St Cuthbert’s Centre: the United Reformed Church on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne

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The Holy Island of Lindisfarne is a very special place and many members of our churches across the country will have visited the island. Hopefully, too, you have visited our St Cuthbert’s Centre in the heart of the village which allows us to provide a mission of contact with all who visit the island. In most years that can be in excess of 100,000 visitors. This mission is currently supported by the URC nationally in the form of the Special Category Ministry provided by the Warden, Revd. Rachel Poolman.

Over the last two summers, first lockdowns and then a programme of building works have restricted our outreach, but we hope that in 2022 we will have the gates and doors open to continue our mission of welcome and engagement to those who visit the island whatever their initial motivation.

If you have visited the Centre before we think you will be impressed by the improvements we have made. For more information have a look at our website (www.holyisland-stcuthbert.org) which has also had a bit of a facelift.

With the building spruced up and much more comfortable for users, we are now looking to improve the garden around the Centre. We are working to create a space which will provide visitors with an opportunity to either simply sit awhile and enjoy the colours, textures, scents and sounds generated by the planting, or perhaps to follow something of the life and journey of Cuthbert through the planting, the pathway, arches, corners and spaces. This could provide the perfect conclusion for anyone completing a pilgrimage following the St Cuthbert’s Way.

To be able to complete this work on the garden we now need to seek support from churches and individuals who value the work at St Cuthbert’s as part of the URC’s mission in this part of the world. We have been fortunate to secure the services of a locally based gardener/landscaper whose past work includes being Head Gardener for the Gertrude Jekyll Garden on the island, so she knows what grows on Holy Island!

Our Treasurer would welcome donations towards the cost of the works in the garden and the ongoing work of the centre. Small donations of just £5 or £10 would pay for a plant, larger donations would pay for a more mature plant or a shrub or towards the costs of preparation or items such as seating. Please send any donations by cheque (payable to StCuthbert’s Holy Island) to Jean Barr at 37 Springfield Park, Alnwick, NE66 2NH – or contact Jean on stcuthbertscentretreasurer@gmail.com or 07762 195516for our bank details. Also, let Jean know by email if you would like to be added to the mailing list for our new newsletter which we aim to send out three times in the year.