Wow! I am amazed how long it has been since a blog update! Shows what a busy schedule and being a new parent does for you, not that I would change anything but hey, I have missed a lot of blog time! There has been an awful lot happening over the last few months (nearly a year!) and it’s almost impossible to even start beginning a blog discussion on these.
In terms of us here at Spareground towers, we have gone a bit quiet but we have not gone away. There are two of us who do this site solely in our spare time, both of us also hold down full time jobs and have a very busy family life. In any case, we are still here doing things in the background and planning and scheming all sorts of things to make this site get more coverage and appeal and better to use all the time.
One of our aims is to make sure we make people know about this website in time for the Olympics. We already have a lot of London listings now for accommodation and parking and we aim to target the Olympics specifically so users can just rent out their property, parking garages etc for this time. Of course, we all know it is not just London who will benefit from the Olympics in 2012, there are a host of other events happening throughout the country and no doubt a lot of our visitors to these shores may stay on and extend their holiday time.
The upcoming Royal Wedding is also an event that those living in and around London may benefit from. Only this morning on BBC, there was a discussion of how Londoners could make money by renting out their property for the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton, no reason why those who own parking spaces couldn’t do likewise!
We have been approached by a few magazines and newspapers over the last week or so about how users can use the site to make themselves some extra cash so keep an eye out for those.
Finally if any of you have some Spareground success stories then we would love to know about them. We’d love to build a success story portfolio that we can use to share with the media and if you would like to be part of that, whether as a known or an anonymous user then do let us know.
In the meantime, keep spreading the word! We’ve been around a good while before David Cameron came up with his Big Society idea,…perhaps I ought to let him know we have a group of people here already making the most of what they have!
www.spareground.co.uk
Showing posts with label parking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parking. Show all posts
Saturday, 26 March 2011
Monday, 19 October 2009
Park and Run in Cambridge!
Last week the Cambridge Evening News published its article on the impending hike in car parking charges in Cambridge. Parking spaces in Cambridge are now likely to reach the £23 a day figure in the city which is hardly likely to be greeted with open arms. There is no easy solution to this, you have to ask why this figure has to be so ridiculously high and one would guess that the increase in fees (a 4% rise in income for the city council) are to be re-invested in increasing public transport into the city centre.
The much anticipated guided bus route will soon open and hopefully this will see further a reduction in the numbers of cars trying to park up in Cambridge centre. One would have hoped that any increase in parking charges could have been postponed at least until a review was made on the effectiveness of the guided bus route.
The Cambridge Evening News poll as to how people will respond found that 66.9% of people will look to go elsewhere, 26.5% will look for alternative transport and 6.6% will continue to pay the car parking fees.
Not pretty reading for Cambridge based businesses.
So! Those schools, churches, private business premises, and those with private driveways in the city, get your parking spaces for rent on Spareground!
You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
This last week also saw Spareground featured on the Radio Surrey and Radio Sussex Sunday morning DigIt programme, it’s nice that the website is still attracting media interest and long may it continue!
My trip to Wales did not prove to be as successful as I had hoped in promoting Spareground but I won’t be giving up on it not by a long shot! I am still looking to promote it in every corner of the UK as it can only set to directly benefit most of the people at some stage. The more users we have then the better for everyone.
Yesterday also saw me complete my first 10K race. This was the first time that Cambridge has hosted a run10K for cancer research event and I really hope it goes ahead again next year. The weather was great, the course organisers did a fantastic job and the samba band playing their drums and their hearts out on Midsummer Common were brilliant! My body wasn’t feeling that great today though but I’m sure it’ll pass off at some stage.
Perhaps that what we need in Cambridge, lots of shower facilities somewhere so people can Park and Run! Park on the outskirts, run into town, shower and then get on with your daily business!
www.spareground.co.uk
The much anticipated guided bus route will soon open and hopefully this will see further a reduction in the numbers of cars trying to park up in Cambridge centre. One would have hoped that any increase in parking charges could have been postponed at least until a review was made on the effectiveness of the guided bus route.
