Recommended Suppliers
These organisations and companies are recommended by ministers who have personal experience of their services. IMA Members may contact the IMA Coordinator with their recommendations for additional suppliers to be included here.
Personal and small group retreat facilities
The Bield at Blackruthven, Perth
Excellent individual and small group dedicated retreat house near Perth; can accommodate up to 18 people in 9 rooms; very well resourced and inexpensive.
Newbold House, Forres, Scotland
Victorian house and community offering accommodation for up to 22 people at very reasonable prices; associated with the Findhorn Community, but independently run.
Haybergill Centre, Appleby, Cumbria
Residential retreat and training centre for up to 30 people in attractive surroundings
Rydal Hall, Ambleside, Cumbria
A diocesan retreat, conference and holiday centre in the heart of the Lake District with 30 bedrooms, camping, a bunk house and extensive facilities.
Monastery of St Francis, Cumbria
A small and friendly 'home from home' for individuals on short stays.
The Abbey, Sutton Courteny, Oxfordshire
Spiritual community offering accommodation, retreat and conference facilities; 19 beds in 13 bedrooms.
Florence House, Seaford, East Sussex
Peaceful and attractive accommodation for retreats and training, accommodating up to 30 people.
The Friars, Aylesford, Kent
An ancient Carmelite religious house offering a place for prayer, retreat and gatherings; includes an 80-bedroomed guest house accommodating up to 100 people.
Tabor Retreat House, Preston
A small ecumenical retreat house open to anyone; 4 rooms with beautiful prayer spaces.
The Asha Centre, Gloucestershire
Retreat & conference centre in the Forest of Dean
Bonhays, Devon
Beautiful small group retreat centre, run by two interfaith ministers
The Sacred Space Foundation
A charity with interfaith ministers as spiritual directors offering secluded and one-to-one and small group facilities within the Lake District National Park.
Vestment and stole suppliers
Yvonne Bell
Extensive range of personalised vestments and stoles, made to order.
Sandy MacCaw
Stole maker who has created many stoles for interfaith ministers. Tel: 020 7736 5803
Croft Design
Vestment makers in Shropshire who can make customised designs and used by several ministers. Tel: 01952 727632
Jacquie Binns
Stole maker in London, makes customised designs; tel: 020 8874 0895
Devotion
Carolyn Cowan makes linen dresses which would be excellent for ordination robes. tel. 020 7701 9269
Louise Cameron
Tel: 01463 792799 - e-mail: rowancrafts@freeuk.com
Amanda Reynolds
A superb seamstress/stolemaker in the Lake District - tel: 07545 375721
Stole bags
Shona Warwick, based in Leamington Spa, makes bespoke handmade bags to house ceremonial stoles. For further information contact Shona at: shona.warwick@talktalk.net or call 01926 881658.
Shona comes highly recommended by Becky Jones, Mel Sopp and Brendan Johnson from the class of 2011.
Ministers Manual folders
A brilliant solution to the problem of finding a suitable folder for Ministers Manuals. Highly recommended by the Class of 2011! These beautiful binders come in a range of colours and sizes from A5 to A3, portrait and landscape. A sprung metal spine holds the contents tightly and a 25mm binder holds about 120 pages of standard copier weight (70gsm). They present beautifully, giving the immediate impression of a bound publication, and are so easy to add and remove pages to/from. The binders are hand-made by a small family firm in Warwickshire, who are delighted to know the use that the class of 2011 have put their work to - a wealth of Ministers' Manuals. All coverings are man-made, with various textures. Suitable for any portfolio or use and re-use for ceremonies, they are warmly recommended. There is a minimum order of 10, so they may need to be purchased as a consortium, but individual binders may be ordered after the initial 10. For further information visit: www.springbackbindersdirect.com
Design your own hand-embossed copper cover for your ministers manual. Visit Will Dunlop at: www.phoenixcopperart.com.
Candle and card suppliers
White Rose Candle Workshop
High quality candles both scented and non-scented in many colours. Mail order is available.
Quidenham Cards
Very reasonably priced notecards and prayer cards to send to clients. Produced by the nuns at a Carmelite Monastery in Norfolk.
For beautiful handmade and painted curios produced by Rev Amanda Taylor-Carpenter.
Lyn Candles
These are the beautiful round candles that we use at our ordination ceremony. Mail order is available. lyncandles@btopenworld.com
Singers/Musicians
Jo Chedgey
Singer / Musician. Tel: 01273 565830
Robert Norton
Musician/Piano Player
Rev Natasha Hood
New song-learning resource CD now available - ‘Singing the Cycle of our Lives’ has been created by Rev Natasha Hood, with Interfaith Ministers and Celebrants specifically in mind. The 45 songs and chants on this double CD collection honour and celebrate key life events and transitions, including birth, marriage and death.
Cost: £16 plus p&p. To order your copy, please go to www.enthos.org.ukand click on ‘shop’.
www.sacredsongs.net. A great range of books and CDs by Barbara Swetina - a useful minister’s resource. For those who attended Convocation 2011 at Findhorn, you may remember the peace mandala – this was Barbara’s creation!
Professional insurance
IMA insurance with Balens
Valid for ministers in the UK and selected European countries. Can be extended to include various other therapies and treatments.
IPTI
Independent Professional Therapists International is used by some ministers at it includes various other therapies, as well as interfaith ministry.
ABMP
Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals covers some ministers in the USA.
Relevant courses and training
Marketing with Heart
A one day workshop designed to teach therapists how to market a holistic business effectively.
The Naked Voice
Chloe Goodchild does singing workshops, etc.
Prayer facilities
Quiet Rooms
Minister Helen Sanderson designs quiet rooms and prayer rooms for corporate and healthcare settings.
