Camphill Community Holywood

Camphill Communities

There are over 100 Camphill Communities in 23 countries around the world providing a unique approach to the care of adults and children with special needs. Camphill is the name given to the movement, founded in 1940 and inspired by the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. Camphill Communities promote the practice of high quality care, support, education and work opportunities for all individuals. To this end the Camphill Communities function by providing an inclusive life-sharing community ethos where each individual can develop a secure sense of belonging within a supportive extended-family group setting.

Camphill Communities in Northern Ireland:

• Glencraig (Seahill, nr Holywood) established in 1954
• Mourne Grange (nr Kilkeel) established in 1971
• Clanabogan (nr Omagh) established in 1984
• Holywood established in 1997

Working alongside these four communities is the Camphill Communities Trust (NI), a registered charity established in 1953 and company limited by guarantee. The principal activity of the Trust is the holding of property and other assets for use by the communities in Northern Ireland in supporting people with learning disabilities. The Trust also offers support and advice to the communities in Northern Ireland.

Guiding Vision: “If a person works for another person, he must find in the other the purpose for his own labours: and if someone has to work for a whole community, he has to sense and to experience the value, the being and the meaning of it. This is only possible if the community is something other than a more or less defined sum of single people. Such a community must be permeated by a true spirit in which every one of its members participates. In such a community, each person should say: ‘This community is right and I want it to be so.’ The community must have a spiritual mission, and every individual should have the urge to help so that the mission may be fulfilled.”  From: Anthroposophy and the Social Question by Rudolf Steiner

Camphill Holywood is a registered Not for Profit organisation, limited by guarantee. It is a town-based community comprising:

• A Residential Care Home with accommodation for a total of four adults with special needs and volunteers (co-workers) who life-share, this means living and working together for the well-being of the house community as a whole
• An organic café, bakery and food store based in the centre of Holywood, in which there is training and work experience for residents, people with special needs and co-workers

Camphill Holywood Mission Statement

• To contribute to the creation of opportunities for people with moderate to mild learning disabilities, low care needs and unimpaired mobility, within the overall development of the Camphill Communities of Northern Ireland and throughout the UK and further afield.
• To maintain a person centred approach with appropriate support, care and the provision of a social, therapeutic environment within the context of a Life Sharing community as practised by Camphill Communities worldwide.
• To provide a supportive environment which will facilitate the attainment of a level of independence appropriate to each individual and within which they can work and socialise without fear or undue risk.
• To provide work for, and with, volunteers and people with disabilities in a commercial setting.