The Poiema Retreat House offers a quiet and hospitable environment within the beautiful surroundings of the Lake District, holding space for retreatants to encounter God, as they take time away from the demands of daily life to reflect and pray.
We are currently offering individual residential retreats with a 4-night stay, and will additionally be offering 2-night ‘long weekends’ as part of our programme in 2024. There are opportunities for self-guided retreats (with or without spiritual accompaniment / direction), individually guided retreats (with daily material for prayer and reflection), and themed group retreats, depending on our schedule. Please see our retreats page for further details and availability.
Sometimes it can be helpful to talk with someone about your experience while on retreat. We offer the opportunity to meet daily with a trained Spiritual Accompanier / Director, who will listen and help you explore God’s presence and work in your life. Please let us know if you would like to meet with a Spiritual Director, when you book.
Accommodation
Our residential retreats are full-board accommodation and we have three guest bedrooms available, one single room and two with twin beds. All our rooms are available for single occupancy. Bed linen and towels are provided, and facilities for making tea and coffee are available in each room. There is shared use of a bathroom and shower room.
Guests have use of a comfortable lounge, dining room, chapel and garden. Art resources and a small library of books are available. Lakes and mountains (or fells) are a short walk from the house for those who like to venture further afield, and guidance and a selection of resources are available for walks.
At the heart of the Community & Retreat House’s life is our daily rhythm of prayer, meeting three times a day in the Chapel. We warmly invite our guests to join with us for these times.
Meals
An important part of a retreat is enjoying good food! Our meals are home cooked, and we are able to provide vegetarian and vegan food. We may not be able to cater for all food intolerances and allergens; please let us know, prior to booking, if you have particular dietary requirements, so that we can let you know if we can help. As well as our shared meals, packed lunches can be arranged if you would like to eat while enjoying an excursion into our beautiful surroundings.
Residential Retreat Donations
The retreat house runs on a donations model basis, and details of suggested donations for our residential retreats and also for Spiritual accompaniment can be found here.
Programme / Rhythm of the Day
| From 7:45am | Breakfast (self-service) |
| 8.30am | Morning Prayer |
| 12:20pm | Lunchtime Prayer |
| 6:30pm | Evening meal (main meal) |
| 9:30pm | Compline / Night Prayer |
| 10pm | House in Quiet |
How to find us
All our details are included on our contact page.
Enquire about a retreat
If you’d like to join us on a residential retreat, check our available dates on the retreats page, then get in touch here to find out more or to make your booking!