The Edward Carpenter Community |
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The Edward Carpenter Community BM ECC London WC1N 3XX |
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Open Spirituality WHO WE ARE We are a group of gay men committed to principles of caring, trusting, personal growth, sharing, and creativity aimed at nurturing 'community' as an alternative to the commercial scene. We are open to all men who identify as gay and we particularly encourage and support disabled, black, older and younger men to become involved in our events WHAT WE DO We organise Gay Men's Weeks and shorter events each year at venues across the country. We go to Laurieston Hall in South West Scotland several times a year as well as Youth Hostels in the Lake District and centres elsewhere. Each venue is chose for its location and atmosphere and while we are there becomes our 'safe space' within which we can grow together as a community. Depending on the venue and the nature of the event there will be between around 25 to 60 participants. Food is vegetarian, plentiful and of high quality and sleeping accommodation is in shared rooms. Each year some of our events are 'themed' around aspects of spirituality, for instance, creative arts, or the outdoors, but others are less structured. Each event is different because it depends on what the participants bring to it. Any one can run a workshop or share skills, such as massage, dancing, singing or painting. People play games, sit up late gossiping, get up early to jog or swim or do yoga or meditate, make new friends, talk seriously, sunbathe, read or go for long walks. For each event there is a small organising group and all participants are offered the opportunity to join a small 'Base Group' which meets daily offering support and friendship, especially helpful for those who are new to ECC. In addition to our events we have a quarterly journal, 'Over the Rainbow', which keeps members in touch with what is happening in the community. There are regular 'Heart Circles' in London; we encourage members to form local groups and individual members may organise walks, post-Pride picnics and other events. 2006 PROGRAMMEMME
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST For most events we operate a sliding scale of charges related to your income. Bursaries are available for those on very low income. In 2005 for the first time we ran one event asking participants to pay what they could afford bearing in mind the break even cost and we are repeating this in 2006. No one should be deterred from coming to an event because of the cost. HOW TO JOIN US Any gay man who agrees with our principles and intentions is welcome to join. You will find these with further details of our 2006 programme and a booking form, at our website www.edwardcarpentercommunity.org.uk Alternatively telephone 0870 321 5121, email info@edwardcarpentercommunity.org.uk or write to The Edward Carpenter Community, BM ECC London WC1N 3XX for our 2006 events booklet and more details about us |
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