It is going to be another good year at Launde as we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the giving of the Abbey as a Retreat House by Cecil and Lillian Coleman. This letter gives me an opportunity not just to talk about the 50th Anniversary, the programme and the re-development work but also to thank you for your support for Launde — Launde is there for you, to be your home, your sacred space of prayer, peace, tranquility and encounter. You have helped to create that space by coming to Launde and for that I am thankful.
Over the last fifty years Launde has become important not only to the life of the Diocese of Leicester but also regionally and nationally. It has become known as a place of prayer and stillness for many tens of thousands of people who have come here. The effect that Launde has had upon them has then rippled out far beyond those individuals. It should always be remembered that Launde is there for everyone — of faith, no faith and those who are searching. It is there for people of any financial means as the ‘business’ reduces their rate to a price that they can afford. It is thus an important place for retreat and for meeting — as shown by the covenant partnership signed between the Diocese of Leicester, the Diocese of Peterborough and Launde last summer. Our work with the community is also important as we reach out enabling new people to come into this special environment. This includes welcoming groups such as school children and young offenders undertaking community service orders by working in the gardens at Launde.
There is also an exciting list of retreats, from more traditional silent retreats to themed retreats, not to mention the courses and quiet days held at Launde for 2008. There is something for everybody as you will see from the programme. I hope that you enjoy reading the programme.
Launde is a living community, which is a diverse group from those who work and live here, to those who are members of the Friends of Launde Abbey and our wider supporters to our many guests and visitors. It is thus a community which is constantly evolving and which therefore has an ever evolving set of needs both in terms of what Launde provides within its own programme of retreats, courses, conferences and events which I hope we meet each year but also what Launde provides in terms of physical space. It is thus very important to update the buildings and make them fit for that changing purpose.
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| Some of the Launde team who will welcome you! |
The refurbishment of the Stables is now well underway and W. W. Brown and Sons of Market Harborough are confident of meeting their March 2008 deadline. Five new en-suite bedrooms are being created and the Stables as a whole is being refurbished to provide a total of nineteen en-suite bedrooms in this stand alone building. This work is being financed by the Friends of Launde, the Garfield Weston Foundation and grants from Leicestershire County Council and Harborough District Council for which we are very grateful. The Heritage Lottery Fund, through their small awards, with the Hickinbotham Trust, the Leche Trust and the Ken Chamberlain Trust are to fund the restoration of the Ha-Ha and the moving of the Oxford and Cambridge building which will create a new self-catering Hermitage in the late spring — early summer 2008. We are then ready to turn our attention to the restoration and redevelopment of the Main House in 2010. However, if the whole project is to be completed then further fundraising is necessary. The work to the Main House, for which Planning Permission and Listed Building Consent is secured, will deal with legislative pressures from health and safety, food and hygiene and disability access. It will also see work to the services, stonework, windows and roof where necessary carried out where necessary.
I hope that we all enjoy this year of celebrating the gift of Launde fifty years ago by two individuals. I want to thank you for all your support that you have given to Launde in the past, the support that you give in the present and the support you will give in the future. I look forward to welcoming you to Launde — your Retreat House, and your home.