About L'Arche
Our history
L'Arche was founded in France by Canadian academic Jean Vanier in 1964.
In 1963 he visited an old friend, Father Thomas Philippe, who had become the chaplain of a small institution for men with learning disabilities in Northern France. Encouraged by Father Philippe, Jean began visiting institutions and became so moved by the plight of the people he found there that he invited two of them to come to live with him in a spirit of sharing, welcome and simplicity.
This focus on the freedom to live an ordinary life, as equals with others, underpins the worldwide growth of L'Arche. Jean Vanier, now in his seventies, still lives in the first L'Arche community in northern France but the organisation he began now operates in 31 countries where there are a total of 117 communities.
The first L'Arche community began in the UK in 1974, in Kent, and there are now eight L'Arche Communities in the UK including two in Scotland and one in Wales.
The communities aim to:
- Provide family-sized, real homes where each person has a say and a part to play
- Pursue greater social inclusion for all members within the wider community
- Support people to grow in skills and confidence through work, therapy and education
- Value the whole person as an individual
- Encourage personal development through social relationships
- Enable individual choice in all areas of life, including spiritual growth
- Maintain the highest standards of monitored care for members' physical and emotional health, safety and social welfare
- Work closely with community supporters and partners, including families and external agencies, and be a fully integrated member of their local neighbourhood