Keswick Ministries’ Board of Trustees revealed the vision for its development plans, named The Derwent Project, in mid-November.
As part of this, Keswick Ministries (KM) acquired the former pencil factory site adjacent to its existing Rawnsley property in Keswick. The decision to purchase the site came as a result of KM’s continued growth.
At their bi-annual council meeting the charity’s trustees agreed the following development goals for The Derwent Project, in line with the ministry’s strategic purposes:
1. To run a larger three-week summer Convention on the integrated site. 2. To provide a more adequate operational centre for KM and, in due course, release the Skiddaw Street property for potential housing. 3. To have a permanent conference centre on the new site, which will allow KM to provide teaching and training events at different times of the year. This will also serve as a resource centre for churches in the UK and beyond, particularly serving Cumbria and the North, including Scotland.
In addition to serving KM’s purposes, the conference centre will provide a venue for other interested groups locally and beyond.
Exciting opportunity
John Risbridger, chair of the trustees, said: ‘As a council we are very excited about the opportunities The Derwent Project brings. Over the span of its 140-year history, the Keswick Convention has been an encouragement to hundreds of thousands Christians here in the UK as well as internationally. The Derwent Project will allow more people to join us and will provide our supporters with the much requested additional smaller scale teaching events at different times of the year.’
