You are responsible for your safety or for the person you are booking a gardener for but please read our suggested safety protocols.
Your address, email, and phone number, which you include when you register, will NOT be made visible to the public or the gardener before or when you private message them. If you choose to add your private contact details to your profile after you have registered these WILL be visible to full members. If you add your profile to the garden owners directory be mindful of your visibility and whether you are comfortable adding your whole address or just your town name.
When the gardener responds to your enquiry, then arrange a call to speak with them and chat about your gardening needs:
- Did you get on well?
- Do you have any shared interests or people you know?
- Do you feel they have skills that are appropriate and doable for your garden needs?
If you feel confident to go ahead at this stage, before you arrange a show round, ask them for their full name, address, email, phone number and social media page.
Check out their address on Google Maps and most importantly, their social profiles. You must feel comfortable that the gardener’s profile is genuine and that they have connections within your local community.
We encourage garden owners to send the same in return so that Weeders can see that you are a pillar of the community too.
If you are looking for a Weeder on behalf of someone vulnerable, you may consider someone with a DSB (Disclosure and Barring Service) check. This enables employers to check the criminal records of current and potential employees to ascertain whether or not they are suitable to work with vulnerable adults and children. If the weeder already has a ‘Standard Check ’they may declare so on their profile. If they do not have one you could ask them to apply for one. If they do have this certification ask them to email you the document privately once you have connected. WeWeed is not responsible for checking the validity of the declaration of any certification.
Although Liability Insurance is not a legal requirement, we do advise that all our gardeners have this basic level of cover for everyone’s peace of mind. If they have this cover they will say so on their profile. You can ask them to email you this documentation when you connect. Please note that WeWeed is not responsible for checking these credentials.
If you are still feeling positive about the gardener, arrange for them to visit your garden for an initial show round.
You could make sure someone is with you in the house when they visit. If you are arranging for the gardener to visit a vulnerable person, make sure you go too. The gardener may also bring a chaperone for the initial garden show round.
If you feel uneasy or have concerns at any point in the process of the engagement of a gardener, politely make your excuses, and discontinue your interactions with them. WeWeed can not take responsibility for your safety or of those you are booking a gardener for.
