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Venue

The events at Laurieston Hall are run by a workers' co-op called Laurieston Hall People Centre. The Hall is a large Victorian mansion set in 135 acres of woodland and grazing pasture and a large walled kitchen garden. Laurieston is about 7miles NW of Castle Douglas in Dumfries and Galloway, South West Scotland. Accommodation is mostly in shared, single-gender rooms for between 4 and 10 people. There are some smaller rooms for couples or people with special needs. Please be sure to book early if you need one of these rooms. There is one ground-floor bedroom with wheelchair access and close to an accessible shower and toilet. All the ground-floor rooms are wheelchair-accessible. Laurieston Hall provides duvets, blankets, pillow and pillowcase, but please bring two sheets and your own towels as this helps to keep costs down. If you can’t bring sheets there are some for hire.
If you cherish your own privacy and don’t want to share a room you can:

* A discount is given to visitors using one of these two options (see costs)

Costs are kept low by asking visitors to help with some small domestic jobs through the week: jobs such as laying tables, assisting a resident with cooking a meal, washing up, collecting wood.

Facilities
When the weather is good the lawn, fields and woods are lovely, but please come prepared for wet weather with wellies and waterproofs too. Other things to consider bringing are: a torch, midge repellent, sun screen, a hot-water bottle and any food treats that you might want through the week.
There’s a table tennis table, volleyball court, a wood-fired sauna, a large lawn, pianos and a loch with its own beach to swim from. Laurieston Village has a pub but no shop. Mossdale (4 miles away) has a very small shop. The nearest town, Castle Douglas, is 7 miles away.

Phones
Mobile phone reception is patchy but some networks (Vodaphone and O2) are much better than others. You may need to rely on the phone in the house, the number of which is 01644 450 263.

Food
All food is vegetarian and freshly prepared for each meal. Bought-in food is supplemented with produce from the garden when it’s in season and abundant.
Apart from meals, a variety of hot drinks, juice, spreads, oatcakes and fruit are always available on a serve-yourself basis.
Special diets are for anyone who requires anything other than vegetarian meals which are likely to include wheat, dairy products, nuts and seeds.

NB: You must tell us your dietary needs at the time of booking. Requests will be confirmed by phone when your booking is received. Unfortunately, Laurieston Hall cannot cater for people who have severe, life-threatening food allergies.

The costs at Laurieston Hall are kept down by asking visitors to help a resident cook with preparing meals and with washing up and other duties. On this week there will be no visitor help required to prepare lunch. This will mean that the whole group can work together every morning. There will be workshops and some time off in the afternoons and evenings every day.

For more detailed information about the week:

www.aliburns.co.uk
www.wendystewart.co.uk
www.armsakimbo.co.uk
www.pollybolton.co.uk
www.scottishbooktrust.com/contacts/tony-bonning

Costs:

£460 fully residential, waged
£441 waged camping rate (for staying in own tent or camper van)
£420 waged discount for own B & B (assumes the person is eating breakfast at their B&B)

£380 fully residential, medium waged
£355 medium waged camping rate (for staying in own tent or camper van)
£344 medium waged discount for own B & B (assumes the person is eating breakfast at their B&B)

£310 fully residential, rate for those on benefits/ long term low income
£291 low income camping rate (for staying in own tent or camper van)
£280 low income discount for own B & B (assumes the person is eating breakfast at their B&B)

A deposit of £80 is required when you book.
This is non-returnable unless we manage to fill your place.

 
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