Could you become one of Gerpinnes’ first volunteer Greeters?

A Greeter is a volunteer resident who meets an individual visitor or a small private group and introduces the place through personal experience rather than a fixed lecture. Charleroi Métropole Tourisme describes its established Charleroi Greeters as inhabitants who share favourite places, useful addresses, anecdotes and neighbourhoods. Its current encounters are free, available by reservation throughout the year and limited to six participants.

That distinction matters. The International Greeter Association says Greeters are not professional tour guides: the model is closer to exploring with a knowledgeable local friend. Its common principles require encounters to be voluntary, free of charge, inclusive and intended for no more than six visitors. The association says a typical meeting lasts two to three hours and usually takes place on foot or by public transport, although the exact arrangements belong to each local network.

For Gerpinnes, the attraction is the chance to reveal an entity that is more varied than its postal name suggests. The commune’s tourism office highlights the Sainte-Rolende procession, medieval monuments, local produce and green surroundings. Gerpinnes also encompasses several distinct villages and neighbourhoods, each capable of producing a different conversation. A Greeter could therefore focus on lived experience—where residents walk, gather or buy local products—while directing visitors to formal institutions when specialist historical interpretation is required.

The most useful first approach for a potential volunteer is to prepare a short, flexible proposal before contacting the Maison du Tourisme:

1. Choose one or two subjects you genuinely know, such as the Marches of Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse, village architecture, nature walks or everyday life in a particular section of the commune. 2. Identify a realistic walking area and consider accessibility, road safety, public transport and places where a group can pause without disturbing residents. 3. State your availability and every language you can comfortably use in conversation. 4. Ask what induction, insurance, safeguarding rules and booking support the Maison du Tourisme will provide. 5. Confirm that the activity remains a free Greeter encounter and clarify when a request should instead go to a professional guide.

French will naturally be central in this Walloon commune, but additional languages could make the network particularly useful to international residents, cross-border visitors and newcomers who are still learning French. The existing Charleroi Greeter offer lists French, Dutch, English, German and Italian among its visiting languages. That does not prove every language will be available for Gerpinnes, however; matching will depend on who volunteers and when they are free.

An English-speaking resident should therefore not assume that imperfect French makes them unsuitable. Someone who can discuss daily life in English while navigating local French-language names may offer precisely the bridge an international visitor needs. Conversely, volunteers should retain official names—commune rather than gemeente in the local administrative context, and Maison du Tourisme du Pays de Charleroi—while explaining unfamiliar terms. There is no language test mentioned in the published call, but candidates should describe their abilities accurately so visitors can be matched sensibly.

Visitors should also understand that recruitment is not the same as an operational booking system. For the wider Walloon Greeter offer, VISITWallonia advises completing an online request at least ten days before arrival and says meetings are free, personalised and generally limited to six people. Those are useful expectations, but anyone specifically seeking Gerpinnes should check with the Maison du Tourisme whether local bookings have begun and what notice is required.

The broader idea began in New York in 1992 with Big Apple Greeter and later developed into an international network. The International Greeter Association now presents the model as low-impact tourism based on walking, public transport, cultural exchange and small groups. It argues that Greeters can direct attention towards less-visited places and local businesses without commissions or commercial pressure.

In Wallonia, the project also sits inside a formal tourism structure. Tourisme Wallonie explains that maisons du tourisme coordinate promotion across several communes, while local offices provide nearby visitor information and promote municipal attractions. The regional authority says these roles are governed by the Code wallon du Tourisme, whose revised framework entered into force on 1 July 2025. Gerpinnes’ municipal website identifies its tourism office at Rue Edmond Schmidt 1 and says it works with the Maison du Tourisme du Pays de Charleroi to promote the destination.

There is nevertheless a legitimate boundary to protect. Volunteer Greeters offer personal encounters, while qualified guides and heritage professionals provide researched, structured interpretation as paid work. Visitors expecting an authoritative account of archaeology, architecture or protected heritage may be better served by a professional tour. The strongest network would explain that difference clearly rather than present volunteering as a substitute for expertise.

The Maison du Tourisme’s next task is to select volunteers, establish themes and safeguards, and publish a dependable reservation process. The questions still open include how many candidates will be accepted, which villages and languages will be represented, and when the first encounters can be requested. If those practical pieces fall into place, Gerpinnes will gain something modest but valuable: not another standard circuit, but a way for visitors and newcomers to understand the commune through the people who live there.