// Preparing a Visit to Castlerigg
IMPORTANT NOTE: With effect from May Half Term 2024, all young people visiting Castlerigg will need to bring either a sleeping bag or a duvet cover with them. Bedding is still provided for teachers accompanying retreat groups, but not self-led groups.
This page is designed to tell you everything you need to know about coming to Castlerigg, but if there is anything else you need to know, please give us a call and we’ll be happy to help you!
STEP ONE // Book a Retreat
Talk to Adrianne or Jack in the office about dates and costs. Once you agree on a date you will be sent a contract to sign and an invoice for a £250 deposit. We will also ask you for your projected numbers, but don’t worry – you won’t be bound by this estimate. Unless you fall below the minimum number, you pay for the amount of people you bring.
N.B // The minimum number for a retreat (including staff) is 40 for a secondary school and 30 for a primary school or parish youth group (In Winter, this is lowered to 30 and 25 respectively). If you’re just getting a trip established in the school 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! In the case of Castlerigg-led retreats, Clergy stay for free and we offer one free staff place for 40 young people, two free places for 50, and three free places for 60. There are no free places for self-led groups as we already offer a discount on each place.
STEP TWO // Work Out the Finer Details
Don’t forget to sort out transport before giving the students a price for the trip. You may also need to add in staff costs, and there may be other costs too. If you are a school, then your EVC (Educational Visits Co-ordinator) or Bursar will be able to guide you.
Again, if you are a school, residentials may have to be approved by the Local Education Authority (LEA) and they will have a system in place for doing this. They may well ask you for documents such as insurance certificates and risk assessments. Let us know if you need anything from us and we will send it over. Again, your school’s EVC will be able to guide you.
N.B // If you are in the Northwest, your LEA will probably be aware of Castlerigg and already have our details on file.
Finally, check out the important information in red on this page.
STEP THREE // Advertise the Trip!
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? We have a marketing video for use in schools and from late 2023 we will also start sending our marketing packs. Finally, (talk to us…) we might even be able to pop down to school to do an assembly for you!
(CONTINUED BELOW…)
DOWNLOADS AND LINKS
// Kit List
(Small Group Leaders’ guide (Retreat Groups only), as well as the documents you will need to send back two weeks before your retreat: room list, small group list, requirements sheet. See Step Five)
// Some Policies can be downloaded at the foot of this page
// Please ask us if you need our Risk Assessment of Public Liability Insurance details
A FEW IMPORTANT DETAILS TO NOTE
ARRIVALS // Retreats usually start at 4pm. You are welcome to request an earlier start, but please note that we are unable to start a retreat before 2pm at the very earliest.
FOOD ON ARRIVAL // We no longer offer lunch to arriving groups so please make arrangements for the group to eat before they come.
DEPARTURES // 4-night retreats generally depart at 11.30am with no lunch being provided, so please make arrangements for the group to eat lunch on the journey home. 2-night retreats depart at 2pm after lunch, which is provided.
ADDITIONAL OFF SITE ACTIVITIES
Subject to availability, groups can now ask us to book either
ARCHERY AND ROCKCLIMBING
..or..
A BOAT TRIP AROUND THE LAKE
Both need to be booked way in advance and carry an additional cost.
STEP FOUR // Pay Your Interim Payment
You will receive an invoice when this is due.
STEP FIVE // Send Us Your Group Information
(at least two weeks before the start of your retreat!)
We need to know how much food to order, how many staff to rota for cleaning rooms, and in the case of retreats, we need to plan a programme for you, so it’s important that we have your room list, small group list (for retreat groups_, meal choices, and requirements sheet, a few weeks in advance.
SELF-LED GROUPS // Meal times are 9am, 1pm, and 5.30pm. We may be able to slightly change these on request, but this needs to be sorted out in advance. It cannot be changed when you arrive, as staff rotas are worked out ahead of time.
These documents can be downloaded from this page (see DOWNLOADS AND LINKS) and each one explains what’s required, so have a read.
Please Email the documents over to us
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 🙂
STEP SIX // Talk to Your Retreat Leader (Retreat Groups)
The team member assigned to lead your retreat will get in touch a month beforehand with a timetable and maybe a few questions. Be sure to respond so that we can plan your retreat as well as possible!
STEP SEVEN // Come to Castlerigg!!
Hopefully this is the simplest step of all. When you get here we will let you know exactly what’s coming up and exactly what’s required from you, so don’t worry. We really hope you will have an amazing retreat!
Retreat Groups // Check out the sample timetables above to get a flavour of what you’ll be doing.
STEP EIGHT // Pay Your Final Bill
At the end of the retreat we will invoice you for the final balance. Please pay as soon as you can.