For the last five years, St Mark’s have sponsored an open Learning Circle for grandparents.  The Learning Circle was originally started by a small group of concerned grandparents who were looking for mutual support in their being the ‘best grandparents we can be’ under today’s conditions.  We realised that we are an underused resource at a time when children and young people face real challenges as they move through the complexity of modern life.  We are not trying to be ‘professionals’ but we have experience of real life and wisdom.  We can share ideas that we can pass on to our grandchildren, and we do that, motivated by love!  Because we need a clear climate of trust, our meetings are confidential.

The Circle meets monthly in members’ homes in the evening of the first Tuesday in the month.  We take it in turns to host each meeting with a simple supper before we get down to the work we have planned to do.  We have developed a structure which includes following up questions and issues which we pose to ourselves.  Some of us have led explorations of mindfulness and thoughts about growing older.  Sometimes we invite an expert in on a special topic.  Rev Karen has described the way from early on, children naturally develop forms of spirituality through wonder, awe and a sense of mystery.  We have worked on how we grandparents are often in a position and have the time to take this natural development further in a non-intrusive and open-ended way.  This is not intended to be a covert religious recruitment process!  

We aim to have a membership of between 12-15 over a period of time and we expect a turnover.  During lockdown we met on zoom but without the hospitality.  We now have room for 3-5 new members.

For further infomration please contact:

John Bazalgette

Phone:  020 8977 1653
Mobile:  07432 678 659
email:  
john@bazalgette.com

08:26, 11 Mar 2022 by Peter Brown