ammerdown

Jacobean Crewelwork, Traditional Hand Embroidery

Led by: Clare Clensy

Clare Clensy trained on a three year apprenticeship at the Royal School of Needlework and has been teaching hand embroidery for more than fifteen years, gaining much experience and a wealth of...

Sensing God Through Creativity

Led by: Revd Anna Garvie

Using creative skills can be an adult way of playing as children play - a way of relaxing, being refreshed and renewed, learning about ourselves and finding out things we didn’t know, maybe...

Living Theology - I was a stranger

The Ammerdown Centre is delighted to welcome again this Living Theology weekend event on the theme of ‘I was a stranger’ – a topic very much at the heart of Ammerdown’s...

A Mindfulness Meditation Retreat

Led by: Hilary Armstrong

Let’s reclaim the truly human! Free yourself from being a data-set, a social media presence, a consumer or a technology-driven multi-tasker. This retreat offers a foundation for your own...

Individually Guided Retreat

Led by: Sr Felicity Young

This Individually Guided Retreat offers the opportunity for up to five people to spend several days in silence with Sr Felicity Young, an experienced Spiritual Director who will guide them in their...

Jane Austen Study Week - Sense and Sensibility

Led by: Hazel Jones

Jane Austen once again features in Ammerdown’s programme thanks to Jane Austen’s devotee Hazel Jones. This year, Hazel will lead an in-depth study on Jane Austen’s novel...

Simplicity

Led by: Jennifer Kavanagh

This weekend course by Jennifer Kavanagh will explore what a simple life is, and how we can lead one. At heart, simplicity is a focus on what matters most. Reducing clutter, whether in material...

Watercolour Drawing and Painting

Led by: Dawn Oliver

Artist and tutor Dawn Oliver has already led two ‘Drawing and Painting’ courses at Ammerdown and received superb feedback each time. This is due in no small part to her fun approach to...

Bobbin Lacemaking Summer School

Led by: Pompi Parry

This Summer School offers a rare opportunity for a time of total lace making indulgence in which like-minded students come together to extend their bobbin lace skills and knowledge in a relaxed but...

Brusho Techniques - Creative Vibrant Images

Led by: Jean Lee

Brusho is a unique water-based paint medium which helps create visually stunning artwork. Because it is loose and expressive, it is much easier and faster to learn to paint with Brusho than...

Thomas Hardy's Heroines

Led by: Joan Wiles

Specialist Hardy tutor Joan Wiles has always been fascinated by Thomas Hardy’s evident passion for the ‘fair sex’. She writes: “Hardy’s female characters are invariably...

Inner Path, Outer Journey

Led by: Ian and Gail Adams

“One of the most striking, original and fresh voices in contemporary Christian spirituality” (a reviewer commenting on Gail and Ian Adams’s work) Ian and Gail Adams co-founded and...

Self Awareness and Personal Enlightenment

Led by: Mike George

Best-selling author and spiritual teacher Mike George has become a regular retreat leader at Ammerdown. His aim is to help every person who journeys with him to discern a deeper sense of meaning and...

Tikkun Olam- ('Mending the World' in Hebrew) - Called to be a prophet

Led by: Sr Maureena Fritz

Sr Maureena Fritz, from the Bat Kol Institute in Jerusalem, is rated by our guests as an exceptional teacher and retreat leader, who has the rare gift of bringing the Word of God to life and making...

‘The Prayer of the Heart' – An introduction to the ancient method of contemplation known as the Hesychastic Way’

Led by: Sr Monica Butler

The Hesychastic Way is a tradition practised by the Desert Fathers and is deeply rooted in Biblical tradition. According to these early Christians the effectiveness of this method is not so much...

Sacred Circle Dance - Breath of Life

Led by: Judy Harvey

As the name suggests, the form of the dance is a circle. This is in fact the oldest form of dance on earth - an ancient tradition common to many cultures for marking special occasions and the...

Finding Fulfilment - Centering Prayer, the Law of Three and Alexander Technique

Led by: Gill and Antonio Benet and Jacqueline Evans

This unique experience, described as “marvellous and inspiring” by a past participant, will offer an opportunity to see the complementary nature of the relationship between mind, body and...

