Ryehill Community Ventures Information
Objective
To enable people (especially but not exclusively those who are unemployed, retired, recovering from health issues or who have moderate learning difficulties and young people) to improve their quality of life through the provision of affordable ventures where they can receive, enjoy and give friendship and practical help within a caring and supportive environment.
Aims
- To demonstrate and share the love of God in practical and inclusive ways by making the resources at Ryehill Farmhouse available to the community locally and further afield.
- To encourage adults to be part of a social and supportive community where all, including the retired, unemployed or those with health or moderate learning difficulties, can work together in a caring, sharing environment.
- To provide a variety of affordable ventures that help people to enjoy rest, relaxation and refreshment (physical, mental and spiritual).
- To support groups that work with young people.
Who are we serving?
TARGET GROUPS
Ryehill Community Ventures will work with:
- Adults who are working, retired or unemployed
- Adults who are recovering from health issues or who have moderate learning difficulties
- Adults who want to volunteer
- Young people enrolled with D of E, a training or work programme and other youth groups.
The ventures we plan to offer
SPECIFIC VENTURES
The list of ventures will take time to develop and is not exhaustive. Over time, other community based ventures may start that will contribute to fulfilling the core aims.
THE HAVEN
This is a self contained, self catering accommodation that will offer short affordable breaks in the country for adults who need rest, relaxation and refreshment.
THE BARN
We provide a woodworking workshop for community use where adults of all ages can together enjoy woodworking as a hobby, receive tuition and where appropriate have training towards gaining a woodworking qualification. In The Barn we provide a rest area where people can relax, socialise and find friendship.
A journey of faith
How did Ryehill Community Ventures start?
In 2010 Paul and Ros sensed that God was asking them to start a community project that would provide opportunities for people to gain refreshment and renewal. Initially the plan was to start up a workshop, using their skills as trained teachers and youth workers to train young people who hadn't succeeded at school. They also wanted to provide a place for retreat. This was just the start of a long journey into the unknown.
At that time Psalm 23 verse 1 seemed especially relevant to the search for a suitable property. This reads "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul."
Paul and Ros say: "Our long search brought us to Ryehill Farmhouse in 2014. This is surrounded by green pastures and the beautiful Coquet river flows nearby - the very picture we were given in 2010".
What they hadn't expected was to have a 6 year project to renovate the house. After moving in they decided that a full restoration was needed so that the resulting accommodation would be both warm and comfortable. This has involved a lot of hard work with Paul and Ros doing nearly all of the work themselves.
The Haven is now complete and available to use, providing affordable holiday accommodation. The start of "The Barn" was delayed when Storm Arwen blew the roof off, but after it was re-roofed, it opened in October 2022.
Ryehill Community Ventures is available to everyone, irrespective of personal belief. Paul and Ros' prayer is that Ryehill Farmhouse will prove to be a haven of peace and refreshment for many people.