Findhorn Foundation SCIO Update – May 2025

Written by Mark Anderson, Chair of Trustees

Since Findhorn Foundation SCIO started operating in May last year, we have been working on steadily building our capacity to deliver spiritual education programming. Last year, we successfully launched Experience Week inspired retreat programmes in Traigh Bhan on Iona, and this year we have been working hard to launch Experience Week on Erraid – the first programme ran on 12 April. We have also created the monthly ‘Foundations of Light’ meditation space and our daily meditations each weekday at 9:00 am UK time available for free to our growing global community.

Unfortunately these plans will need to change as two key FF SCIO staff will be leaving in the coming months. Andrew Powell, our Director of Education, will be leaving at the end of May so he can relocate to Wales to be closer to family, and Terence Gilbey, our Chief Executive, will also transition out in June. Andrew and Terence have been key holders of the work to relaunch our education programmes and I would like to thank and honour them both for the dedication, care and skill they have brought to FF SCIO.

Terence and Andrew’s roles were key to our 2025 programme schedule and with these positions now vacant there will need to be some changes to our plans going forward. Trustees remain committed to exploring how best to provide Findhorn inspired spiritual education, however, we need to pause programming for the remainder of 2025 while we assess how best to move forward. I know that this will be disappointing to anyone who had hoped to participate in our programmes later this year. However, there is a growing selection of independently offered community led programmes in Findhorn – for a list of what is currently being offered please visit the community’s education listing website. 

In spite of this setback, I am proud of what our small team has achieved over the last year or so. Our programmes have had a positive impact on those who have been able to visit us on the West coast, and our daily meditations have had over ten thousand hours of participation in just a few months. My appreciation goes to our core team for all their hard work, to our RP’s and many others for their support holding meditations and programmes, and of course to everyone who has participated in joining this work to build and strengthen a global network of love and light. The following words of guidance received by Eileen Caddy seem particularly pertinent:

“When you are prompted to act, do so and do not stop to weigh it up or even wonder why you are doing it. That small act of love may have some very far reaching effect. All you have to do is to do your part in faith, and know that all is very, very well.”

Please bear with us as we work through this and seek an outcome which all our future selves will, hopefully, see as in perfect timing and a natural evolution of our many decades of the important work of the Findhorn Foundation.

Mark Anderson

Chair