Coming from Overseas
- What to Bring
- Religious Denominations
- Cancellation
Policy - Travel
to St Beuno's -
Facilities
Visa - Travel
- Healthcare
- UK Weather
Visa - for
Pilgrimage see Schengen Visa
Citizens of the European Union, Australia, Switzerland, USA,
Taiwan and Canada do not need visas. Citizens of Africa, Middle
East, Asia and South and Central America generally will need
a visa. To find out if you need a visa go to
British Government Visa Web site
We suggest you ask for a general visitors visa, ie. the purpose
of your travel to the UK is 'a visit', do not
ask for a student or educational visa as St Beuno's is not
a government recognised educational establishment. If you are
a member of an international religious congregation with members
in the UK you may well like to try a visa for a visiting Minister
of Religion provided that your congregation in the UK is prepared
to sponsor you and is itself registered for this.
When you have been accepted on a retreat or programme St Beuno's
will issue a letter inviting you to the United Kingdom. This
will contain the dates of the retreat/programme. However we
cannot offer to pay all your expenses while you are in the UK
or offer to pay repatriation if necessary. If the programme
fees have been paid we will say that all your living expenses
are covered while you are in the UK, however, this is not usually
enough for the Government. You will probably need a separate
letter from your sponsoring body.
Please leave plenty of time if you need a visa. Nearly half
the recent visa applications for people wanting to stay on a
St Beuno's programme have been rejected at the first application.
Travel
If you are travelling by public transport from the UK, then
we suggest you come by train to Rhyl. Further details of travelling
by train and sharing
taxis are to be found on our
Location page.
If you are flying from overseas and are not visiting people
in the South of England we suggest that you try to book a flight
to either Manchester or Liverpool airports.
Liverpool is good for Easyjet and Ryanair flights from Europe.
Manchester International has flights from all around the world.
For travel from the airport to St Beuno's see our Airport
page.
Healthcare
Despite our rural situation Emergency Healthcare is good, and
our local doctors are happy to see people staying at St Beuno's.
Medical Treatment is free on the National Health Service for
European nationals with your EU health card. If you do not come
from the EU, then you will have to pay for local treatment.
The basic cost for a single consultation with the doctor is
£40. Hospital could cost many thousands of pounds, so
please ensure you have health insurance.
Dental Treatment will have to be paid for - this will typically
cost hundreds of pounds.
Please bring the name and address of your usual doctor and details
of any medically prescribed drugs that you need.
Very often the UK has stricter regulations on the sale of drugs
than many countries and drugs which can be purchased freely
from pharmacies abroad need a physician's prescription in the
UK.
UK Weather
Average temperatures vary from 15-20C in summer to 0-10C in
Winter. The weather is predominantly cloudy with occasional
bright spells. It can, and does rain at any time of year. What's
the weather like at the moment in St Asaph?
Remember that Wales is northerly: in June the day will last
from 3.30am to 11pm, in December it will scarcely begin at 8.30am
and darken again at 3.30pm.
What to Bring
Waterproofs: Whatever time of
year you come to St Beuno's you will need waterproofs and a
warm jacket for walking outdoors. Although previous, more hardy,
generations swam in the sea locally, today we are usually too
soft for such frolicking, and anyway the last we heard the local
beach at Rhyl had over the permitted European contamination.
There is no swimming pool within easy walking distance.
Boots: A good
pair of boots or sturdy shoes with a good grip is advisable
for walking the hills.
Warm Indoor Clothes: Indoors we
keep the house to 19C this is OK for Europeans and most North
Americans, but those used to tropical climates may find it cool.
You will need warm indoor clothes - a sweatshirt or jumper.
Dressing Gown:
You will need a dressing gown or other respectable night apparel
as most bedrooms do not have en-suite facilities.
Computers: If you are on a longer
programme (not a retreat) then you may wish to bring your laptop.
Wireless internet access is available in many of the rooms.
You can also use our broadband computer to access the internet,
so there is no need to bring your laptop.
Hobbies and Crafts:
If you have a hobby or craft work that you would like to bring
please do so. It is often good to do creative tasks while on
a retreat or programme.
Books and Bibles: Each room has
a New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. In addition in
our library we have Jersusalem, Knox, King, King James, Douay
and assorted other versions as well as bibles in Latin, Greek,
Finnish, Swedish, Indonesian, Korean, Spanish, French, German,
Polish, American and Welsh. We have a library well stocked with
Spirituality books, novels, biographies etc. so you can save
weight by not bringing many books.
Mobile/Cell Phone:
Whilst on retreat we suggest retreatants switch off their mobile
phones, however, these are useful for safety when walking alone.
Don't forget to key in St Beuno's number and remember that 999
is the UK emergency number.
Facilities
All retreats and programmes at St Beuno's offer full board
and accommodation in single bedrooms with washbasin.
Food: We can cater for most special
diets eg. vegetarian, celiac, lactic intolerant, low fat. Our
food style is modern British - a mixture of European dishes
with the occasional very mild curry. There is a little choice
with some meals. A full Welsh Breakfast is offered (which is
the same as English, Irish or Scottish and offers bacon, egg,
tomatoes and beans).
Bedrooms vary considerably in
size. There is some accommodation in cottages outside the main
centre. There are just three bedrooms with en-suite facilities
for those who really need this provision.
Art Room: There is a well-stocked
art room with clay, paper and various media such as pastels,
water colours, poster paints all available free of charge.
Music: at certain times of day
there is a room available for music practice.
Laundry: Washing machines, irons
etc. are available for use, particularly by those on longer
courses.
Chapels and Prayer Rooms: there
are three chapels and five prayer rooms. these are usually available
for private prayer.
Bookshop: The house has a well-stocked
Spirituality Bookshop. A sample
online. The bookshop also has
a few basic toiletries and medicines. There are no shops within
easy walking distance of St Beuno's.
Fair Trade Stall: Fair trade
produce - chocolates, healthy snacks, and fancy goods are available
in St Beuno's.
Personal Telephones: Those on
the longer courses will have a personal room telephone with
your own private number, so there is no need to go through the
switchboard. This can be used for both incoming and outgoing
calls (there is a charge for outgoing calls). This service is
not available to those on retreats.
Religious Denominations
St Beuno's is run by the Society of Jesus, (Jesuits) an order
of religious men in the Roman Catholic Church. We welcome people
of all Christian denominations and people of no church affiliation.
All are welcome to attend our daily Eucharist. Details of eucharistic
participation are available on request. Currently some 55% of
our retreatants are Roman Catholic, the others are of many different
denominations, with Anglicans much the largest second group.
Longer programmes tend to have a greater proportion of Catholics
and of people from many different countries.
Cancellation Policy
Retreats: Retreats are considered
firmly booked once you have paid your deposit. This deposit
is non returnable. However, if you cancel with good notice then
this deposit may be transfered to another retreat within the
next year, subject to a deduction to cover administration of
£10 per change. Under no circumstances will the deposit
be transferable if we were not informed in advance of the cancellation.
Spirituality Programmes: are
again only considered firmly booked when the non-returnable
deposit is received. This may, under certain circumstance be
transfered to another programme for the same person, subject
to a 10% deduction to cover administration. Under no circumstances
will the deposit be transferable if we were not informed in
advance of the cancellation.
