We are building a L'Arche Community in Flintshire because we believe L'Arche creates the best environment in which people with learning disabilities can mature and make a real and significant contribution to society.

Independent living for people with learning disabilities should not mean 'doing everything on your own'. Sometimes the drive to support people towards independence can mean we forget that the most fundamental need of human beings is to belong - to be in relationship with other people. In L'Arche everyone is encouraged and supported to reach their full potential/. Relationships are at the heart of everything we do. The way of life in L'Arche, inspired by Christian values, creates an environment in which peopel of all faiths and none can find their place: a place where the emotional and spiritual lives of people with learning disabilities - often neglected - are celebrated and nurtured: a network of people who put the values of self-directed support into action.

 

L'Arche Communities come in every size and shape. Some people live in shared houses, others in their own houses or flats. Day to day life in a community can be very ordinary; meals need to be prepared; dishes need to be washed; one person may need to be at the gardening project for 9am; another may need some new shoes. However, service provision is only part of who we are and what we do. What makes L'Arche different is the attention we pay to building a network of relationships, a sense of belonging. We do this through sharing meals together, celebrating birthdays and anniversaries together, reflecting together, praying together if we chose to, meeting together in our Communities and as part of an international federation - creating a shared story between people with and without learning disabilities.

Please help us build our dream of a L'Arche Community in Flintshire

We don't know fully what our first project is going to look like. The people with learning disabilities we are already in touch with are suggesting it could be a shared house; it could be a cluster of flats. The detail will be shaped by the people wh o chose it. The project could be in partnership with a Housing Association or we may need to buy a property and develop it ourselves. Whatever the route we take, we can't do it on our own. We need your support. That is why we are asking for help now. We need to raise £150'000 for start up costs.