Woofers for the weekend

Hi Sue,

This is a great idea and as I am new to this whole area of being a host I wouldnt know where to start but I just wanted to say i think your idea is great and could perhaps be expanded on.

Problem is, this flies in the face of the whole WWOOF ethic.
It could be a minefield as far as legal issues are concerned. Would these youngsters be required to join WWOOF Ireland? How would they be found? How would you know there was genuine interest?
I think your idea is laudable, but in the end, we'd be unpaid social workers, in loco parentis, heaven help us!
Maybe someone with plenty of spare time on a weekend might want to take the idea on, but for most Organic farmers the weekends are taken up with doing the jobs we gratefully share with our WWOOFers through the week.
WWOOFers for the weekend great! Foster parents for the weekend ....... not on your nelly!

Thanks, but no thanks!

Is this not a WWOOF publicity issue? If wwoofing was advertised in 'those' areas then it could and would be a positive choice for city folks and they could decide. They'd have to join the wwoof organisation for sure and they'd need insurance etc. Even if I have friends to 'wwoof' here they have to be members, have insurance etc. So great idea but wwoofers have to be woofers! Also weekends are my 'catching up' days and even sometimes relaxing days!

Interesting discussion here!  It has arisen from a request from a WWOOFer who is an agricultural student and wants to get experience at the weekends - and far from being against the whole WWOOF ethic, its how it all started in the early 70's with Sue Coppard - 'Weekend workers on Organic Farms' - taking office workers out to the field and spreading the organic message more widely.  Its interesting to hear everybodies perspectives on this though! Worthy of more discussion!!

I'm all for WWOOFers at the weekend. We were having weekend WWOOFers in the 1980s and it worked well. But just taking youngsters to reconnect them to nature ...

I guess its a matter of choice - some hosts would be happy to have more 'disadvantaged' young WWOOFers and others would be interested in the agricultural student variety - but the idea of having WWOOFers at the weekends only is the main issue and who the hosts select to have for this would be up to them - any other comments on this?

Teenagers aside, as someone new to Woofing, I'd be grateful for the opportunity to commit to weekends. I work during the week and my schedule can be all over the place, often leaving weekends as my only available time. I think for people who aren't sure whether WOOF is for them, the option to come along for a weekend is a great way to get a feel for it. I know this thread was for hosts, but thought I'd throw in my two cents ;)