Welcome to our family. The three of us, myself, my 12 year old son and the cat, live in a villa just outside Bedford. Our estate is to the west, along the river Great Ouse. Bedford is an old town with a history well over a thousand years back, whereas Kempston where we live, has grown together with Bedford. Kempston is not quite as old, but is mentioned in the eleventh century Domesday Book. It was known as the largest village in England before it became a town. Particularly in Bedford, some old Medieval and Tudor buildings remain, however, the area has grown a lot in the last decade or two and modern buildings prevail. Famous Bedfordians? John Bunyan; author of The Pilgrim's Progress, Harold Maurice Abrahams CBE; Olympic champion in 1924 in the 100 metres sprint, a feat depicted in the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire and Bishop Trevor Huddleston; a strong advocate in the anti-apartheid movement. Culturally the area is very diverse with large population of Italian ancestry, but also Indian, Polish/eastern European, West Indian, southern Europe and Africa. There are several free options for you improve your English. There are classes both at the University of Bedford and Bedford College, groups such as the Bedford Language Centre and by joining various council run courses. For sports and leisure there is a gym and pool 5 min away by bicycle. Most sports are available locally including sailing and surfing on nearby lakes, water skiing, jogging along the river, several rowing and kayaking clubs and road/mountain biking in the country side. Cinemas, a concert hall and a theater is also here together with the usual bars and restaurants. During the summer months Bedford hosts a variety of festivals such as the Proms and the Bedford River Festival. Communications are very good. The bus stop 2 minutes from the house takes you to central Bedford in one direction or as far as Milton Keynes in the other. From Bedford train station (10 min by bike, 15 min. by bus, 25-30 min. walk); central London is only 30 minutes away. Both London Luton Airport and Gatwick Airport are on this line making traveling very easy. Buses go to most cities through National Express and Cambridge/Milton Keynes/Oxford on the X5 bus. Additionally there are a variety of stores including Sainsburys supermarket, banks, (small) library and the main Bedfordshire Hospital within a 10-20 minutes walk. Our house is a very typical UK detached villa built in the eighties. My sons school is a 20 minute bus ride from the nearby bus stop (or 10 min cycle/ 25min walk). He starts school at 08:45 and finish at 15:15. A few days a week he does after school club which lasts 1 hour. He has a 30 minutes swimming lesson at the local pool once a week after school, Multi sports 2 hours a week, Parkour 1 hour a week and attends Scouts for 2 hours in the evening once a week. I have some involvement too in the scouts and attend the group executive meeting once a month. He also attends Sunday school at a church I Bedford every other Sunday between 15:30 and 18:00. I have been caring for my son for the last two years, but I'm now resuming my position at an Airline based in Luton and that is why I need your help. Although as Flight Crew my schedule is very varied and can change at very short notice, it does mean that I have slightly more days off than the 'normal' 5/2 week. Briefly I work 5 days with very early morning reports (for duty) followed by 3 days off, then 5 days of late morning/afternoon/evening reports that finish late/very late and then followed by 4 days off. So almost like a 4/3 week. The duties vary from a few hours to 14 hours (or more in unforeseen cases), but I very rarely have to stay away overnight. I do also have some days as standby/spare crew that can be called upon if needed, hence may stay home all day or be called to report at short notice. All this mean that I can often either drop my son at school or collect him in the afternoon. The third member of the family is Grey (Arthur) the Cat, therefore it is essential that you are a cat and animal lover. He is getting older and is very friendly and docile.

PLEASE NOTE: Due to UK immigration regulations I seek an au pair girl, 21 - 33 years, from the EU, Iceland, Norway or Switzerland with a basic knowledge of English. Also acceptable is that you are studying on a student visa at a nearby University (ie Bedford or Cranfield).

My son turns 13 years old in late Autumn, hence he is becoming more and more independent. Generally, I will need you to make sure that he is safe when I am at work. We will share the duties of making sure that he has woken up, had breakfast and is ready for school. At the moment he is accompanied to school, however that will eventually be relaxed in soon as he has settled in. Similarly, I expect that he will return from school by himself when I am confident that he is safe to do so.

I expect that we will share duties such as taking him to after school activities, preparing meals, general cleaning and tidying up.

Generally, I need you to fill in for me when I am at work. That also mean that you should have a fair bit of time for yourself and days off when I am on days off. That should able you to take English classes, join groups and do some traveling should you wish so. You are of course welcome to come on trips and outings, seeing friends or any other activities should you wish.

I propose pocket money at the highest end of UK government recommendation and to include bus-pass, local gym membership (if you wish), rail discount card (Network Railcard etc.), bicycle for your use and anything else that is normal family perks. You will probably spend 15-30 hours a week doing Au-Pair duties, depending on my work schedule. Most weeks should be around 24 hours.

Discount travel with my airline will take you to Scotland, Northern Ireland or Europe should you wish to take a quick break on your days off.

You'll have around 7 weeks holiday/year depending on how my vacation is allocated.

You will have your own room. We have one main bathroom and a downstairs toilet which we will share. We have WIFI, Virgin Media and Amazon Prime cable TV and I will include you on my Family Spotify should you wish. Please do contact if you want something clarified or have any suggestions.