The Sanctuary

Annual Report 2015

A word from Sr Stan, Founder

The Sanctuary believes in the power of stillness, in a world full of noise. The Sanctuary vision is to be… STILLNESS… in the world….

In the Sanctuary we help people discover the art of being still, that stillness awaits us everywhere. We don’t have to travel from the busyness of the city of the hustle and bustle of daily living. We find it when we are aware and notice for example the petal of a flower, a cloud over the sun, the changing moon, the perfection of a new born baby, the magic of birdsong, the countless wonders of day and night. Stillness is the inner space, that inner Sanctuary in all of us where peace wisdom, truth, clarity and love abides.

Sr Stan

The Board

The Board is responsible for the overall control and strategy direction of the Sanctuary. There are currently eight directors: Paula Duffy (Chairperson), Stephen Gallagher, Dorothy Gray, Stanislaus Kennedy (Founder), Patricia Leahy, Frank McCracken, Mary Murphy and Síle Wall (Company Secretary). Two sub-committees of the Board were established in 2015 – a Development Group and a Governance Group. A commitment to openness and transparency is central to all these operations.

The Sanctuary is a registered charity under The Sanctuary (Stanhope), registration number 13076. Our company registration number is 289733. A copy of our Audited Annual Accounts can be made available upon request.

A word from Paula Duffy, Chairperson

The Sanctuary continues to offer an oasis of peace and a refuge from our frenetic world to its many users. It provides teaching programmes to bring the life enhancing skills of Mindfulness and Stillness beyond its physical boundaries. The Board is privileged to work with Sr. Stan and the dedicated Sanctuary team to help bring The Sanctuary vision to reality. This Report highlights the many programmes and events that took place in 2015.

I encourage you to visit The Sanctuary and experience for yourself its tranquil beauty and benefit from the many inspirational courses and events on offer.

The Board of The Sanctuary would like to thank all of you who visited us, volunteered and worked with us during the year. You each help to make The Sanctuary a special place.

Paula Duffy
“Beautiful, peaceful place with supportive, engaging staff.” ~Katie Thom~participant

Br. Richard Hendrick OFM Cap acted as Advisor with regard to new educational developments

2015 was a hugely busy one for the Sanctuary with almost 10,000 people attending Sanctuary activities and events throughout the year. In order to plan a way forward for the Sanctuary a strategic review took place during the year so as to produce a strategic plan for the period 2016 – 2018. This review was undertaken by Denise Charlton and included the following tasks:

  • Review of existing strategy and relevant documents
  • Discuss parameters of new strategic process
  • Discuss range of stakeholders and agree those to be interviewed
  • Agree Time-frame and key dates

The review was carried out between July and October 2015. A number of methodologies were engaged. (1) Selected files and Sanctuary documents were examined. (2) Interviews with, Staff, Chair of the board, Founders, Facilitators, Key contributors to the Sanctuary, Key opinion formers (potential funders; partners). All stakeholders without exception commented on the Sanctuary as a place of stillness, an oasis in the inner city, which provided excellent courses, training, and opportunities for practice, to a high standard. Many commented how far the Sanctuary had come since its modest origins. Some interviewees commented on the excellent process, and agreed that it was timely to review its future direction, with some excellent foundations to build on.The review documented key observations and led to a strategic plan being adopted by the Board at the end of the year.

Website

The Sanctuary website was redeveloped during the year and divided into core areas of activity:

  • Mindfulness and Meditation
  • Creativity, wellbeing and spirituality
  • Working with young people
  • Yoga and Movement
  • Conferences and Retreats

A Social media strategy was developed by a volunteer and was implemented to promote and strengthen sales so as to make the Sanctuary sustainable. This area of work was monitored and maintained by a Jobsbridge position for nine months to January 2016.

Programmes

Existing:

  • Mindfulness of Self Compassion (8 weeks)
  • Mindfulness Based Compassionate Living (MBCL) course – 8 weeks
  • Mindfulness and parenting
  • Mindfulness and food
  • More once off day events – aimed at people with some experience of mindfulness and providing opportunity to develop their practice
  • Book Club
  • Walking with the Mystics
  • Living with grief mindfully
  • Unmasking the inner critic
  • Exploring life through symbols and imagery
  • Mindfulness and Health

Young People

At the heart of the Sanctuary’s work is its focus on young people.

Over 200 educationalists trained in mindfulness so that they could then bring it to young people through the education system. During the year the Sanctuary’s Warrior Programme was adapted and developed as a teacher training course and will be offered in 2016. Itsfocus is on the practical application of mindfulness and initiation/rites of passage for young people at risk.

“A lovely place as the name suggests -a Sanctuary.”

~ participant~

In October the Sanctuary Board agreed to advertise and employ an executive director with the following mix of skillset:

  • Function that develops the vision of the Sanctuary develops the content, programmes, partnerships for the Sanctuary.
  • Managerial capacity to oversee the day to day running of the Sanctuary
  • Business development – capacity to develop the business element of the Sanctuary and ensure its sustainability in the future.
  • Communications, ability to promote the Sanctuary and its work

This position was filled in January 2016 with the appointment of the new executive director.

Events

The Sanctuary’s first fundraising event took place under the title “Winter Solstice” on December 21st. This was a great success with over 200 people attending an evening of song, music and dance.

The annual Christmas Carol event was again a wonderful evening with 200 people attending just to celebrate the coming on Christmas.

A conference took place in Dublin Castle in May. It considered two key questions: Where have the practice and the science of mindfulness taken us so far and where is it likely to take us into the future? There is a growing body of evidence that Mindfulness and Compassion are useful in the treatment of illnesses such as recurrent depression. What might happen if we were to take its proven, transformative power in this area and use it to promote resilience and well-being in the workplace, in schools and in public life?
That’s the exciting question that our keynote speaker, Professor Willem Kuyken, Director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, addressed at the Sanctuary’s 6th Annual Conference - Mindfulness, Where Are We Now (And Where Are We Going?). He was joined by Dr Tony Bates, the Founding Director of Headstrong, and the National Centre for Youth Mental Health who offered a personal reflection on –‘A year of living mindfully.’ He notes: “My Year of Living Mindfully promised to be a year of finding inner peace, calm and stability in my life. The reality was something quite different and unexpected.” 220 people attended this conference, approximately 100 down on previous years.

Thomas Merton

On 31st January the Sanctuary hosted a workshop to celebrate Thomas Merton’s 100th birthday. The venue was St. Laurence’s church DIT Grange Gorman and the presenter was Dr. Tony Bates, someone who has been inspired by Merton’s writing over many years. Over one hundred people attended and in their turn were inspired by the creativity and accessibility of the content.

Volunteers at the Sanctuary

  • involved in befriending people who experience mental health issues,
  • leading meditations,
  • jigsaw programme
  • gardening

On 14th May training took place and 10 volunteers attended. Training was given by two social workers Aoife Farrelly and Aideen McDonnell from the HSE on the topic of mental health with many questions from the befrienders.

Throughout the year a group of approximately ten befrienders met at regular intervals in the Sanctuary with a core group of six people.