Like many similar ministries, because of the Coronavirus Pandemic, Capernwray is sadly having to reduce its operations for the foreseeable future. With us having no option but to cancel the Spring Holiday Programme and Spring Bible School, since 1st April the majority of our staff are now on furlough, under the Government’s Job Retention Scheme – for which we are hugely thankful. We are maintaining only a skeleton staff (mostly working from home), to cover the essential administrative, financial and site maintenance tasks until we are able to prepare for and resume running programmes at Capernwray. We do not know what the future holds, but we know the One who holds the future, and we trust and pray that we will be able to open up our doors again sooner rather than later.
We realise this raises questions, which we endeavour to answer below. Thank you for your patience with us while things take longer as we adjust to these unforeseen circumstances.
Will you be running the Summer Holiday Programme? Can I book? What about the booking I have made?
Our Summer programme is due to start in late June and end in early September. It is too early to tell whether we shall be able to run all or any of those holidays. We intend to make a decision by Monday 18 May. Meanwhile, we shall not be taking new bookings, we shall not be processing any which have recently been submitted to us, and we shall not be asking for payment of any deposits or balances which would otherwise be due. If we need to cancel any part of the Summer programme, we shall be in touch with those who have a confirmed booking to offer a full refund of any payments made. If, as we hope, we are able to deliver at least some of a Summer programme, we shall announce when bookings have re-opened, and restart processing then.
What about the New Year Starter 2020?
We are accepting bookings for our New Year Starter 2020 as normal. We are aware that some recent bookings have not yet been completed – please bear with us until we reach your query.
Will you be running Winter Bible School 2020-21?
We hope very much that we shall be able to run Winter Bible School as usual and for that reason we are still processing applications through the online portal. We request that you pay your deposit as usual. If we need to cancel Term 1 (September to December 2020), we shall let you know by Monday 3 August. At that time we shall be able to explain options such as refunds, postponement of the start date or deferral.
What about refunds for the Ladies Conferences, Connect and Spring Bible School?
Our Holidays and Bible School Administration staff are still in place to arrange the refunds (or deferrals) which need to be made. If you have not heard from us already about your refund options, please complete the online form here.
What about Voluntary Workers for Summer 2020 and Long Term 2020-21?
If you have already been accepted to work with us as a Voluntary Worker, we will hold on to your application unless you let us know that you would like to withdraw it. You will appreciate that we are not in a position to confirm start dates, so please do not make any travel arrangements until we get back in touch with you. If you have not yet applied, you may still do so by applying here, then we will hold your application and process it in due course, so that when we are in a position to confirm the dates our programme is running, we can be in touch with you again.
Are you offering any sort of online Bible School?
Because so much of the value of the Capernwray learning experience is rooted in community we are not going to try and replicate the Bible School experience online. Our website does, however, contain details of online resources that can be freely accessed, including five Capernwray Bible School teaching series on our YouTube channel. If you haven’t already, we strongly recommend you sign up for our weekly newsletter, which will keep you posted with all news and developments. Please consider joining us at Capernwray in the future as a student or holiday guest – we would love to see you when all this is over!