Dear Friends,
You should all know that the
Satipanya Buddhist Trust now has a retreat centre
near Bishop’s Castle on the Welsh border. I hope that, if you
haven’t managed to visit the centre yet, you will soon.
We bought the Westcroft property for £350,000 and have paid £200,000 with
£50,000 for emergency and shortfall in the first year. As a
result there is a mortgage of
£150,000 on the property.
Our lender, the Charity
Bank, will hold the interest rate at 6% for two years leading to a repayment of
approximately £12,500 p.a.
Your response to the last
appeal, to raise the funds to buy this property, has been excellent. Many of
you renewed your mandates while more of you started a contribution (for single
donations and/or standing orders).
But there are still further
plans to make Satipanya fully adapted to our aims. We
do need extensions for a walking hall and a larger dining room. And we need to
have three extra rooms so that most will have their own room when they come.
There is also the important matter of making our Retreat disability viable. As
with our last appeal we note that standing orders give us a regular income, no
matter what the amount. We are looking for funds of approximately £150,000 to cover these works.
As Bhante
has said before, £1 a week is a worthy gift. To have a regular income allows us
to cover our mortgage and plan for the future. Mandates are the backbone of our finances.
If you already have a
standing order with us, please disregard any forms that have been mistakenly
sent to you.
*You can also donate
an Instant Online Payment through the website here: Support
– most efficient if donating from outside
I went to the opening
ceremony and it was excellent to see so many people who came despite the poor
weather and difficult road conditions (this was the time of floods in the
area). I hope that you all can take the opportunity to spend more time visiting
and on retreats.
We want to thank you for
your generous and continued support.
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch for any further details about
financing the project.
Nick Costaras .
Treasurer on behalf of the Trustees.