Ruth Flockhart

Trustee

I have worked with this charity for just over 20 years, having been invited to join the team here by Joyce Ferne  in 2001.  Having recently retired as the Co-Ordinator of this centre, I am very pleased that my association continues through working as a trustee. I live nearby in our own cottage opposite the Coach House with my husband Mike.

I hope my practical knowledge and experience will be of benefit to the charity at board level, as I feel a strong commitment to help support the work and growth of this charity. As well as being a wife, mother and grandmother, I am a retired Anglican priest, (SEC) with an ongoing ministry of spiritual accompaniment.

I have seen many, many  individuals benefit enormously from having time here. Time to reflect, rest, pray, be quiet, to be renewed in their own sense of worth, well being and purpose. The Coach House and the small team who work here provide an oasis  away from the noisy and frenetic world, so individuals can ‘step aside’ and find their deep centre. 

“The soul speaks its truth only under quiet, inviting, and trustworthy conditions.” ― Parker J. Palmer, Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation

Revd. Peter Dewey

Trustee

Derek McLean

Trustee

My association with the Coach House goes back 25 years. It has become my spiritual reference point and the place I return to for nourishing solitude, to deepen the experience of the spirit in my life, and to join with a prayer community. This has transformed my life. I am passionate about the ethos which welcomes everyone, offering oppportunites for sanctuary and growth in a beautiful setting. I am excited that as a trustee I am able to contribute to the continuing development of the project.

Philippa McCowen

Trustee

I have been involved in the Coach House since its embryonic stage, that is to say, since my mother, Ursula, looked at the derelict building across the road from her cottage and decided that was where her vision of an open retreat centre should materialise.  I am trained in spiritual accompaniment/direction and over two decades ran courses teaching listening skills. I live in a rural location in the Scottish Borders, alone since my partner died five years ago. I have two sons and two small grandchildren in Edinburgh.

Alison Wylie

Trustee

I first heard of the Coach House in the late 1990s when I was a trustee of The Salisbury Centre in Edinburgh and my work was a mixture of complementary therapies, community education and administration/organisation, but my first visit wasn’t until 2016.  Since then, my affection has deepened and I’ve returned as both retreatant and trustee.  Here is my place of safety and serenity, to explore inner and outer landscapes.

 It’s especially important to me that the Coach House is inclusive of all (people and spiritual traditions), partly as my own path is multi-strand, anchored in Quakers, deepened by wisdom from earth-based, Christian and Buddhist practices.  Here I find it easy to harness these elements and more – landscape, soothing surroundings, creativity, peaceful joyful exploration, delicious food, labyrinth and garden.

Here, rest and reflection come easily.

Here, you are welcome

Our Patrons

Janice Dolley

Dr. Iain McGilchrist

Charlie Miller, O.B.E

Margaret Silf

Neill Walker