The Cambridge Evening News poll as to how people will respond found that 66.9% of people will look to go elsewhere, 26.5% will look for alternative transport and 6.6% will continue to pay the car parking fees.
Not pretty reading for Cambridge based businesses.
So! Those schools, churches, private business premises, and those with private driveways in the city, get your parking spaces for rent on Spareground!
You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
This last week also saw Spareground featured on the Radio Surrey and Radio Sussex Sunday morning DigIt programme, it’s nice that the website is still attracting media interest and long may it continue!
My trip to Wales did not prove to be as successful as I had hoped in promoting Spareground but I won’t be giving up on it not by a long shot! I am still looking to promote it in every corner of the UK as it can only set to directly benefit most of the people at some stage. The more users we have then the better for everyone.
Yesterday also saw me complete my first 10K race. This was the first time that Cambridge has hosted a run10K for cancer research event and I really hope it goes ahead again next year. The weather was great, the course organisers did a fantastic job and the samba band playing their drums and their hearts out on Midsummer Common were brilliant! My body wasn’t feeling that great today though but I’m sure it’ll pass off at some stage.
Perhaps that what we need in Cambridge, lots of shower facilities somewhere so people can Park and Run! Park on the outskirts, run into town, shower and then get on with your daily business!
www.spareground.co.uk
Friday, 14 August 2009
BBC Radio at last!
It’s been a busy few weeks both on the Spareground front and with my other business commitments so no blog posts for a while! …and after all my earlier promises!Well, this week saw my first ever radio interviews about Spareground on BBC Radio5 and also on BBC Radio Ulster (Northern Ireland). I must admit I was shocked with how nervous I felt beforehand but once we were ‘live’, things went well and I am pretty happy with the final outcomes.
Both features came about from recent polls showing that a lot of older people are now considering renting out rooms to lodgers to make cash to bolster their current financial shortfalls. With low interest rates, savings accounts are not bringing in the interest levels they once were and this coupled with increased living costs means that options such as renting out rooms are now being considered.
In the UK, the Government's Rent a Room scheme allows people to receive up to £4,250 a year tax free through renting out a room in their main home; quite a significant sum of money to add onto their regular income. There are restrictions to this for example, you cannot modify your property to create a separate space or create a private access for the lodger so it is wise to check the government websites to check for further details.What Spareground have tried to get across is that for a lot of people renting out a room in their house may not be a favourable choice. However, it’s always an idea to look at what spare space you do have and see if you can rent that out, hence our promotion to rent out driveways, parking facilities, storage facilities and garden space. You would not be able to create a huge amount of money from something like an attic space or garden space for example but it all helps!
Spareground was also featured on this week’s Enterprise Nation website http://www.enterprisenation.com/ and we have seen an increased in the hits on the site related to this. I have also signed up to attend the Enterprise Nation conference in November this year so I will make sure that I will report on this with all the news and stories of what happened. Busy times ahead!
Great news that the UK gets the Rugby League World Cup and the Rugby Union World Cup! Hopefully we can be of some use to help cater for peoples parking and accommodation requirements!
Monday, 15 June 2009
Ladies and Gentlemen, time please,….it’s Wimbledon
One week left to go before the influx of visitors to SW19 for the best tennis tournament in the world! Sadly for me I have no tickets. I did enter the public ballot but was unlucky this year. My parents however, were more successful and will be on Court 2 on the 29th of June. Lucky them!
Spareground now has its first tennis related listing, some lovely private accommodation available just a ten minute walk from the All England Club.
It’s no secret that one of the problems with this tournament (and I would imagine many others) is the lack of closely available parking or accommodation. Each year, residents within Wimbledon and nearby areas have placed their properties in the hands of local estate agents for rentals to visitors during this time. Nothing wrong with that of course and for some people to have someone to ‘manage’ the rental of their property or parking would be the preferred option anyway.
