Today is the first day of our fabulous new Long Barn actually in use. Richard Gilpin leading a Quiet Day 10.30am to 4pm and then residential arrivals this evening for the Enneagram workshop tomorrow. Every bedroom will be occupied tonight. We’ve done all the snagging and trouble-shooting we can but it’s not until real people actually use the building that the unexpected things arise. So standing by …
In the meantime we are getting a grip on the finances – always hard to keep track in the final weeks of a big project. Some things have come in under-budget, especially the “loss of earnings” component we had included. This is thanks to a construction site less disruptive than we had feared (thanks Imperial) and the tremendous loyalty of our guests who have kept booking regardless (thanks to all of you). We’ve also done a good job of recycling furniture and equipment around the site, and Imperial look like bringing in the construction pretty close to budget. On the down side HMRC have rejected our assessment of zero rating for VAT on the project and assessed it as standard rated. As you know we’re good at putting up a fight when needed but on this occasion have been advised (to coin a phrase) that “resistance is futile”. The net effect is to increase the project budget by around 10% to £1.1m. Still, the Olympics overspend is up to something like 300% now isn’t it so we feel distinctly modest by comparison! We’re re-doubling our efforts on the fundraising and would welcome any additional gifts, grants or interest free loans that supporters can offer. We reckoned it would boost our morale and yours if we changed from an appeal total to an appeal countdown, so here goes for the final £248,000 …

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