Since the end of our grant giving in 2023, we at EF have given a lot of thought to what the future could hold. One touchstone was the great success of the annual events we’d put on.
These mostly centred around presentations and discussions with a little bit of focus on meditation and movement for those who were interested. The beautiful, dynamic atmosphere generated collectively at these events was very much on our minds. At the same time, we’re also aware how full-on many of our lives are, especially when we are giving a lot to try and improve things we feel passionately about in the world. Both considerations led us to thinking a retreat might be the best thing we could possibly offer.
And that is also very much because we are fortunate to have a wealth of experience in both meditation and movement that we can share.
We see, though, a retreat as not only about meditation and movement, but also offering facilitated discussions to explore relevant topics that we wouldn’t normally have the time to go into. And as well as these activities, the time to chill, to contemplate, to just enjoy being together. An environment, too, where previous experience of such events would not at all be a necessity.
We thought particularly of our former grantees of those who might benefit from such an offering. Why? That would be because such an event could offer something fresh and different, a recharging of batteries and perhaps some new horizons of perception. Perceptions, potentially, that can enrich our own lives and the work we do.
We were pleased to see from our survey, there is real interest in this possibility. When asked about possible obstacles the one mentioned most was cost. This is something we’re very much taking on board, as we don’t want anyone to be excluded due to money.
The upshot is, we have booked Charney Manor, a Quaker-run retreat centre in rural Oxfordshire, for the dates Friday April 17 through to Monday 20, 2026. Do save these dates if you’re at all interested. We’re not yet at a point where we can give more precise details, but will keep you posted on this.
