French national Hélène Beaugy came to the UK as part of an Erasmus exchange during her studies for a BA in Language and Cultural Studies at the University of Dijon.
Following a 10-year career in language teaching, whilst completing an MA in French and Spanish at the University of Northumbria, Hélène decided to take the plunge and launch her own business.
Experience Northumbria draws on Helene’s language skills and hobbies and interests, which include running, cycling, walking, horse riding, classical music and films.
“Every year I had friends visiting the North East and afterwards they would rave about the beauty of the region. As they were here during their holidays, we would do a lot of outdoor activities. We always talked about the potential of doing foreign language tours in the region and this has been on the back burner for a couple of years. Now I’m in a position to offer tours in French, Spanish and English, and in German later.” explains Hélène.
Experience Northumbria specialises in groups of 7 participants or smaller that will visit the area either for a long weekend or for up to a week. Helene will organise the complete itinerary, from transport to accommodation in either hotels, bed & breakfasts, cottages or farms, she’ll arrange restaurants or tea room visits, supervise walks, runs or cycle tours and has partners who will deliver other activities such as horse riding, kite-surfing, golfing etc.
Hélène added: “One of the aims is to show the region’s common history with other European countries. French monks, for example, came to the North East to start abbeys or priories and the Blanchland monks became really powerful. A couple of years ago, I was doing a walk arund my grandmother’s village in Auvergne, where the local council had put new signs to explain the heritage of the village to visitors. It turned out that John of Gaunt, once owner of Dunstanburgh castle, had fought (dare I add unsuccesfully?) at the doors of the village, in a conquest expedition to France during the 100-Year War.”
To find out more about Helene’s tours, visit http://www.experiencenorthumbria.co.uk and we will also arrange a special Stammtisch tour to a historic site in the region later in the year.
Hey There Stammtisch,
Thanks for that, I came from China and I will apply for the Master of Project management in Northumbria university. I heard that foreigners(like Chinese) are difficult to get work visa in England. I have 5 yrs experience on project management(electronic industry), especially on financial area. Is it pretty difficult for me to apply job in England after I graduate from Master. What should I do to enhance the chance to get a related job in England?
Thanks for your reply in advance!
BR
April
Nice One!
Dear Tamra
Thank you for your message. Unfortunately I’ve got no experience with regards to work visas for people from China. I would imagine that the careers department at your university can provide you with some guidance and also possibly a recruitment agency that specialises in your industry sector. They can probably tell you what kind of vacancies and trends there are for your profession, where in the UK most job opportunities are and how difficult/easy it would be to obtain a work visa.
I hope you continue to have an enjoyable time in the UK and good luck with your job search.