INVITATION TO MEETING IN LIA GARD(second edition)Prague, 22 August 2011 At the end of June, I wrote a letter to the members of SDE. This present letter is now going out both to members and to everyone on our mailing list. If you have booked already, and you have heard from me, then don’t worry, you don’t need to book again. If you tried to book, and haven’t heard from me, let me know! For those who got the first letter, please read the final paragraph, as it contains some further information. I’m writing on behalf of the Executive Committee and the local Norwegian organising group to invite you to apply for our next annual meeting, which will take place at Lia Gård Retreat Centre, some four or five kilometres outside of the small Norwegian town of Koppang, roughly half way between Oslo and Trondheim. The setting is absolutely stunning, overlooking a large lake, surrounded by forests, with mountains in the distance. It promises to be a wonderful setting for our meeting, with excellent facilities inside as well. [ At this website ( www.sd-europe.org ) you can find a good number of pictures ! ] I will try to keep the details to a minimum, but there are some things you will need to know, in order to decide whether you can apply. So, first, the date: the meeting will run from the evening of Wednesday 22nd February to breakfast time on Monday 27th February 2012. The cost. I am afraid this is a little bit complicated, but I will try to make it as straightforward as possible. The Norwegian group have done excellent work, and have managed to gain a very good sum of money in terms of grants, which will cover approximately one third of the costs of the meeting. After much discussion, we have decided that we will use half of this money to reduce the costs for everyone, leaving half of it for subsidising those who otherwise will be unable to afford to come. The cost of accommodation is as follows: Single Room En Suite : € 395 (14 rooms in total) Double Room En Suite : € 295 (6 rooms – 12 people in total) Single Room without own bathroom : € 345 (6 rooms in total) These are all gone, I’m afraid. Double Room without own bathroom : € 245 (14 rooms – 28 people in total) These fees will cover our costs. As I mentioned, we do also have money left to help those who cannot afford the full cost, so please don’t hesitate to ask. We will probably only be able to give you a final answer as to how much SDE can contribute in October, but will try to do it as soon as possible. Also, of course, if you are in a position to make any further donation to support others, it would be greatly appreciated. In addition, there will be an administration cost of €100 for those earning more than €1000 a month, and €50 for those earning less than that sum. If there is interest, and we assume there will be, we plan on running a coach from Oslo Gardermoen Airport on Wednesday, returning on Monday morning. Please note that this coach will be leaving at 15:30, so you should make sure that if you need to collect luggage, your plane is arriving by 14:30. The journey is approximately 3 hours. The coach will leave for the airport on Monday morning at around 8 in the morning, so it is best not to plan to catch a return flight before 13:00 on Monday. Please also note that we will only be picking people up from Gardermoen Airport. The two other Oslo airports are south of the city, and some way away, so even if the ticket is cheaper, you may find that it will cost you more to get to Gardermoen, and it will take some time. There is a train – with one change – from Gardermoen to Koppang, the nearest town where it will be possible to collect people. If you are likely to have to arrive later, let me know and I will try to give you train times. However, the last train will leave at around 18:30. I think that’s enough detail for now – more will follow later. I ask you to apply as soon as possible. THE EXTRA INFORMATION: Lia Gård Retreat Centre is offering a five-day directed Ignatian retreat directly after our meeting. If you are interested (and I can certainly say that it would be a lovely place to make a retreat), then please contact Lia Gård Retreat Centre directly. You can contact Ingeborg Bø directly at retreat@liagard.no and she will be delighted to give you more information. Thanks for your patience in getting through all this, and looking forward to hearing from you, Prayers and best wishes Tim |