We have designed this page to tell you everything you need to know about the process of booking and running a retreat. This page isn’t about groups booking Castlerigg and running their own programmes. For that stuff… talk to us.

Talk to our office. Once you agree on a date you will be sent an electronic contract to sign and an invoice for a £250 deposit.

The minimum number for a retreat (including staff) is 40 for a secondary school and 30 for a primary or parish groups (30 for all groups Nov-Feb). If you’re just getting a trip established though, or having a particularly bad year, we can lower this minimum by arrangement.

The absolute maximum is 70, but we don’t recommend getting this high! A certain amount of free staff places are on offer for larger groups.

Don’t forget to sort out transport and staff costs etc before giving the students a price. Your EVC (Educational Visits Co-ordinator) or Bursar will be able to guide you.

Residentials may need approval and you might need documents such as insurance certificates and risk assessments. Give us a call if we can help. We are used to this!

Market the retreat to your group and find some staff. Keep talking to the students who sign up and get them excited!

N.B // It’s your responsibility to fill your places, but we can help you if you want? If you want marketing materials or an assembly visit, get in touch

Around two months before your retreat, you will receive an invoice for about half the estimated total cost of the retreat. Prompt payment is appreciated, and please remember that free staff places are only available if this has been paid before the retreat.

We need to know how much food to order, how many staff to rota for cleaning rooms, and we need to plan a programme for you, so it’s important that we have your room list, small group list, meal choices, and requirements sheet, a few weeks in advance.

All of the documents can be downloaded above. Please email them to us a few weeks out.

N.B // Don’t worry if you need to make a change last minute. Sometimes a student pulls out or decides the week before that he’s now a vegan! We can deal with small late changes, just as long as we know the bulk of it 🙂

The actual retreat! Get on the coach, come to Castlerigg, have the time of your life.

Three very important things to do:

1. Pay your final bill.
   
   
2. Give us your feedback and tell us what you thought of the retreat.
   
   
3. Talk to us about booking again for next year.