Othona Bradwell News

July/August 2026 

 

Dear Members, Friends and Supporters of the Othona Community Bradwell

Welcome to our latest Newsletter!

 

——————–

 

PEOPLE NEWS

 

(Another) urgent call-out for volunteers!

 

With thanks to all who have already stepped up this year in so many wonderful and generous ways, the residential team at Bradwell are asking for your consideration and support as summer fast approaches.

You may be aware that the effects of Brexit mean international volunteers can only be with us for a maximum of 30 days, creating a significant ‘gaps’ in the capacity of the resident team.

 

There are the annual volunteering opportunities coming up to join the Team and help to carry the Community events through the rest of the summer. Maybe to support a weekend event as a team member, join in with activities for the school visits, or step up to assist with housekeeping for a turnaround day? The Centre is welcoming guests and community with constant, consecutive private and community events throughout the summer, so the availability you have to offer would be very welcome indeed!

 

Please get in touch with the dates you are available to volunteer in the usual way, by emailing Bradwell@othona.org

 

With thanks and best wishes 

Jenny 

Deputy Warden

 

Vacancy: Residential Team Member

Are you seeking a role that is more than just a job, but it is a way of life; living and working with others in an inclusive Christian community setting on the Essex Coast?

The Othona Community is seeking a full-time Residential Team Member to live and work on-site at the centre at Bradwell-on-Sea in Essex. 

Othona, Bradwell consists of accommodation for 60 guests in multiple occupancy bedrooms and yurts, as well as capacity for people to camp. Our facilities and kitchen can cater for up to 150 people. We offer a programme of events, retreats and group booking, with the average size of groups being between 30 – 60. 

What you will bring:

• An interest working alongside others of all ages to welcome all those who come to Othona
• Skills and experience in some or all of: household management, office admin, social media.
• Personal qualities of being organised, flexible, and adaptable; able to cope calmly in ever changing circumstances and to work cheerfully and collaboratively as part of our team
• A respect for our Christian basis and willingness to engage with people of all faiths and none 
• A commitment to safety and safeguarding

What we offer: 

• A chance to live and work in community in a varied role
• Simple rent-free accommodation in a beautiful coastal location with all meals, council tax and utility bills included
• A modest salary and contribution to a personal pension scheme
• Flexible hours with 2 days off per week; 28 days annual holiday (including Bank Holiday allowance)

If this may be the role you are looking for, please read the full job description and visit our website to find about more about us

To apply please send your CV and covering letter to Essexwarden@othona.org addressing these key questions:

• Why have you chosen to apply to Othona as a Residential Team Member?
  • How would you describe yourself and what would you bring to Othona (including any personal circumstances that are relevant)?
  • Please say something about your spiritual life and orientation

Timeline
Closing Date: Applications will be reviewed as they come in so please apply soon

If you are shortlisted, depending on your previous experience with Othona, you will need to both visit and volunteer with us at a mutually convenient date. As well as an introduction to the work, this allows you and the Othona team to get to know each other. Usually we would aim for two visits, and we would interview at the end of this process, if both you and Othona decide to go ahead with your application.

 

MEMBERSHIP NEWS 

 

Getting to and from Othona Bradwell – changes to bus timetable

 

The 45 bus service which goes from Southminster station to Bradwell King’s Head is changing from 27 July. It’s going to run an hour later in the afternoon (Southminster 15:54, arrival Bradwell 16:22). The good news is that it now also runs on Saturday as well (but not Sunday)!  

Please support the local bus service if you can.  We can collect you from the Kings Head in Bradwell village and bring you to the Othona site. Kindly book ahead with the office, to arrange a pick up from Bradwell. There is no charge for collection from the village.     

If the bus service is impossible for you, then there are a number of taxi services from Southminster/Burnham – but they do need to be booked in advance. Please see “travel tips” information on our website for local numbers.  

The core will pick guests up from Southminster but only as a “last resort” because it takes a member of the team an hour to do a run to Southminster, not to mention petrol costs.  So we really do encourage you to take the bus or taxi. If we do have to pick you up, then to help cover petrol costs, we are now asking you to make a generous donation towards the costs of collection. 

 

 Arrival time – no earlier than 4pm, please

 

In view of the pressure on the depleted team at the moment (plus the changes to the bus service above) our “check in” time is being moved from 3pm to 4pm for the summer months, taking effect from 27th July. We will review this approach for the winter, noting that people probably prefer to arrive and get settled in daylight. However the bus service is unlikely to change!

Switching up for summer – Sunday Brunch 

During the summer period, Ian will be piloting “Sunday Brunch”!  It will be a more relaxing start to the day for everyone, less heat in the kitchen (with not cooking a roast), and also less rushing around, clearing up before departures. Cereal & toast will be available, if people are up and about early.  

Important – food allergies/dietary requirements

     It is really important that we know in advance about any food allergies and dietary requirements (e.g vegan, gluten free). We need to know this at least two weeks before your stay.  Our food ordering and menus are planned two weeks ahead – if you tell us about a food issue on the day you arrive, then your food choices may be somewhat limited. Thank you!

New Othona Bradwell LinkedIn presence

As part of our ongoing efforts to spread the good news about the existence and mission of the Othona Community Bradwell, we have just established a presence on the professional networking site, LinkedIn. 

If you are on LinkedIn, please help us by following the page and promoting it to your contacts.