John Main, Desert Father and Celtic Monk

Led by: Stefan Reynolds

One of the greatest challenges that Christianity faces today is the practical rediscovery of its age-old traditions of prayer and contemplation, and one of the principle attempts to do this in recent...

Ammerdown Breaks 2017

Led by: Revd Anna Garvie

This week is especially designed for senior citizens looking for a break in lovely surroundings and good company. Great care is taken to devise a programme that offers something for everyone: a...

Polymer Clay: Millefiori Buttons and Beads

Led by: Sally Boehme

Sally Boehme has been working with beads for almost thirty years, and has been teaching beadwork and polymer clay techniques since 2009 across the country. Polymer clay is a material available in a...

Chinese Brush Painting

Led by: Maggie Cross

This week is one of two longer courses which our expert Chinese painter Maggie Cross is leading at Ammerdown this year. During the week, suitable for all abilities, Maggie will demonstrate the...

Make Your Own SIlver Jewellery 2017

Led by: Pauline Payne

Pauline Payne is a freelance designer jeweller who studied at Portsmouth College of Art and Design and who has gained a number of prestigious awards for her work. She has also been a popular tutor...

Living Free - A Weekend Guided Retreat

Led by: Libby Dobson & Sarah Chabowska

He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. (Psalm 18:19) This weekend will be a chance to reflect on ways in which we can move into greater freedom in our...

Developing the Sensitive Within - Learning to trust your inner knowing

Led by: Sue Brayne

We all possess the ability to be become a Sensitive. It's about connecting to our innate sixth sense - the part of us that ‘just knows’. Since Neanderthal times, this inner knowing or...

Learning to be at Home Part One and Part Two

Led by: Sr Monica Butler

Given the popularity of this retreat last year, we are delighted to be able to repeat it again in 2017. The full retreat is offered over two separate weekends (Part two will be held on 20 to 22...

Calligraphy for Beginners and Improvers

Led by: Josie Brown

This very popular course is led by expert tutor Josie Brown whose teaching abilities have been described as “beyond the excellent!” by one of our guests. Josie has been a professional...

Understanding Islam 2017

Led by: Dr Chris Hewer

 Dr Chris Hewer has been leading courses on Understanding Islam at Ammerdown since 2011.  His courses have, until now, always taken place over three intensive days of teaching to help those...

Hand Embroidery - Landscapes

Led by: Clare Clensy

Clare Clensy trained on a three year apprenticeship at the Royal School of Needlework and has been teaching hand embroidery for more than fifteen years, gaining valuable experience and a wealth of...

The Happiness Journey

Led by: Andy Parnham

It is a given: everyone wants to be happy. But… what exactly is happiness, and what enables us to grow in it? Is happiness really what we should aim for, or does it come as a by-product of...

Making Your Own Stained Glass Window

Led by: Sarah Finch

Teaching people of all abilities, including complete beginners, how to make a stained glass window and ensuring that everyone leaves with a hand-made masterpiece of their own design is undoubtedly a...

Life Coaching - How to live life to the full

Led by: Sue Glanville

Life-Coaching is a process of transformation. It is about choosing to live life positively, to live life to the full – which in turn means being prepared to envision and embrace change. To get...

Making Friends with the Bible

Led by: John Bell

How does one introduce John Bell? A spiritual leader, a preacher, a music-maker, a broadcaster? Yes, he is all this, but he is also so much more, as those who have taken part in one of John’s...

Enneagram - 2017

Led by: Karen Webb

The Enneagram is an ancient, extraordinarily accurate, model of human personality and spirit. Describing nine personality types and their interactions, it enables us to look deeply into our own...

Advent Retreat with Daniel O'Leary 2017

Led by: Fr Daniel O'Leary

Fr Daniel O’Leary is one of our best loved and most enlightened retreat leaders. Those who have had the privilege to hear him at Ammerdown have used words such as “Simply...

Ammerdown Christmas Houseparty 2017

Led by: Ammerdown Team

“Thank you once again for a magical Christmas.” “Christmas at Ammerdown was as wonderful as ever, thanks to the love and dedication of all who helped make it happen – plus the...