Micklepage Trust
" a place of love and laughter, care and courage, hope and happiness"
Since 1939 Micklepage has been a trust property originally started by the Christian Community of St. Hilda and is now a registered charity number 231027 called The Micklepage Trust comprised of a small group of dedicated volunteer trustees, council members, working parties and others all committed to looking after and improving a place with significant historical and spiritual importance.
The original objects of the Micklepage Trust (as set out in the Trust Deed 31.12.39.) were:
1. “The provision of a place of worship and Christian service for those persons for the time being forming the Community of St. Hilda including a residence for the minister in charge.”
2. “The provision of a home of rest and instruction for those in need of renewal in the Christian life.... And for such other charitable purposes as the advisory committee may from time to time approve.”
In the more than sixty years since these aims were drawn up Micklepage has changed. There is no longer a community living and working here. Nevertheless, the underlying ethos remains.
Micklepage aims:
to provide a Christian place where individuals of all ages, gender, race, sexual orientation, ability or disability, faiths (or none) may find rest, recreation and sustenance for the spirit to move forward on life’s journey.
to provide a Christian place for groups to eat, sleep, work, rejuvenate and celebrate together
to provide a Christian place in which people are able to share life as a group in the belief that they thereby become greater than the sum of their individual parts
to encourage people to give their labour to sustain and beautify the buildings and grounds
Micklepage Council
The Micklepage Council is a group of volunteers who support the aims of the Trust by enabling the day-to-day running and maintenance of the Farmhouse, the Barn and the Chapel.
All members of the Council are also Trustees who have undertaken a legal responsibility to the Charity Commission.
The Council meets at Micklepage four times a year (Jan/April/July/Nov.) – members coming from London, East Sussex and Hampshire as well as from the immediate locality. The local members form a Local Management Group within the Council to deal with the day-to-day issues that arise and to ensure that the buildings are ready for their guests.
Members who live farther away take responsibilities such as Bookings, Minutes secretary, Treasurer etc. There is also a Working Party – a group of volunteers who have been supporting Micklepage since visiting during their student days – who carry out regular maintenance tasks, such as creosoting the Barn and the Chapel, as well as improvements to the buildings.
Today Micklepage consists of a farmhouse, barn, barn chapel and grounds that are available to book for community and non-community groups desiring a communal rural space to meet, stay, play, reflect and work.
Since 1938 Micklepage has been a trust property that was originally held in connection with the Christian Community of St. Hilda and in keeping with the original ethos of its founders is now a registered charity, number 231027, managed and maintained by community trustees and council members called The Micklepage Trust.
The Micklepage Trust today carry on the work of the original members of the community who lived, farmed, and taught here. The community was founded to link town and country, with special emphasis on families from cities. This work now continues in a wider context. Groups from different backgrounds come for study, retreat, arts, prayer and away days.
Micklepage operates entirely on a not-for-profit basis where rental income is ploughed back into the properties to maintain and improve them and is solely maintained and managed by a small group of dedicated trustees, council members and other volunteers such as the working parties.
If you would like to know more about how you can support the Trust or if you might be interested in joining either the Council or the Working Party, do please contact us.
Further Information
“The MUD. Welly boots everywhere! The great gatherings at Christmas round the kitchen table, with a joint birthday cake for Jane and me.
Mary Boots serving up delicious food on a wonderful mixture of plates.
The smell of years of ash which had built up in the fireplace; and being allowed to use the bellows. Being scared to go past the cupboard under the stairs; the sound of the wooden door latches and the growing tall enough to operate them. Sister Stella delighting us with her black spider. Mouse droppings!”
Rosemary Hood