Thanks!

2026 PROGRAMME NEWS

 

80th Anniversary – August celebrations

 

Arrangements for our exciting fortnight of activities to celebrate and commemorate the Othona’s Community’s 80th Anniversary are almost finished! Many thanks to everyone who has helped plan and prepare for the wide range of activities and to those leading on and volunteering for them.

 

It’s coming to be a truly fantastic time! 

 

Overall themes:

Week 1, How we got here

Weekend, Party

Week 2, Where are we going?

 

The days before it all starts will be occupied with a great deal of setting up. If anyone has time, an Othona presence and even an entry or two, at the Bradwell Village Flower and Produce Show on Saturday 1st August would be a useful part of our ‘outreach to the local community’. 

 

The full programme will be posted on the Othona website in due course but here is a snapshot. 

 

Arrivals begin from 4.00pm on Monday 3rd. Chapel and discussion that evening will be led by Adam, Bishop of Bradwell. The rest of the week features work periods in the mornings, lots of art and creative activities and Simon and Sarah Thompson leading us through a medley of songs from eras of music weeks. Presentations will be from Jan Marshall and Brenda Motley, Colin Hodgetts, Paul Seckleman, Martin Riemer and Andrea Misler, with an almighty amount of reminiscing from everybody. The week is rounded off with Beer and Hymns led by Tim Fox.

 

Saturday and Sunday feature presentations by Andy Mellen (a Green Party Councillor and Leader of Mid Suffolk District Council), Tony Jaques, Mark Ringrose, A Rocha, with lots of singing, a band, a beach bonfire, and celebratory Chapel services.

 

Week 2 provides the same work periods and arty workshops and Colin Hodgetts introduces us to his revised ‘Othona Psalms’. He also leads us into discussion about ‘religionless Christianity’. Other presentations include Tim Fox, Andrea Misler, and Robbie Spence showing the National Emergency Briefing. Continuing with the environment theme we have Essex Wildlife Trust and of course our own Jonney sharing his knowledge with us on the site wildlife and the 11 Acres.  We’ll also have traditional Othona favourites such as “Answer Back” sessions themed around “Othona’s Future” and the Talent Show! 

 

We finish off on Saturday 15th with the Bradwell Open Meeting in the morning, where we’ll have a look back at the past two weeks and a look forward to the future.

 

Ahead of the 80th Anniversary fortnight, a line of block colours has appeared in the Motley building. 

 

For a community to have survived for 80 years is a major achievement. It deserves to be remembered, recorded, celebrated, and then for us to look to the future of how it may continue and develop.

 

There have been ups, downs, losses and laughter. We want to celebrate these, and the people who have made this community, the landscape we are part of and our progress.

 

As part of our preparations for the 80th Anniversary two weeks in August we painted a timeline through the Motley building. Every band of colour represents a decade of Othona’s life. The idea is to populate this time line with your memories and memorabilia.

 

We need…. your input.

 

Look in your personal Othona archive to find treasures like photos, artworks, writing, past newsletters, graphics, oral history and music (using QR codes).

We will curate these items, before and during the celebration weeks. 

 

We are looking for items that relate to Othona and your time here. As some of these items will be precious and maybe old and fragile, we ask that you send or

bring photocopies for us to put up on the timeline. Please send items directly to Othona Bradwell Office (bradwell@othona.org), preferably before 1st August.

 

The time line will be public and in situ for some time to come, it will serve as a reminder of what we have achieved and what our dreams/ideas are for the future. It will also be a good introduction to the Othona Community for any newcomer.

 

During August we will be producing artworks that reflect Othona and its memories and how Othona people see the future.

 

However long or short you have come to Othona, we want you to be part of this!

 

And finally, some thoughts from Steve Barnes

 

People can be excused for dismissing Christianity. The Bible’s very first words, appropriately, are “In the beginning…” and goes on to tell you that the Earth was created in six days. “Well, what a load of rubbish!” OK, let’s turn to the New Testament. Page one, the story of a virgin birth! “Impossible! I’ll give up there!” Yet the church since the 4th century has promulgated these myths and defined Christianity by what you believe and not what you are or what you do.

 

Let’s get past these initial hurdles and reach for the crux of Jesus’s teaching. Matthew, writer of the first Gospel, gathers many of Jesus’s sayings into three chapters (5,6 and 7) commonly called The Sermon on the Mount. It starts with eight blessings, given to the poor, the bereaved, the humble, the just, the forgiving, the persecuted. Then it goes on lest people are feeling smug about how law-abiding they are; “Sure, you haven’t murdered anyone, but I say holding a grudge against someone is just as bad.” “You may not have actually committed adultery, but if you have as much as looked at someone with desire, you have committed adultery in your heart.” “ OK, you love your neighbour, but I tell you to love your enemy as well.” “If you do a good deed, don’t brag about it, keep it a secret.” And so much more.

 

What Christians ‘should’ believe has been argued over for 2000 years but, putting that aside, Jesus shows us a way of living. Faith is not about belief but about trust and commitment.

 

So, all you Othona-ites, we are challenged not to dismiss Christianity but invited to dig deeper and take Jesus’s words seriously. He also said, “Deny yourself (i.e. drop your ego and your pride) and follow me.” Living this way is a very tall order but would make for a happy community and a happier world.

 

Blessings,

 

Steve