While at Launde Abbey for an inter-school twinning project pupils from Cossington and St John the Baptist Primary schools helped to plant the first of the new trees to complete the renovation of the Ha-ha in front of Launde Abbey.

Paid for by money from the Heritage Lottery Fund and an Environmental Shire Grant from Leicestershire County Council, the Ha-ha is a garden feature. It is a trench around the garden, the inner side of which is vertical and faced with stone with the outer face sloped and turfed, making in effect, a sunken fence or retaining wall. The Ha-ha is designed to be invisible, until seen from close by, and to keep livestock out of the garden without interrupting the view.

With the Save Launde Abbey campaign closing in on its target of raising £1million the Abbey hopes to be able to continue making its facilities available to schools. By helping with costs and organisation Launde Abbey have encouraged schools to make use of the facilities as a neutral venue for children from different social backgrounds to meet and discover that they have many things in common. This social interaction and helping to develop an understanding of the world around them is one of the educational elements of the Abbeys future plans.

On a visit to see the beginning of the renovation work at Launde Abbey, the Chairman of Leicestershire County Council, Roger Wilson, re-iterated his commitment to helping the Save Launde Abbey Campaign to achieve its target of £1million.

Speaking at the Abbey the Chairman said, “The generous support given to Launde from individuals and businesses from the county has been excellent, and I want to do my bit to help the team here raise the £100,000 still needed to ensure the project is fully completed.

The charity collection at this years Chairman's Christmas Concert will go to Launde as will the proceeds from a Charity Dinner I am hosting at County Hall on 29th January.”

Featuring schoolchildren from across the County the Chairman's Christmas Concert will be held at De Montfort Hall, Leicester, on Tuesday 8th December. Details of the Charity dinner and tickets at only £50 each (to include drinks reception, wines and complimentary bar) are available from the Chairman's Office Tel. 0116 305 6061 or email chairman@leics.gov.uk.

The peace and tranquillity of Launde Abbey was the backdrop to the successful launch of a twinning project for primary school pupils from Saint John the Baptist (Clarendon Park) Leicester and All Saints Wigston Magna. 

Launde Abbey invited the two schools, who service communities from widely different social backgrounds as a part of their work to educate and nurture young people.  This project emphasises why it is so important to continue the fundraising campaign for the redevelopment of Launde which still needs a further £125,000 to complete the work. 

Andrew Marshall and Mary Lawson, Head Teachers at St Johns and All Saints respectively are both enthusiastic in their praise of Launde Abbey.

Andrew Marshall said, "The children enjoyed it so much, they didn't want to leave. It was a great learning experience for them with the history of the buildings, the surrounding countryside and the time to meet with another school."

  Mary Lawson is struck by the enthusiasm of the children who went to Launde, "They are all talking and smiling about the trip, the food was excellent the surroundings delightful and the way both groups of children completely integrated was as if they had been friends for years."

The Right Reverend Tim Stevens Bishop of Leicester signed the official contract with W W Brown and Sons for the year long renovation and refurbishment of Launde Abbey.

Pictured with the Bishop, are Ian Neale, Project Manager (left) and Mark Brown of W W Brown and Sons (right).

W W Brown and Sons have experience of working at the Abbey having recently carried out works on the stable block and carefully moved the Oxford and Cambridge Hermitage to its new site.

The building work is due to commence in November, while the fundraising teams are working as hard as ever to make certain the £1 million target is achieved before Christmas.

Launde Abbey has received a prestigious tourism award for the third year in a row.

This year, against a record number of nominations, the Abbey received the Bronze award to add to the Silver and Bronze awards previously gained for the Tourism Experience category of the East Midlands Tourism Enjoy England Excellence Awards.

Considering the uncertainty over the Abbey's future over recent months, we are delighted to know that efforts from the staff at Launde Abbey are still being recognised.

