Help me build the first ever wikihouse eco boat in central London

Higher chance of approval: This host has recently approved volunteers and is looking for more applications.
Practice English: 12 travelers recommend this host to practice English
Connect with the locals: 10 travelers recommend this host to have close contact with locals
Accepts couples and pairs of volunteers

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What you offer

25h

Hours per week: Help out and collaborate with your host only a few hours per week.

Building & Repairing: Help with a wide range of repairs or building.

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What you get

Days off per week: Have some time off for yourself, go explore the city or rest for a while.

Shared Dorm: You will have a bed in a shared room, which means you will share the same room with other travelers.

Breakfast: You are entitled to a free breakfast, every day of your stay.

Lunch: You are entitled to a free lunch, every day of your stay.

Dinner: You are entitled to a free dinner, every day of your stay.

Use our equipped kitchen: Feel free to use our kitchen and make your own delicious food.

Free Laundry: You can use our laundry room freely.

Bikes at your disposal: You can use our bikes any time you want.

Support: Get help from the Worldpackers support team in case you need it, at any point of your trip.

Verified Host: This host has been verified by our team before joining the community.

WP Safeguard: Did something not go as planned? Contact our team.; Learn more

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Availability

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Stay at least: 2 weeks

Stay up to: 12 weeks

The Experience

By day, I run a tech non-profit. We make it fun and easy for refugee parents and isolated older folks to learn english and make new friends, by cooking and eating together in schools. In 2020, I started converting a 1920s Thames Lighter Barge into the first ever wikihouseboat on a beautiful central London marina with fibre broadband (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikiHouse). Now I need some help finishing the job so I can repeat it with refugees.

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Requirements

Intermediate English
Over 21 years old
Welcomes solo volunteers, couples, and partners of volunteers

What's not included

Flights, Travel Insurance, Internal Transportation and Visa

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Talk to those who have lived the experience

In our community, you can talk to worldpackers who have already collaborated with this host and get your questions answered directly.

You can ask things like:

a) How was your experience with this host?
b) How was your day-to-day routine?
c) How much did you spend on this trip?

19 Reviews

4.0

Host & Team

4.5

Hours & Tasks

4.0

Boat

4.0

Learning & Fun

4.5

How this experience will transform you

12 Practicing English
10 Meeting locals
10 Meeting international travelers
8 Creating true social impact
8 Immersing in the local culture
6 Learning about sustainability

Lee

United Kingdom

So I planned on staying 6 weeks turned into almost 3 months 😇 ben is a wonderful host, person and now friend, some days are challenging, but guaranteed to learn alot... Lovely location in London, highly recommend 🤗

6 months ago

Christopher

United States

One of the more eclectic stays I've had over the past 4 months. the boat is cozy and located in a very nice part of London. Easy access to mass transit and local attractions. Ben is a great guy and provides an eclectic lifestyle and fun work environment. I was able to meet some of the locals in the area and spent my free time traveling all around London.

8 months ago

Nelson

Puerto Rico

It was a truly amazing and pleasant experience. Ben is a great guy to learn/ be around, easy going over all. Very thoughtful and witty , enjoyed our conversations together. Beautiful port area with a great view of downtown London. Highly recommended and will definitely do it again! Thanks so Ben! It's been an honor.

11 months ago

Olga

Poland

It was an eclectic, fun, sometimes hectic and challenging and sometimes very rewarding experience. As a person looking for design/architecture volunteering opportunities, I enjoyed seeing the timber structure coming together, collaborating with others and working in the open air. The schedule and assigned tasks were frequently unclear and not really thought through and/or kept changing, which required a certain amount of patience, flexibility and efforts at clear communication. We didn't eat meals together- me and the other volunteers bought our own food and had a working kitchen to cook in.

about 1 month ago

Jhojan

Colombia

It's a different experience, living on a boat is something unique, zero privacy, the bed is literally in the kitchen, in some situations you have to work more hours during the day, if you don't have a problem with this, you'll be fine. I hardly shared with Ben but he's a very kind person, sometimes he invites you to dinner with his friends on the other boats.

5 months ago

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About the host

Hosted by Ben

Response Rate: This host usually answers to 20% of the messages
Response Time: This host usually writes back in 2 days

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