However, not everyone can afford to pay or wants to pay, the handling fees involved, especially when there can be no guarantee that it will be leased out at all.
Spareground offers an alternative source. We do not charge for people to register and create listings, nor is there any charge for users to contact advertisers. All we ask is people register to the site. Using this method means that it is entirely down to the user to manage their own listings and arrange the rental terms as they see fit. Spareground plays no part in this aspect, we only provide the introductory aspect.
This great tennis tournament at the All England Tennis Club attracts visitors from all over the world. Not all will have the same budgets so the broader the range of pricing options for accommodation, hotels, B&Bs or even camping locations then the better. So even if you have a single room available, a space for putting up a tent or a 7-bedroomed detached house, all will be welcome on the Spareground site.
Parking options is also another aspect for people to consider, whether its listing a driveway space in front of a house, a business premises car park or that of a school or church, list them on the site,. There are other websites too which allow you to list parking so by all means use those as well.
Don’t forget that if you are visiting Wimbledon for the tennis, you can create a listing to ask for what space you need, whether it’s parking or accommodation.
The site is there for those who are looking as well as for those who can provide.
To finish off, congratulations go to Andy Murray for his win at the AEGON championships at the Queens club last week. Also to Roger Federer for his French Open win, putting him toe to toe with Sampras on his number of Grand Slam tournaments won. If either of these two men lifts the trophy at Wimbledon this year, you will be watching sporting history in the making!
www.spareground.co.uk
Spareground now has its first tennis related listing, some lovely private accommodation available just a ten minute walk from the All England Club.
It’s no secret that one of the problems with this tournament (and I would imagine many others) is the lack of closely available parking or accommodation. Each year, residents within Wimbledon and nearby areas have placed their properties in the hands of local estate agents for rentals to visitors during this time. Nothing wrong with that of course and for some people to have someone to ‘manage’ the rental of their property or parking would be the preferred option anyway.
However, not everyone can afford to pay or wants to pay, the handling fees involved, especially when there can be no guarantee that it will be leased out at all.
Spareground offers an alternative source. We do not charge for people to register and create listings, nor is there any charge for users to contact advertisers. All we ask is people register to the site. Using this method means that it is entirely down to the user to manage their own listings and arrange the rental terms as they see fit. Spareground plays no part in this aspect, we only provide the introductory aspect.
This great tennis tournament at the All England Tennis Club attracts visitors from all over the world. Not all will have the same budgets so the broader the range of pricing options for accommodation, hotels, B&Bs or even camping locations then the better. So even if you have a single room available, a space for putting up a tent or a 7-bedroomed detached house, all will be welcome on the Spareground site.
Parking options is also another aspect for people to consider, whether its listing a driveway space in front of a house, a business premises car park or that of a school or church, list them on the site,. There are other websites too which allow you to list parking so by all means use those as well.
Don’t forget that if you are visiting Wimbledon for the tennis, you can create a listing to ask for what space you need, whether it’s parking or accommodation.
The site is there for those who are looking as well as for those who can provide.
To finish off, congratulations go to Andy Murray for his win at the AEGON championships at the Queens club last week. Also to Roger Federer for his French Open win, putting him toe to toe with Sampras on his number of Grand Slam tournaments won. If either of these two men lifts the trophy at Wimbledon this year, you will be watching sporting history in the making!
www.spareground.co.uk
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Spend the Summer Outdoors!
I don’t know where the time is going at the moment!
Since my promises to update regularly were uttered in April, we are now fast approaching the end of May already and soon it will be summertime.
At Spareground, we are in the throws of thrashing out some new promotional ideas and ways to encourage people to use the site to their advantages during the summer months.
Summer means the festival season for many people (Glastonbury, The Reading and Leeds Festivals, the V Festivals, the Isle of Wight festival and the Cambridge Folk festival to name only a few) and with the dates quickly bearing down on us, we are keen to encourage people who attend these festivals and those who live nearby to use Spareground to find or advertise their spare space.