The Abbey are welcoming West End musical theatre star, David Kent this Christmas to host two special Cabaret evenings.

 His show, "One Enchanted Evening" will feature classical numbers from South Pacific, Fiddler on the Roof, Phantom of the Opera, Hairspray and Wicked. He will also include comedy songs and a few festive favourites.

 David has appeared in the West End and several London Cabaret venues. He has spent time at the abbey in the past and is holding the event in aid of the Save Launde Abbey campaign.

 Our musical concerts have proved to be a success in the past, so come join David on the 11th and 12th December for some festive fun!

Tickets are available from the Abbey. Please contact the General Office at Launde on 01572 717254

 The generosity and will of the people to save Launde Abbey has led to the Synod of the Diocese supporting the Abbey's trustees proposal that building work begins while fundraising continues.  Following a two hour meeting at Leicester Cathedral the Synod committed themselves to the project and the continued fundraising effort. This decision has effectively given the fundraising team more time to raise the target amount of £1 million to ensure that the long term future of the retreat is secured. With fundraising events planned the team are working has hard as ever to meet the target before Christmas

 Bishop of Leicester, Tim Stevens and Suffragan Bishop of Brixworth, Frank White (pictured) helped gain further media coverage for the fundraising campaign with their Pilgrimage and prayer over August Bank Holiday weekend. The final campaign began with Bishop Tim Stevens walking from his home, just outside Leicester city centre to Launde Abbey. Bishop Frank White began his walk at St Peter's Church in Belton, Rutland heading for the same destination. At Launde, the Bishops started a cycle of prayer that will last for nine days.

Launde Abbey gave a taste of what it offers by giving the people of Leicester a chance to escape life's turmoil with its "contemplation couch". Placed by the clock tower in the heart of the city, the "spiritual sofa" highlighted the importance of "taking a minute" to gather your thoughts in a place of peace and stillness. The idea was part of the huge fundraising appeal to help save the Abbey. It proved to be a great success, attracting a substantial amount of media coverage and adding to the £1m needed to help save the Abbey.

Warden Tim Blewett was the guest on BBC Radio Leicester's Breakfast Show this morning, where he spoke to presenter Ben Jackson about Launde's recent nomination for an an East Midlands Enjoy England Excellence Award.  

It's the third year running that Launde's been shortlisted for the Tourism Experience Award, after winning the Silver Award in 2007 and the Bronze in 2008.

The Tourism Experience Award recognises the outstanding hotels, historic buildings, festivals and places that are making the East Midlands a popular destination for people from all corners of the UK. Tim is delighted about the nomination:

"Being in the running for the Enjoy England Excellence award is great news. It affirms that Launde can consistently deliver a fantastic level of service and hospitality to its visitors. The Abbey is very special for many people; a place of peace and tranquility where guests can feel cared for, where they are valued, supported, listened to, and where they can enjoy the beatiful surroundings, put their feet up and spend time time thinking about where they are in themselves. The nomination confirms yet again that we have something to be proud of in Launde Abbey."

Warden Tim Blewett will be live on BBC Radio Leicester on Wednesday 15th July. He will be speaking to Breakfast Show presenter Ben Jackson about the Abbey's nomination for an East Midlands Enjoy England Excellence Award...an accolade Launde's been nominated to win for the third year running!

Listen to Tim live from 8.15am 105.4FM.

Launde's Warden Tim Blewett recently undertook an epic feat to raise funds for the Save Launde Abbey appeal and put himself through a fitness endurance challenge by walking 101 miles in 24 hours!

He followed the Leicestershire Round route - starting off from Launde, heading towards Market Harborough, up to Market Bosworth and then around to Melton Mowbray.

After setting off in the mid afternoon, he powered on through the night to finish the long walk the next afternoon.

Well done Tim!

Thanks must go to three vicars, all regular visitors to the Abbey, who undertook an epic 100 mile bike ride from Westminster Abbey to Launde and raised £8,000 for our campaign.

