Over many years the Bishop Woodford House Retreat and Conference Centre has played an important part in the life of the Diocese of Ely and the wider Church of England.
Regrettably, owing to the Covid-19 restrictions and the subsequent pressures this causes, a unanimous decision of The Bishops’ Council at a meeting on the 8 July 2020 was reached and the Ely Diocesan Board of Finance (Diocese of Ely) can now confirm that negotiations have been concluded to make the roles of eight members of Bishop Woodford House staff redundant. We wish all members of staff affected by this process the very best for the future.
We are conscious of the many people who will be disappointed by this decision, but wish to reiterate that it was reached due to the concerns over capacity to keep people safe, against a backdrop of severe financial pressure caused by the global pandemic.
Following this decision, we can advise that we have agreed terms with the Kings School, Ely, to rent the entire Retreat House premises as a “dry hire” for use as a quarantine premises for overseas students returning to school, prior to returning to their boarding houses. The current agreement is in place for the next 12 months, with the option to continue on a six month rolling basis.