should check with your booking agent if you are not sure whether a particular holiday is suitable for you. You need to do this before you book your holiday. If you have got any medical or dietary needs, we will do our best to help. We can also tell you which properties have things like ramps and specially adapted rooms. It is really important that you let us know of any mobility issues before you book so we can tell you which accommodation would be best. Our sites do not have medical centers, and they are not designed to deal with existing conditions. Unfortunately, we do not have facilities for the hard of hearing or the blind. If you do have a sensory impairment, you need to have someone travelling with you who does not.

Booking terms and conditions


Age Limits You must be over 18 to book on a Working Holiday with the exception of Youth Discovery Holidays which are specifically for 16-18 year olds. Please note that if you are under 18 years of age, a parent or guardian must sign the booking form. Apart from Youth Discovery Holidays, there is no upper age limit as long as you can carry out the task at hand. There is an age limit for our insurance though see below. The Family Holidays are designed for families with children aged between 6 and 16 years. Payment You will be required to pay the full sum for your Working Holiday at the time of booking. Cancellations Please do not apply for a Working Holiday unless you are certain you can attend. If you want to cancel your booking you must advise us. If you cancel your holiday and there are more than 28 days before your booked departure we will provide you with a refund of the price of your booking. To cover the cost of processing your cancellation and to compensate us for the risk that we may not be able to resell travel arrangements, we make a cancellation charge of 15. If you cancel your holiday within 28 days of your departure date we regret that we can not provide you with a refund. The person who made the booking is responsible for paying the cancellation charge. Please note that we are not able to provide a refund under any circumstances for Short Breaks. If we Change your Booking Number of participants We aim to provide your holiday as booked. But if, for example, there are not enough people booked on your holiday, we may cancel it. On some occasions, a holiday will be run with fewer participants than the number expected, but we consider either six or eight (depending on the holiday concerned) to be the minimum number for a successful week. In the unusual event of your holiday not reaching this minimum, we will contact you at least two weeks before the start date to offer an alternative holiday or a full refund. Short Breaks require a minimum of either six or eight participants (depending on the holiday concerned), and if less than this number have booked we will give you at least two weeks notice and offer you an alternative holiday or full refund. We will always refund the difference in price if you choose the alternative holiday and it is of a lower standard and price than the original. Accommodation or work task We take every care to ensure that the details in this brochure are accurate at the time of printing. On rare occasions the holiday accommodation or the work task may have altered from the brochure description but you will be notified of such changes in advance. If any change is deemed a major change, you may either: Accept the new arrangement offered by us; Accept a replacement holiday from us of equivalent or closely similar standard and price, if one is available; or Cancel your holiday with us and receive a full refund of all monies paid. Health and Safety The National Trust is committed to ensuring that all the necessary precautions are in place to protect you from dangers or hazards whilst on a Working Holiday. In accordance with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (or equivalent Northern Ireland legislation) the National Trust is responsible for providing and maintaining a working environment which is, as far as is reasonably practicable, safe and without risk to health. Copies of the Trusts written policy under this Act are available at Trust properties and offices. Trust staff will explain safety on site, including the safe use of tools, safe methods of carrying out the work involved and emergency procedures. We ask you to follow any instructions given to ensure that you come to no harm and that you do not put others at risk. Insurance You will need to take out a suitable insurance policy for you and anyone travelling with you. This includes infants and children. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss that you or anyone travelling on your booking suffers if the individual is not adequately insured. As with all insurance policies, terms and conditions apply, so you need to make sure youve got the right policy for you. In addition, the personal possessions of participants are not insured by the National Trust against loss or damage. It is recommended that participants do not bring articles of high or sentimental value or large amounts of money with them on a Working Holiday. The National Trust keeps insurance in force to protect itself against legal liability claims for damage of property or personal injury received from visitors, contractors, employees or participants. Participants over 80 are not covered by the National Trusts personal accident insurance policy. Late Bookings Owing to the need to process payments and to pass details to the holiday leaders, we regret that bookings cannot be accepted less than seven days before the holiday is due to begin. For example, for a holiday starting on Friday or Saturday, the final booking day will be the previous Friday. No Pets We regret that pets may not be brought to Working Holidays. This includes both the work site and the accommodation. Transfers Please inform us at least 28 days before the start date of your holiday if you wish to transfer your booking to a different holiday. There is a 10 administration charge for each transfer. Please confirm all transfers in writing. If you are prevented from taking the holiday that you have booked, you may transfer to another person, provided you meet the following conditions: You must authorise us to make the transfer The person to whom you transfer the holiday must comply with all the terms of the existing booking That person must accept the transfer and these terms and conditions We may charge an amendment fee which we will add to a new invoice which we shall issue to the person that accepts the transfer. The new invoice will include any monies that are outstanding in relation to the booking. You cannot transfer a working holiday booking to any other person later than 14 days before departure; and You will remain responsible for the payment of any balance on the new invoice should the person that has accepted the transfer fail to pay it. Photographs We always appreciate receiving photographs of Working Holidays. We may use photographs in publicity for the National Trust and the Working Holiday programme and, where we think it appropriate, to further the National Trusts and its trading companys charitable and commercial interests. We will try to credit photographers but this may not always be possible. If you supply us with photographs to use or have confirmed that you are happy for us to use photographs of you or your children at time of booking, but later change your mind, please inform us in writing. Complaints If there is a problem with your holiday we want to be the first to hear abut it. Inform the holiday leader or Trust staff immediately; if you feel this is inappropriate, or you are not entirely satisfied then contact the Working Holidays team at Melksham on 0844 800 3099 or email working.holidays@ nationaltrust.org.uk Unreasonable Behaviour Most Working holiday participants are keen to help complete the work tasks, enjoy the company of others and to share the domestic tasks. We reserve the right to terminate any participants holiday without compensation if their behaviour is likely to impair the enjoyment or health and safety of others, or causes offence. Such participants will be asked to leave and any applications to attend future holidays may be refused without further negotiation. YOUR FINANCIAL PROTECTION The Package Travel, Package Holidays And Package Tours Regulations 1992 (the Regulations) require us to provide security for the monies that you pay for the package holidays booked from us and for your repatriation in the event of our insolvency. In accordance with the Regulations, the National Trust will hold all customers monies in a trust account until such times as the Working Holiday is complete. Our Responsibility for your Holiday We will arrange for you to receive the services that make up the holiday that you choose and that we confirm. The services will be provided either directly by us or through independent suppliers contracted by us. We are responsible for making sure that each part of the holiday you book with us is provided to a reasonable standard and as was advertised by us (or as changed and accepted by you). Weve taken reasonable care to ensure that the services which make up your holiday advertised by us are provided by efficient and reputable businesses.

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