Les Hébergeuses Solidaires: giving a stay to a woman with a ribbon

The essentials. Les Hébergeuses Solidaires is a French non-profit association, run by volunteers and free to join, bringing together tourist accommodation providers who each give at least one stay or discount a year to a woman going through cancer. It all started with an Instagram post on 7 October 2024, and the website opened on 25 January 2025. For recipients: three stays a year maximum, only one of them entirely free, unlocked by a solidarity code issued by a partner referrer. For hosts: no membership, no fees, and a gift you choose yourself. This article explains how you join the network, what it commits you to and what it changes in a property.

Who are Les Hébergeuses Solidaires?

A network of accommodation professionals, overwhelmingly women, who set aside part of their availability for those going through cancer. Gîtes, bed and breakfasts, campsites, quirky accommodation, second-home owners: the way in is the same for everyone. It includes independent addresses as well as addresses carrying the Gîtes de France® label.

Maïté, the association's president, sums it up like this:

Les Hébergeuses Solidaires brings together tourist accommodation providers (and a few private individuals) who give, at least once a year, a gift of their choosing to a woman going through cancer, so that she can take a break and switch off from her medicalised daily life. The gift can be free nights, special discounts or extra services, and recipients can go away with whoever they choose (their carers).

The association talks about "women with a ribbon", whatever the colour of the ribbon: all cancers are covered, not just breast cancer. Breast cancer nevertheless remains the leading cancer in women in France, with an estimated 61,214 new cases in 2023 in mainland France and a median age at diagnosis of 64, according to the French National Cancer Institute. In other words, there are women in treatment in your area, and probably in your street.

Where did the initiative come from?

From one woman's own experience, and a night given by a stranger.

It grew out of my own journey with breast cancer, out of the financial hardship, out of realising that a breath of fresh air was worth as much as any treatment, and out of finding nothing of the kind for myself. I opened up my gîtes to women with cancer by posting on social media, Lucile got in touch to say she thought the initiative was wonderful, and she gave me a night. That was the spark! I waited until I had got my head above water before launching the project.

A year after that encounter between Maïté and Lucile, two women running tourist accommodation, the network took shape. What has surprised the president most since then: "how quickly hosts came forward to join us". The general directory of offers, in its September 2026 version, runs to 85 pages and covers 79 French départements.

Who can receive a stay, and how?

The association is aimed at people being treated for cancer in France, in three situations:

• active medical treatment: surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy

• preventive treatment: hormone therapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy

• all treatment finished less than a year ago

The network is called Hébergeuses, yet it welcomes more widely than that. Maïté: "We support women with all types of cancer, in active treatment, but also on preventive treatment for 5 years after diagnosis, and up to a year after treatment ends. And because we have a big heart, we have already approved requests from men and from families with a sick child."

The booking process comes down to three steps, described on the solidarity stays page:

1. make a provisional booking with the accommodation chosen in the directory

2. request a solidarity code from a partner referrer, a healthcare professional or an association

3. pass on that code, single-use and valid for 7 days, to confirm the stay

Three stays a year maximum, only one of them entirely free: the other two involve a financial contribution. Alongside this, the association runs a second scheme, stays for treatment, for patients who have to find accommodation far from home in order to be treated, funded through a partnership with Airbnb.org. France 3 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur counted 121 stays given since January 2026.

What recipients say back to the association speaks volumes about the starting point: "They are very surprised to find us and often find it hard to believe that a stay can be given free of charge."

How to become a solidarity host, and what it commits you to

A membership form to send back, and a moral commitment: to give, at least once a year, a gift reserved for women affected by cancer. No subscription, no commission, no minimum term. Registration runs for a year and renews automatically, and you can leave the network with a simple message, as explained on the page for hosts.

You decide the gift, the valid dates, the number of people and the number of offers in the year. Here is what members of the network are actually offering on the Pink October 2026 list, and what it costs them.

