About Us
Learn more about Wiltshire Host Families.
Our Mission
Our mission is to give international students the opportunity to immerse themselves in UK culture in a safe and welcoming environment, while sharing cultural experiences with their host family.
The Wiltshire Host Family Story
I founded Wiltshire Host Families back in 2010, working with one agent and one coach per week in Trowbridge.
At the time, I was a busy Mum, managing WHF around a full-time job, as well as running several community groups, events and projects.
Over the next few years, word spread and more people wanted to join the Wiltshire Hosts family. The Trowbridge centre continued to grow and we were managing 3 coaches a week!
Eventually I took on part-time helpers to help manage the recruitment of new hosts, coordinating groups and business administration.
With demand continuing to increase, I opened our Westbury and Melksham centres – which follow the same process as Trowbridge.
At this point, we were working with over 20 agents and managing 5-6 coaches per week.
We were even turning coaches away due to lack of space!
This led us to open centres in Warminster and Chippenham, increasing our capacity to 8 coaches per week.
Covid Strikes
At the beginning of 2020, Covid strikes the nation sending the world into chaos.
Unfortunately, the pandemic (and subsequent lockdowns) meant that all 120 confirmed groups were cancelled, forcing us to refund all deposits.
Staff were forced to get new jobs and the future of the business was unknown – I was getting ready to throw in the towel.
That was until May 2022, when I received a call from a French agent who had been let down by another provider and was desperate for help.
I agreed and started the arduous task of completely rebuilding the business.
A New Beginning
Fortunately, many of our previous hosts were keen to rejoin us, and 3 of my coordinators returned to help me.
It was tough. My workdays were extremely long, and I had very little extra time to spend with my children and grandchildren, but with grit and determination, I built a wonderful new team and Wiltshire Host Families returned with a bang in Melksham, Trowbridge, Warminster and Westbury!
2024 has been fantastic! 130 student groups to date. That’s over 8,000 tourists a year, spending money in our shops and county, and an additional tax-free income to more than 140 lovely host families. Not to mention the 2 awards we have received for Best Hosting Company – I’m so proud of our team!
And 2025? It’s onwards and upwards with the opening of our new centre in Frome – and already more booking enquiries than we can possibly accept.
Val Rideout x
Managing Director