The camping in close numbers experience may not be ideal for some people and with people wanting to keep vehicles close by, Spareground can act as the mediating facility to find what you want; whether its accommodation, camping space, parking or storage space. If that’s what you are looking for then why not place a listing.
If you live in these areas and can offer anything of this sort then advertise it free of charge on Spareground.
I only wish I was heading down to Glastonbury this year but alas I didn’t get a ticket. Nevermind, I will try again next year!
http://www.spareground.com/
Since my promises to update regularly were uttered in April, we are now fast approaching the end of May already and soon it will be summertime.
At Spareground, we are in the throws of thrashing out some new promotional ideas and ways to encourage people to use the site to their advantages during the summer months.
Summer means the festival season for many people (Glastonbury, The Reading and Leeds Festivals, the V Festivals, the Isle of Wight festival and the Cambridge Folk festival to name only a few) and with the dates quickly bearing down on us, we are keen to encourage people who attend these festivals and those who live nearby to use Spareground to find or advertise their spare space.
The camping in close numbers experience may not be ideal for some people and with people wanting to keep vehicles close by, Spareground can act as the mediating facility to find what you want; whether its accommodation, camping space, parking or storage space. If that’s what you are looking for then why not place a listing.
If you live in these areas and can offer anything of this sort then advertise it free of charge on Spareground.
I only wish I was heading down to Glastonbury this year but alas I didn’t get a ticket. Nevermind, I will try again next year!
http://www.spareground.com/
Monday, 27 April 2009
London Marathon
Yesterday’s London Marathon was great!
I must say I enjoyed it from the comfort of the armchair but with an annual promise to enter the ballot next year. I will do it today. Unfortunately the website is busy at the moment,…honestly.
My friend Alan competed yesterday and finished with a respectable time of 3 hours 25 minutes, equally impressive as it was a rather warm day and he was dressed in a velvet effect Wonder Woman outfit! He has raised a considerable amount of money for the Countess Mountbatten Hospice in Southampton but very sadly, his friend who was a patient there, passed away only a few days ago.
http://www.justgiving.com/alanmiddlebrook
London attracts thousands of visitors each year for this event and the numbers of people who apply increases year by year. Equally the amount of people who come to support naturally increases too.
As with any major sports event, Spareground can be a good resource for finding the car parking or the accommodation that is needed. No doubt there are events which happen whereby it is very difficult to almost impossible to find anywhere to stay nearby or park the car. If you live in areas where there is a sporting event being hosted, (whether it happens weekly, monthly or once a year) you could consider renting out your parking space or even a spare room for the night to help accommodate the higher numbers of people. I know of people who compete in the Great North Run in Newcastle every year and on each occasion, they have a torrid time finding accommodation close to the event.
So if you are a private individual, a business, school or any other organisation that can offer car parking or accommodation (even if its camping space) to help out whilst there is an event happening near you why not list on Spareground. It’s all extra funds or if you so wish you could donate the proceeds to a charitable or fund raising effort.
www.spareground.com
I must say I enjoyed it from the comfort of the armchair but with an annual promise to enter the ballot next year. I will do it today. Unfortunately the website is busy at the moment,…honestly.
My friend Alan competed yesterday and finished with a respectable time of 3 hours 25 minutes, equally impressive as it was a rather warm day and he was dressed in a velvet effect Wonder Woman outfit! He has raised a considerable amount of money for the Countess Mountbatten Hospice in Southampton but very sadly, his friend who was a patient there, passed away only a few days ago.
http://www.justgiving.com/alanmiddlebrook
London attracts thousands of visitors each year for this event and the numbers of people who apply increases year by year. Equally the amount of people who come to support naturally increases too.
