£49,000 awarded to soul-nurturing retreat centres

Our Organisation grants, unlike some of our other individual grants, are grants awarded to an organisation or, in some cases, a diocese, where multiple clergy households may benefit from the grant.

Recipients of these grants can take many forms, from activity days for clergy children like Life to the Max and Rock & Water Wild, to care home or sheltered housing residents in Anglican clergy care homes.

We are delighted to have recently given two such grants to retreat centres, enabling and encouraging clergy to prioritise their wellbeing, and carve out the time and space to spiritually and emotionally recharge.

The Sheldon Retreat Centre

The Society of Mary and Martha run the Sheldon Retreat Centre in Devon, a Christian community offering retreats, especially at times of stress, crisis, burnout or breakdown.

Since 2021, Clergy Support Trust has supported the centre with over £250,000 in funding, enabling close to 300 one-to-one support sessions and 200 week-long residential visits.

This year, we have granted £40,000 to support their ongoing mission, to provide a safe space for rest, reflection and recovery, for Anglican clergy and their spouses/partners.

"Sheldon provides a safe space - peace and quiet in beautiful surroundings, with gentle support and solitude, yet not isolated. A womb-like feel, healing and restorative, without having to explain anything."
- An anonymous guest

St Beuno's Jesuit Spirituality Centre

We have also granted £9,000 to St Beuno’s, a retreat house and spirituality centre, providing a range of courses to restore and reinvigorate clergy who so often burn the candle at both ends.

Taking this time for introspection and recuperation can include their individual Retreats, guided by spiritual directors, or Themed Retreats, exploring topics like art, walking or mindfulness.

For those who would benefit from a more in-depth retreat experience, St. Ignatius’s Spiritual Exercises are silent retreats, either in a single 30-day period or split in two (10 days, and then 15 days).

Find out more about our Organisation grants

St Beuno's Jesuit Spirituality Centre. A courtyard with a water fountain, and a stone footpath circling a square lawn. Old cottages surround the courtyard on all sides. In the distance is a bright and vibrant woodland.

“Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Come away by yourselves to a quiet place and rest a while’ (Mark 6:31). We are deeply grateful to Clergy Support Trust for this generous grant, which will help Anglican clergy find at St Beuno’s a place of rest, prayer and renewal.”
“Those who spend their lives caring for others also need time and space to be nourished by God’s grace, and this support will enable many more clergy to step back, reflect and return to their ministry refreshed.”

John Green
Fundraising Manager, St Beuno's

More news from the Trust

Theological college to subsidise in-house clergy retreats

Our friends at Sarum College, a theological education institution in Salisbury, are offering opportunities for clergy and ordinands to access much-needed respite.

Blog: Where prayer, learning and argument meet

Professor James Woodward reflects on his time as Principal of Sarum College, a theological college, and the challenges that new ordinands and curates face today.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

Photo credit: Clergy Support Trust, Canva, The Sheldon Retreat Centre, St Beuno's Jesuit Spirituality Centre.

Clergy Support Trust is the largest and oldest charity focussed on the wellbeing of clergy and their families. The Trust, originally founded in 1655, provides confidential help for Anglican clergy and their families across the UK, Ireland, Isle of Man, and Diocese in Europe. The Trust are confidential, independent, inclusive, and impartial, and we support clergy from training through to retirement. In 2025, we supported over 2,900 households with more than 7,000 grants.