Guided Retreats
Guided Retreats are bespoke programmes for small groups of people, designed after listening to your pre-interview to understand what your needs are. We will draw from a smorgasbord of options to best suit you. Below is a taster menu to give you some ideas of what to expect:
Arrival evening: arrive 5.30 -7pm to settle into your room and walk around the lake, 7.30pm for a story telling dinner.
We will start the day with coffee/drinks and readings together along the day’s theme. You will then take a 30min private reflective walk around our lake and through the prayer garden reflecting on today’s theme before we gather for a hearty breakfast.
Unless you chose alone time, we will accompany you on an outing that fits with the day’s theme. During the outing you will be given questions to contemplate and talk together on as you enjoy the outing.
Quiet afternoon with time to yourself or availability for 1:1 time with Roger and Maggie. This unstructured time can be spent around the Treffos grounds, in the hot tub or you can go into Chichester – enjoy the shops, coffee shops or cathedral and gardens in this Roman city. Or simply have a nap!
Each evening, we will share dinner and conversations together around the kitchen table or if you would like some couples or alone time, we will help you find somewhere you can eat out for the evening
We aim to have at least one fire-pit evening during your retreat. We will light a cosy fire outdoors, sit under the stars, share thoughts and questions. People have found this a great way to process their inner journey, gaining fresh clarity and perspective on things that were complicated.
On your final night we offer a Commissioning Dinner: over dinner we will speak words of encouragement over each other as we prepare to leave, sending each other out with renewed clarity and authority.
Length of Retreats
You can pick the length of your guided retreat from the shortest at 24 hours to the longest at 96hrs (4 days).
Themed Outings
We start the day with a gentle wander around the tiny village of Bosham on the edge of the sea. This was the birth and burial place of the last Saxon King Harold 11, famous for his role in the Battle of Hastings in 1066. You will see where King Cnut 1016-1035 tried to defy the tide but learnt that even a king is under the control and authority of God. We will then enter the Saxon church, built in the late 800s for a quiet time of listening prayer. The day will then follow the boundaries of the land, the edges of the sea as we head to a small ferry to cross the water to Itchenor harbour. Here we indulge in a great cup of coffee and cake in a rustic boat house cafe before walking the coastal edge.
For those who are up for it, we will do a 2hr walk to the famous sandy West Wittering beaches. Visit the West Wittering Estate website for more information. For those who would rather a more leisurely day we can organise you a lift to the Witterings cafe where you can meet us, or a lift home for some down time.
Amongst all the day's activities we will be reflecting on the day's theme of boundaries and the edges of our lives and power. Where have the edges of your life fallen? What is in your heart to 'make new' about these edges? What expansion is calling you to extend the edges of what you currently occupy?
We will start the day with coffee/drinks and readings together along today's theme of safe-haven and shelter. You will then take a 30min private reflective walk around our lake and through the prayer garden reflecting on today's theme before breakfast.
To experience renewal, we need to feel safe. What are you currently needing to shelter from? What are the sources of your strength and therefore protection? Walking around the imposing and inspiring castle at Arundel Castle whilst reflecting on the day's theme will bring you unexpected and visceral insights. You can enjoy lunch in the castle café before a quiet afternoon with time to yourself or availability for 1:1 time with Roger and/or Maggie.
To experience renewal, we must renew the mindsets that inhibit us. What are you believing to be true in everyday life, that is blocking you from the outcomes you would love to see?
What legacy do you want to leave and where? To embed this legacy, what needs renovating?
The inner trail of this theme is all about what we focus on. What is it that is going to last and is what you want to leave behind? What is in your foreground and consumes most of your focus? How much of this is core to what you want to be your legacy? Redirecting our attention enables new birth to happen. This will be our morning reflection before heading off to Fishbourne Roman Palace to see something that has endured 2000 years. This amazing palace was likely built around 75 CE for King Togidubnus (a Celtic name that means 'appointed leader') – an inspiring name and legacy that speaks to us through the ages.