As with any major sports event, Spareground can be a good resource for finding the car parking or the accommodation that is needed. No doubt there are events which happen whereby it is very difficult to almost impossible to find anywhere to stay nearby or park the car. If you live in areas where there is a sporting event being hosted, (whether it happens weekly, monthly or once a year) you could consider renting out your parking space or even a spare room for the night to help accommodate the higher numbers of people. I know of people who compete in the Great North Run in Newcastle every year and on each occasion, they have a torrid time finding accommodation close to the event.
So if you are a private individual, a business, school or any other organisation that can offer car parking or accommodation (even if its camping space) to help out whilst there is an event happening near you why not list on Spareground. It’s all extra funds or if you so wish you could donate the proceeds to a charitable or fund raising effort.
www.spareground.com
Monday, 16 February 2009
Six Nations
This is probably one of my favourite times of the year and one of the inspiring reasons to start up Spareground in the first place.
Last Saturday’s action in Cardiff was watched in a pub in Chesterfield with friends. Nothing can ever beat actually being there in the Millennium Stadium but the pub doesn’t do too bad a job!
What can I say about the match, well, I am just very glad Wales won! I was quite anxious all week with the media’s prediction of Welsh runaway victory; after all this is the Six Nations and anything can happen. However, it was a cracker of a game and good on England for proving their critics wrong.
As with any sport and any team, you have your highs and lows and thankfully for me, it’s Wales’ turn. As a Welsh person who has lived in England for over 22 years now, I know only too well how it feels to be on the supporting side of a low Wales against a dominant England and probably on more occasions than I would probably care to remember.
Even so, I have always loved this tournament. In my eyes, there’s nothing to match it in terms of its unpredictability, the excitement, the buzz of a match day morning and the match day rituals, the intensity and the stomach churning nerves of the whistle at the kick off.
This year has the added incentive of those elusive 35 places on a plane to South Africa in the summer for the British and Irish Lions tour. Each week, the media and rugby forums thrash out the predictions of those test places based on the performances in the recent round of the Six Nations games. Sport just doesn’t get better than this.
The popularity of this tournament means the areas of Cardiff, London (Twickenham), Edinburgh and Dublin are rammed with visitors for just the match day itself or more often than not by those wanting to make a weekend of the whole thing; the rugby, the pubs, the eating out , the whole shebang. A welcomed injection of cash into the local economy!
You will now rightly be wondering where the Spareground part is going to feature in this and I would hate to disappoint so here it is.
Resources for car parking and also for accommodation can be listed on the Spareground site.
Regardless of whether you have a driveway for one space outside your house, a garage, or you own office premises with parking for a few to several cars, list them free of charge to rent on Spareground. It’s entirely up to you what you charge, but a reasonable day fee will see your offers taken up by those who can’t afford the extortionate prices of many ‘official’ car parks.
The story is the same for accommodation, if you have any rooms available in your house, a flat you can rent for short periods, or you own a small B&B or hotel, list it on the website. (If you do rent out your own property, make sure you are covered in terms of your insurance/mortgage provider).
The Spareground site has no intention of distracting business away from anyone, only to provide alternative arrangements which may better suit the budgets of potential visitors.
The next time you are on your way to the rugby, have a look on Spareground and see if there are cheaper (and closer!) parking or accommodation options available. You can also create listings asking for what you want so at no cost, why not give it a go.
http://www.spareground.com/
Until next time…
Last Saturday’s action in Cardiff was watched in a pub in Chesterfield with friends. Nothing can ever beat actually being there in the Millennium Stadium but the pub doesn’t do too bad a job!
What can I say about the match, well, I am just very glad Wales won! I was quite anxious all week with the media’s prediction of Welsh runaway victory; after all this is the Six Nations and anything can happen. However, it was a cracker of a game and good on England for proving their critics wrong.
As with any sport and any team, you have your highs and lows and thankfully for me, it’s Wales’ turn. As a Welsh person who has lived in England for over 22 years now, I know only too well how it feels to be on the supporting side of a low Wales against a dominant England and probably on more occasions than I would probably care to remember.