The gift	An example from the Pink October 2026 list	What it really costs you
Free nights	A campsite in the Aude: two nights in a stilted lodge facing the river, up to 4 people	Cleaning and linen, on October dates that rarely sell
A discount	A furnished property in the Côtes-d'Armor: 50% off seven nights, from November to March, linen and cleaning included	Some margin on a winter week that would have stayed empty
An extra service	A furnished property in the Haute-Saône: one free night on a booked stay, plus a jar of honey	Almost nothing when the extra comes from your own place
A meal	A guest house in the Tarn: two host's table dinners given with a two-night stay	Two extra places at the table and two evenings of company

The right-hand column is the real takeaway of this article. Giving requires neither a property standing empty all year nor spare cash: a night in November, a discount on a quiet week, a basket of local produce are enough. It is the same reasoning as the small welcome touches on arrival, applied to someone who needs it, and on dates when filling your place out of season is already quite a feat.

One host in the network pointed out to us that no free night has ever filled a November calendar. Which is rather reassuring about people's motives.

Preparing the stay: what really changes in your property

Nothing spectacular, and that is the first piece of advice. A woman in treatment is not coming to admire a production number, she is coming to sleep, walk a little, do nothing. No welcoming committee, no pink decorations, no questions about the illness if she does not bring it up.

Three practical points matter more than usual. Tiredness first: a check-in that depends on you being there becomes a problem the day treatment shifts everything, and a self check-in settles the question. Information next: codes, wifi, heating, the nearest pharmacy, everything must be written down and accurate.

And finally emergencies: the useful numbers to display are no longer a formality when your guest is undergoing treatment.

The objections you hear

"It's advertising in disguise." The president knows that one by heart: "We have already been told that we do this to advertise our member properties. I am staggered when I hear such nonsense! We do it from the heart. 10% of our hosts have been through cancer themselves, and many of them know, or have lost, people close to them. That is why they give their support." The directory is not a booking engine in any case: it is a PDF list and a map, consulted by women with cancer and by the carers supporting them.

"Legally, it's complicated." That is the obstacle Maïté comes up against most often, from the organisations supposed to pass the information on: "It is sometimes very hard to find the right contact to explain what we do. I am extremely surprised by the 'legal and administrative concerns' regularly raised about a purely charitable initiative."

Pink October, and the other eleven months

Every year the association publishes a dedicated list for Pink October, valid for all cancers and open from September. The 2026 edition brings together around forty offers, from the Ain to the Vienne, with precise dates and direct contact details for each property.

The real issue, though, is not the month of October. Treatment does not stop on 1 November, and geography counts for more than the calendar. Maïté puts it plainly: "above all we need as many generous hosts as possible, spread right across the country, because the illness is everywhere and patients never travel far from home". An offer in the Landes is hardly going to be taken up by a patient being treated in Lille.

Around fifteen mainland départements are still missing from the September 2026 directory. If yours is one of them, your offer will be worth more than ten more in Brittany.

One thing remains that the association rarely asks for: talking about it. A digital welcome book, a page on your website, a post, a poster at the tourist office cost nothing and get the word out to the partner referrers who are missing. Maïté: "Everyone can do a small something that will be a big something for someone who needs it! And you don't necessarily need money to do something good."

Frequently asked questions

Who can receive a stay from Les Hébergeuses Solidaires? Anyone being treated for cancer in France: active treatment, preventive treatment, or treatment finished less than a year ago. The association is aimed first and foremost at women, with all types of cancer, but it has already approved requests from men and from families with a sick child.

Do you have to pay a membership fee to join the network? No. The association is run by volunteers and taking part is free, both for properties and for recipients. The only commitment asked for is a moral one: to give, at least once a year, a gift reserved for women going through cancer, on conditions you set yourself.

Can I offer a discount rather than a free night? Yes, and it is common. Free nights, reductions on a stay, extra services such as cleaning, linen, a meal or spa access: each host chooses her gift, her valid dates and the number of people welcomed.

How many stays can a recipient obtain? Three a year maximum, and only one of them can be entirely free: the other two involve a financial contribution. Each stay is confirmed with a solidarity code issued by a partner referrer, single-use and valid for seven days.

My property is in a city, is that of interest to the association? Yes, all the more so if it is close to a treatment centre. Beyond respite stays, the association is looking for accommodation for patients obliged to be treated far from home, as part of its partnership with Airbnb.org.