The Leicester Mercury featured news of this journey, with a quote from one of the cyclists, Rev Paul Bryer, from Dorking, who said:

"It was very tough but worth it in the end to raise the money for this fantastic venue."

Leicestershire and Rutland Life ran a 4 page feature on the Save Launde Abbey campaign in its June issue.

ITV interviewing the Bishop of Leicester outside Launde Abbey.

ITV came to interview both the Bishop of Leicester, Tim Stevens, and the Warden of Launde, Tim Blewett, about the campaign to save the Abbey. The film will be aired in the next couple of weeks, so look out for a feature on Launde Abbey on ITV Central News.

Three intrepid vicars used pedal power to make the 100 mile journey from Westminster Abbey to Launde Abbey in one day to help raise money for our campaign.

On June 10th the cycling trio Rev. Paul Bryer, Rev Jeremey Follet and Rev Steve Silvester made the epic journey from London to Launde encouraged by Rev. Chris Bull who was on hand in a support vehicle in case of untoward disaster!

Rev Paul Bryer Vicar of St Paul's Dorking commented "Over the past 18 years we have met together at Launde on over 50 occasions and have all come to love the Abbey as a place of solace and refreshment. We wanted to do our bit to help to secure Launde  for future generations so I came up with the idea of cycling there for our next retreat!'

The three have been sponsored to the order of £8,000 between them.

Countryside Lavie magazine published news about our work in its latest issue - urging people to support the Save Launde Abbey campaign.

Thank you to all the people who have given money to the campaign so far. We now have more than £200,000!

BBC Leicester's breakfast show presenter, Ben Jackson, visited the Abbey to talk to the Warden Tim Blewett. Listen to the interview, broadcast on BBC Radio Leicester.

The BBC visited Launde on 21/05/09 to find out more about the Save Launde Abbey campaign - why the retreat is so valued, its important role in the region, and what kind of work the building needs to have completed in order to stay open. Three separate films were broadcast on the East Midlands Today programme on the lunchtime, 6.30pm and 10.25pm news bulletins, featuring the Bishop of Leicester and Launde Abbey's Warden, Tim Blewett.

Thanks to Reform magazine, the word about our Save Launde Abbey appeal is reaching even more people.

Religious Intelligence is another news site to cover our story.

Read the full article about our Save Launde Abbey project on the Telegraph website.

Our appeal is a top story on Christian Today.

Read the article in the Rutland Times about Launde Abbey's race to raise £1million in the next four months.

Bishop Tim's weekly column in the Mercury featured the Save Launde Abbey appeal, in which he described the retreat centre as a '"spiritual spa" taking care of the mind and the soul.

Read the full article on the Leicester Mercury site.

Read the online article in the Leicester Mercury here.

See the article about the Save Launde Abbey appeal on the BBC news site.

The importance of the Save Launde Abbey Appeal became clear as the April edition of the Church Times stopped the press to squeeze a small, but extremely important article into its columns. The message simply reads

'Seeking Support: health and safety regulations mean that the retreat house Launde Abbey, in Leicestershire, need to raise £1 million by the end of September for renovation work.'

Thank you Church Times. 

A spiritual retreat in Leicestershire

Why not head to an abbey and try a spiritual spa or a spot of 'internal tourism' - it is Holy Week after all.

Somehow I got it into my head that this was going to be a silent retreat, with not a syllable spoken: - a potential challenge for interviews. A whole new world of Marcel Marceau journalism seemed to loom ahead.

In the event it was silent (for some of us) only during meals at Launde Abbey, the Leicestershire retreat centre near Melton Mowbray. Almost hidden in a landscaped park, it lurks down twisting, hawthorn-hedged lanes that become narrower by the half-mile. Sheep graze in the park, geese bustle around the ponds; the only noise is birdsong. Idyllic? Absolutely.

READ FULL TIMES ARTICLE