Page 23 - Bulletin #67 - November 2020

The Findhorn Foundation Community during the

Pandemic
Lorraine Rytz-Thériault

The Findhorn Foundation Community is an eclectic collection of individuals, families,
businesses, and organizations, located in and around The Park Ecovillage, Findhorn,
North Scotland. We are an interwoven mix of Findhorn Foundation co-workers and
independent persons, generally aligned with the global transformational work of the
Foundation. Exploring community living, and our individual and collective connection to
Spirit, we live, work, play and worship together as one diverse international,
intergenerational and interspecies (human, animal, and non-physical) conglomerate. We
consider ourselves a caring community, where relationships are nurtured and family,
friends, neighbors, colleagues and guests are valued. Our community of approximately
500 persons has the scale and complexity of a small village, while still affording us the
comforts (and challenges) of a large extended family.

The arrival of Covid-19 with subsequent governmental lock-down conditions has had its
own transformational effect on daily routine. It has given rise to fears for what our
indeterminable future may hold, along with the precious gift of needing to be fully
present in each moment as we make decisions not only for ourselves, but also for the
community.
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Much of our internal economy is tied to our being an educational and demonstrational
site. So the cancellation of multiple guest programs, courses, and conferences has had
wide reaching effects, not only for the organizations but also for those individuals who
rely on such activities for their livelihood. Those more fortunate continue with their paid
work, many have temporarily been placed on furlough, while others now struggle with
interrupted income. The steps our organizations are taking to combat this include
sharing their funding sources (governmental or charitable) and supporting those
qualified to apply for grants. Our small businesses are maintaining services as best they
can with staff working remotely and our shops are keeping shelves stocked and offering
home deliveries. On a smaller yet full-hearted scale, private individuals are sharing with
those in need both monetarily and in-kind. For example, extra contributions have been
received by our Abundance Fund and donations to our local Food Bank servicing the
whole region against food poverty, continue with full force.

As a mature community (58th anniversary this year!) our social structure is well
developed. Many of our social programs and services are overseen by our community
organization, the New Findhorn Association (NFA), and are delivered by volunteers. In
fact, the vast majority of our residents volunteer in some capacity, whether it be
neighbour helping neighbour, in working groups, or in holding Committee or Trustee
positions. The very infrastructure that holds all this together is run on dynamic volunteer
power!

Addressing the serious health risk that Covid-19 brings, our People Care Circles, which