We are keen to welcome as many people as possible to the Lyn’s House community, in whatever way/capacity. The process for all who are interested (as friends, residents, volunteers &/or supporters) is one of mutual discernment in relation to the needs and capacity of the wider community and what’s going on at any given point in time.
Become a Core Friend
Our Core Friends are at the heart of Lyn’s House. Each week, small groups of our Core Friends, Residents and Volunteers gather at Lyn’s House to share a meal, pray, chat, sing and relax together. Our Core Friends are people with a range of learning difficulties. Some of our Core Friends have been involved since the foundation of Lyn’s House in the summer of 2013, and so carry an significant part of our story and ethos of our community and help pass that on.
The way of sharing hospitality and friendship in Lyn’s House is within groups and this means that sadly it is sometimes not a good fit for people who need largely individual space and attention.
If the idea of sharing a meal with people you have not met before sounds a little daunting, fear not! In addition to the weekday meals, we hold a monthly tea party, to which the whole Lyn’s House community of Core Friends, Volunteers, Residents, Trustees and supporters are warmly welcomed. This is a great chance to find out a bit more about who we are and what we do, whilst sharing in delicious cakes and drinks. We sometimes do crafts together, and games and other activities are often available to participate in. If you, or someone you know, are interested in joining us as a Core Friend, coming along to a tea party is likely to be the first step.
Email us to find out more
“I love the kitchen because it is welcoming…I love bringing things and I’ve learned to cook. I like being in the prayer room together, too. I have a sense of God’s peace and presence there. You guys mean a lot to me.” (A Core Friend)
“It’s somewhere she hasn’t got carers and she hasn’t got us: she can just be Lizzie. Everywhere else – even at home with us – there are certain rules, expectations or contractual obligations. At Lyn’s House she’s free: she just goes in and treats it as if it were her home. It’s hard to say how much it means to her because it means so much. I honestly can’t think of anywhere else she’d rather go or be: except, perhaps, her sister’s or brother’s. It’s very, very important to her. And part of it is because it’s a place where she can be at home in faith.” (Parent of a Core Friend)
Become a Volunteer
Our Volunteers are an important part of of Lyn’s House. There are different ways to get involved, from coming to monthly tea parties on Sunday afternoons, to joining a small midweek group which meets over a simple meal fortnightly during university term. This has been a formative and transforming experience for many of our Volunteers past and present.
To find out more, please drop an email to Carole Irwin, our recruitment lead.
“I don’t think I would have survived the constant pressures of study and college without my times at Lyn’s House. Even at the end of a long day, when it’s sometimes felt like the last thing I wanted to do, I always came away feeling refreshed and strangely transformed.” (Volunteer)
“Lyn’s House has become a kind of second home for me – not because I’ve ever lived there, but because of how the community accepts all of its members as we are. Like a home, Lyn’s House is a place where it is safe for me to be exhausted or frustrated or down, as long as I live in the present and keep on trying. Like a home, Lyn’s House has been a constant in my life despite Cambridge’s constant churn of terms, students, fieldwork, holidays, and visitors. Like a home, the Lyn’s House family cares less about what I am and more about who I am.” (Volunteer)
Become a Resident
Are you a student, recent graduate or a young adult looking for a place to live and belong?
Live in Cambridge as part of a small Christian community and share in a ministry of friendship centred on adults with learning disabilities.
You would be part of a small praying Christian community, with two other people, and closely involved in helping build community among people with and without intellectual disabilities across the wider, non-residential Lyn’s House community. You’ll be supported by our Volunteers and Trustees.
The intentional community lives in a comfortable, shared house in extensive grounds on Grange Road, a quiet street close to the city centre. The house is also a place of hospitality for the wider Lyn’s House community.
Please get in touch if you’re interested in future possibilities.
Send an email telling us a bit about yourself.
“I feel so fortunate to have stumbled across Lyn’s House….to say it has been affirming and life-changing would hardly do it justice” Patrick, former Resident
“ I can honestly say my living in Lyn’s House has been one of the most important things I’ve ever done in my life… It’s made me more of who I am.”
– Lyn’s House Resident
Become a supporter
In just 7 years, the network of people connected to Lyn’s House has extended across Cambridge, the UK and even abroad in places as far afield as Germany, Singapore and the USA. We have a strong network of supporters involved in churches, community organisations and schools too. We keep in touch with our supporters by sending periodical news updates via email, inviting them to tea parties and other events. We also greatly value the prayers of our Supporters in sustaining our small charity and the work we do. If you would like to be included in the email distribution list please contact us by email.
Become a Donor
Lyn’s House is very grateful for donations to help fund the running costs of the meals, tea parties and taxi expenses for our friends. We are a small charity to whom a small donation makes a really big difference. We also have some larger funding needs to which large donations would be hugely appreciated. Please click on Donate Now if you would like to either make a regular monthly donation, or a one-off donation. If you are interested in leaving a legacy in your will then please contact us by email.
Lyn’s House is the working name for the Cambridge Friendship Trust, a charitable incorporated organisation registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales with registration number 1187876. The registered office is: The Lodge, 12-14 Grange Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DE.
lynshouse.org 