What do our online retreats look like?
As well as daily input, retreatants will have the opportunity to join in with our daily offices, so that the ongoing prayer rhythms can hold the space for us to be transformed through our encounters with God. And we also have twice-daily ‘kettle on’ spaces, hosted by members of our Welcome and Hospitality team, as valuable ‘places of informal connection’ for those who would like to join in.
Retreat materials will be made available from retreat-specific landing pages and include downloads of key documents, video and audio links.
Unless otherwise noted, these retreats are run on a UK timezone (GMT – standard time or BST – daylight saving time). Generally, they begin at 7:30pm on Monday or Friday evening and end by 7:00pm on Thursday or Sunday evening.
3. Led Retreats
We are pleased to also offer retreats that link to who we are as Northumbria Community. These will include an introduction on the first evening, daily input and the opportunity to join in with the monastic rhythms of the day.
A *suggested donation would be £120 – £150 for a weekend. If you are a UK tax payer, please do consider gift-aiding your donation.
About *suggested donations
As a registered charity, The Northumbria Community Trust does not ask for a set fee to cover the cost of a retreat. Instead, we invite donations to support the life and work of the wider Community as a whole.
Many retreatants welcome a suggestion as to what might be an appropriate donation. This is always a difficult question to answer. However, for your guidance, the suggested donation is indicated against each retreat in the programme. We ask that you make as generous a donation as is possible without risking hardship. Through the work of the Community, the generosity of those who can afford more will benefit those who have less. As the weekly and monthly costs of running the Community are substantial, we would greatly value your integrity and generosity in this regard.
Regarding cancellations: One of the advantages of online retreats is that you can book in and out very easily and of course we recognise that emergencies happen and often there is nothing you can do about having to cancel your retreat at the last minute. But we would like to suggest that – if you cancel less than a week ahead of time for a non-emergency reason – you consider making a donation to the Community in appreciation and solidarity. We will have put time and energy into making the retreat happen and may also have said to others that it was fully booked. We will have included you in our prayers and plans for the retreat and hope that you would also stand with us in prayer for it. We are together on the journey and thank you for your support of us as we provide spaces and resources for you!
Details of how to make a donation, or ways to give to the Northumbria Community on a more regular basis, can be found by clicking on the button below. If you are a UK taxpayer, we would be grateful if you considered ‘gift aiding’ your donation. You can find a gift aid form via the link below.
What happens after you have completed the booking form?
You should receive an acknowledgement of your booking within a few days, which will also indicate whether or not there is a place available. We would ask that you also leave a small ‘holding deposit’ at that time. Should you need to clarify a ‘holding deposit’ made previously, in relation to a retreat at Nether Springs that was cancelled, please contact the Northumbria Community office directly either by email: office@northumbriacommunity.org or by ringing us on: 01670 787645 during office hours (Monday to Friday 9.00 -3.30pm)
Once your booking has been acknowledged, about a week before the retreat starts, you will receive further details, which will include a link to a special landing page for your retreat. This will contain all of the information that you will need, including a programme outline and – e.g. a link to our daily prayer room.