You will see the design and intentionality of how the Romans built this palace, how they positioned it geographically and the scope of their creation. What do you need to 'uplift' or make new in your leadership or life?
The morning will involve a guided walk through the ancient Charlton forest in the valley beneath the famous Goodwood racecourse. You will be taken to a sacred spot where you can see for 360 degrees as you contemplate what it is time to let go of, and what you are ready to let come. As you walk, you will be invited to pick up things that speak to you about what to let go of. You will look to see what is new that is being formed in your life through this retreat experience.
At the end of the walk, we will stumble into one of the best country pubs in the area, The Fox Goes Free, for a local brew and some lunch. It was in this pub that the Women's Institute was first dreamed up — The WI — no doubt over some long evenings around the fireplace hatching dreams. So, watch out as a new dream may be dropped into your Spirit!
Over lunch we will share dream-hatching 'what if' conversations before some afternoon down time. 'Letting go, to let come' ceremony late afternoon, using the lake and the butterfly circle.
personalised approach
Pre - Retreat:
Roger and Maggie will arrange a Zoom call with you to understand what you are looking for from the retreat and get to know each other a little in advance of arriving. We want to make this special time personal for you. We will also ask you to fill in a simple questionnaire in advance to introduce yourself to us, including any dietary, physical or other special needs.
Post - Retreat:
Should you wish for any follow-on coaching from Roger or Maggie after a retreat this can be discussed. This will help you to embed what you take away from the retreat. This can be for just one or two sessions to focus on a particular topic that has come up, or can be ongoing coaching.
At your pre-retreat Zoom call, we will also ask you which of the below descriptions for the overall aim of the retreat, best suits you?
Retreat Themes
Refresh
Refresh = to gain new strength and energy.
In Greek Anapsucho means "to cool again" or "recover from the effects of heat". Figuratively, it means to revive one's spirit, recover breath, or bring relief after hardship or anxiety.
Replenish
Replenish = to put back in what has been robbed.
In Greek \pi\lambda\eta\rho\ó\omega means "to make full," or "to complete."
It implies filling something to the top so that nothing is missing, or fulfilling a purpose or season in time.
Revive
Revive = to regain life, health, consciousness and strength.
In Greek Anathalló means “to flourish again, or to sprout anew, to bloom" often after a period of dormancy.
Renew
a renovation, a complete uplift, to make strong again. It is closely linked to a shift in mindset.
In Greek Ana: Means "again" or "up". Kainos: Means "new and different" (rather than brand new). Combined, it means to "make new again" or a "complete change for the better". It implies a deep, internal renovation or transformation of the mind and spirit.
“This is exactly what I am longing for in a retreat. The schedule, the themes, the concept of place, the adventure, the food, the time for reflection and conversation, pubs, castles, forests and coastlines, ruins and history, prayer and the presence of two sages to process everything with – it puts an exciting warmth in my soul.”
Jared Doe, Lead Pastor, Desert City Church, Phoenix, Arizona
“Leadership can be lonely. And when things go wrong or we need a place to reflect it is difficult to know where to turn. Very few people possess the insight and expertise to speak to the heart of the bewildered leader. Roger and Maggie have been doing that for decades. They know from their own experience what it means to pioneer courageously. They possess years of discretely supporting leaders in the anxieties and insecurities that most feel obliged to keep to themselves. Few are more perfectly positioned to provide a context in which leaders can breathe, replenish and find again the cause to which they are called.”
Dr. Roger Bretherton, Chartered Psychologist, BSc PGCert ClinPsyD CPsychol HCPC AFBPS SFHEA
Costs
Costs are based on staying for 24 hours and include:
· overnight accommodation
· all food at Treffos
· Roger and Maggie’s time with you
Just multiply by the number of days you are staying to get the cost of your retreat.
Per person:
· £225 Single occupancy of a bedroom
· £195 married couple sharing a bedroom
Bursary:
We invite you to donate into a bursary fund to give reduced cost places to those who need it. If the full cost of a Treffos Retreat is too much for you, please contact us with an enquiry.
contact us for upcoming dates
Contact us to organise your retreat
