On The Cotswold Community…
Received from Gary White | Added to the site January 2021.
“Dear John – As a former pupil, i must say that my time at the community from 78 to 83 had been the first time there was stability in my life. I have been a successful carpenter for a few decades now, my inspiration came from Peter Hodgeson, along with working for the maintenance team under Harold doing repairs around the community.
In recent years I had by chance met the Darvel community in a church in Hastings, and had been invited to the Robertsbridge community. It was a strange feeling to visit somewhere new and have it feel so familiar. I can tell you that the hard work by the staff who worked with me at the community had not been wasted, their help gave me a direction, a path to follow. Had I not been referred to the community I dread to think of how my life would have turned out. I often feel a sense of duty to help the less fortunate, spending a year and a half as a volunteer for a recovery organisation helping people with alcohol and drug addictions, also being employed as a winter night shelter supervisor. I do not know if you receive communication from other former pupils, but I would like to say a thank you to yourself and former staff for not writing me off.”