WHO WE ARE
We are Serenity Private Community Trust, a faith-based Trust. Managed by an adept and accomplished panel whose goal is to offer Salvation for the Soul. We are a vehicle to place anyone who needs short term respite, support and healing into private retreat settings.
Our placements are for people for whom doing life has become more than they can handle alone. We call these people our VIPs (vulnerable, important priorities).
Sometimes, they crash comes as a result of a single monumental experience; however, more often than not, the world has been battling with us from birth and we collapse on our knees because of an accumulated dose of the trauma. We call this coming to the end of ourselves and it is a dark, scary, and isolated place.
In a world sometimes lacking justice, equity and love we see an indiscriminate place. It doesn’t matter if you are a successful athlete, a struggling mum, a genius, a disenfranchised child, a veteran, or an alpha male. The world knocks us till its hard to go on. Some are lucky if they never experience this, some have good support mechanisms around them, and some anaesthetise the pain with poor health choices that will affect their long-term potential.
It’s hard to believe that many of us, even the ones that look like we have it together, with the world at our feet have been through this and we just needed someone to wrap their arms around us and say, “It’s OK. It’s going to be OK. We have got this!”
This is where we step in.
OUR FOUNDER'S TESTIMONY
He healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up their wounds. (Psalm 147:3)
In February 2024, our Founder (after a period of personal devastation) found herself in a remote location, isolated and with limited resources and no semblance of a breakthrough. She was ready to (as she puts it) “Jack it all in”. But at that precise moment she received an out-of the-blue phone call from one friend who coincidentally was driving towards the exact motorway exit where she was staying. This one phone call changed the course of her life. She was pulled out of the pit of despair and with some compassion, kindness and patience from her rescuer (coupled with faith that the pain must be purposeful) she was accompanied on a journey to rebuild.
Suddenly, new doors began to (divinely) open. Having been a small business owner for over 20 years, once back on her feet she had an opportunity to rent a local guest house, profitable but under-exploited. A real lifestyle business in the heart of beautiful Devon: A far cry from anything she had ever tackled before. Just like the miracle of her rescue, miraculously people and resources started to come to her. The revelation of potential and vision became clear. It was then that she realised nothing was by coincidence – or as she puts it today “if it’s odd, it’s God”. Thankfully she realised her previous thoughts of throwing in the towel were just a long term solution to a short term problem straight from the pit of Hell. Today she is reminded daily of the Bible passage Romans 5:3-5 which quotes: “ We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials for we know that they help us develop endurance, endurance develops strength of character and character develops our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment”
Today, she hopes with the help of her fantastic team of trustees to leave a legacy for those who are in the same state of despair and under spiritual attack. That’s why Serenity Community Trust Foundation is on a mission.
“Salvation for the Soul is our goal”
WHO WE DO IT FOR
Serenity Private Community Trust offers free accommodation in unused rooms in commercial locations in our ambitious network. Our service is available to people from all walks of life. Our selection is not based on age, gender, sexual alignment, race, or ability. We welcome guests from other beliefs, but it is important that guests are aware that we truly are a Christian Trust.
This is reflected by the way we sow seeds of curiosity in developing a relationship with our Almighty Father. We place people dependant on urgency, who will benefit the most from the experience, who align with our values, and who are ready to take the leap of faith to support their own recovery. Whether that’s a referral or reaching out directly for help.
Whilst with us, we expect no payment for the stay (which is a maximum of two weeks initially), VIPs are supported by our staff, who will devise a personal plan to get each guest back on their feet within the time of their stay. Furthermore, we make sure those people who come to us for help, are also encouraged to take an active role in their own recovery program. During a placement we aim to save bodies, minds, and hearts. We do this in a holistic, individually-centred and joined-up way.
HOW WE DO IT
Our business model is based on our VIPs staying in otherwise unoccupied accommodation in Serenity Community Trust Foundation-approved locations. Our locations are selected according to criteria that ensure all our VIP’s needs are met, whether that is practical, spiritual, nutritional, educational or physical. In other words, tranquil spaces perfectly selected to feed the souls, spirits and bodies of our VIPs.
Aside from free accommodation, we cover the costs of a spot of additional housekeeping and nutritious, healthy meals. We do this by getting those associated costs offset by asking each of our VIPs to exchange their energy by putting a few hours in at the locations with laundry, gardening, and administration according to their skills and interests.
After the practicalities, we try to foster revived interests, hobbies, and possibly even new career choices. That’s why locations in our portfolio all provide workshops, classes, and courses either on site or locally. We negotiate free places for anyone we have taken under our (angel)wings from any course provider.
Then there’s spiritual health, so we build in proper time to cut off, thus fostering contemplative time, or developing those moments of reflection into a habit of prayer life if they would like to. These therapeutic interventions contain all the ingredients of a nourishing diet of soul food.
FUNDING AND FINANCE
We have a wish list of specific items, like a gift registry. There is probably something you can dig out of a garage, or the back of a shed that would be really useful to us, and whilst we cannot take general items that are for disposal the list is available for you to peruse and see if you can support it.
Occasionally, through our fundraising, we seek sponsorship for specific VIPs.
We have our own closed currency, too!!! Acorns, pegged to the UK Pound. This means we can exchange what we have with what we need, and Acorns, as a closed, community currency, connects via Monei to other communities so we can really share the love.
Our board of trustees are volunteers, and our teams are built of those who give their time freely. As a group we agree on our financial milestones, where we devote surplus funds and our forthcoming budgetary priorities. Our supporters, donors and contributors have a right to know that we are stewarding their money well. To that end, we publish six profit and loss statements on our website every year. We also have a yearly AGM where the door is open to you and your questions. Transparent, Accountable, Honest.
We offer learning opportunites to those staying with us. From creative to mindset, to practical and lifeskills, we hope this will foster new interests and gateways to positivity for those that stay with us. We do this by offering course leaders preferential rates in the locations we cover.
We really aim to befriend each of our two weekly placements and to be the one comforting partner they need to get them back on their feet.