This message from the Community of Aidan and Hilda UK Caim Council and Trustees was posted on social media this week:
'As we explained in December 2020, like many organisations the income of the Community of Aidan and Hilda has been very seriously damaged by the Covid-19 pandemic. Our bankers require us to take significant action to address this, and so very reluctantly we have had to examine the ongoing financial viability of the Open Gate. With closure a real possibility, it was also necessary to have a consultation process with the staff team, and this process has now taken place.
With great sadness we have come to the final conclusion that there is no financially sustainable way forward other than to make the very painful decision to close and sell the Open Gate.
Please continue to pray for the staff team to find other employment. We are immensely grateful for all they have done and we have put together the most generous redundancy package we can afford to help them over the coming months. We will also be in contact with anyone with an outstanding booking, and we are currently exploring different ways to offer hospitality on Holy Island for those seeking retreat time or visiting as pilgrims.
It has been suggested that we find some way to give thanks for the ministry of the Open Gate over the last two decades and we will look at how to do that. We also feel sure that many of the people who have experienced the hospitality made possible by Kayleah, Jutta, and Robert will want to make a personal gift to them to say thank you. We will let you know soon how to do that.
Thank you for your prayers and messages of support as we have wrestled with this hugely difficult decision and as we continue to seek God’s directing for the Community’s presence on Holy Island.
Simon Reed Geoff Holt
(Chair of Caim Council) (Chair of Trustees)
Testimonials to encounters with God have been coming in. One person concluded: 'One gate has shut. May a hundred gates now open in many lands'.