Even so, I have always loved this tournament. In my eyes, there’s nothing to match it in terms of its unpredictability, the excitement, the buzz of a match day morning and the match day rituals, the intensity and the stomach churning nerves of the whistle at the kick off.
This year has the added incentive of those elusive 35 places on a plane to South Africa in the summer for the British and Irish Lions tour. Each week, the media and rugby forums thrash out the predictions of those test places based on the performances in the recent round of the Six Nations games. Sport just doesn’t get better than this.
The popularity of this tournament means the areas of Cardiff, London (Twickenham), Edinburgh and Dublin are rammed with visitors for just the match day itself or more often than not by those wanting to make a weekend of the whole thing; the rugby, the pubs, the eating out , the whole shebang. A welcomed injection of cash into the local economy!
You will now rightly be wondering where the Spareground part is going to feature in this and I would hate to disappoint so here it is.
Resources for car parking and also for accommodation can be listed on the Spareground site.
Regardless of whether you have a driveway for one space outside your house, a garage, or you own office premises with parking for a few to several cars, list them free of charge to rent on Spareground. It’s entirely up to you what you charge, but a reasonable day fee will see your offers taken up by those who can’t afford the extortionate prices of many ‘official’ car parks.
The story is the same for accommodation, if you have any rooms available in your house, a flat you can rent for short periods, or you own a small B&B or hotel, list it on the website. (If you do rent out your own property, make sure you are covered in terms of your insurance/mortgage provider).
The Spareground site has no intention of distracting business away from anyone, only to provide alternative arrangements which may better suit the budgets of potential visitors.
The next time you are on your way to the rugby, have a look on Spareground and see if there are cheaper (and closer!) parking or accommodation options available. You can also create listings asking for what you want so at no cost, why not give it a go.
http://www.spareground.com/
Until next time…
Friday, 13 February 2009
Opening remarks
Friday 13th February 2009
Probably unlucky for some but it's the first day of my blogging career!
My initial aim is to operate this blog in conjunction with the website
http://www.spareground.com/
This website is one of the new kids on the block and one which will no doubt be of benefit to the majority of people at some stage in their lives.
It operates on a very simple philosophy; using the space we already have here in the UK.
Who knows, later down the line the same approach could be implemented in any country.
All of us at some point have wondered; where can we park near that venue? is there somewhere to store my motorbike over the winter? anyplace to store a caravan? is there available accommodation near that tournament? can I find vegetable growing space in the middle of the city?
The Spareground website wants to address this and become the website people use to find the space they are looking for. The site is in five categories; property, parking, storage, land and 'other'. (We have the 'other' option available as we dont want this site to be constrained. There will no doubt be other space uses which we may not even have thought of as yet).
On top of all this, it's nice to have a blog! I have always envied those who profess to having one and now here I am joining up in the hope of writing some of my remarks on Spareground and it's progress (no doubt interjected with my hilarious anecdotes and opinions on life in all it's splendour!),
Probably unlucky for some but it's the first day of my blogging career!
My initial aim is to operate this blog in conjunction with the website
http://www.spareground.com/
This website is one of the new kids on the block and one which will no doubt be of benefit to the majority of people at some stage in their lives.
It operates on a very simple philosophy; using the space we already have here in the UK.
Who knows, later down the line the same approach could be implemented in any country.
All of us at some point have wondered; where can we park near that venue? is there somewhere to store my motorbike over the winter? anyplace to store a caravan? is there available accommodation near that tournament? can I find vegetable growing space in the middle of the city?
The Spareground website wants to address this and become the website people use to find the space they are looking for. The site is in five categories; property, parking, storage, land and 'other'. (We have the 'other' option available as we dont want this site to be constrained. There will no doubt be other space uses which we may not even have thought of as yet).
On top of all this, it's nice to have a blog! I have always envied those who profess to having one and now here I am joining up in the hope of writing some of my remarks on Spareground and it's progress (no doubt interjected with my hilarious anecdotes and opinions on life in all it's splendour!),
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