Biography
We are The Community of St Anthony & St Elias, an organisation in Devon working with people with mental health conditions.
A community of people, living and sharing their lives together.
What unites everyone here is the desire to move on and get on with their life - living together with people and all the interaction and support that goes with that, relating to each other as equals, exercising choices and coping with responsibilities that come with it.
We believe one of the real motivations in life is enjoyment. Fulfilment and happiness are the rights of everyone and the Community places a lot of emphasis on activity, from domestic, social, cultural and educational to even preparation for work, giving you the opportunity to contribute to whatever level you feel you can.
Core Beliefs
We believe one of the real motivations in life is enjoyment. Fulfilment and happiness are the rights of everyone and the Community places a lot of emphasis on activity, from domestic, social, cultural and educational to even preparation for work, giving you the opportunity to contribute to whatever level you feel you can.
Our Ethos
We are wary of religious descriptions of the Community but it should be said that what is so different about it originates in a theological understanding of people and a deep concern with the inherent dignity of every human being, however vulnerable.
We work with people coming from situations of legal or physical constraint. Our principle resource in this consists in restoring to them the ordinary dynamics of domestic life, self-support and human interaction. In this context the issues of relating to others as equals, the exercise of rights and choices and the recognition of responsibilities are fundamental.
The Community is not an alternative to other treatments, but offers a different setting in which conventional treatments can work.
We believe that one of the key motivations of human life is enjoyment. We thus put a great emphasis on our wide range of activities that are social, cultural and educational. This is enhanced by our Outdoor Activities programme, which seeks to provide adventure and fun as well as fostering physical health.
In a society which lays tremendous importance on employment, we seek to encourage preparation for work. Even where self support through employment will never be possible, it is vital that people have the opportunity to contribute. An example of this is our ten year relationship with the National Trust in work projects of lasting importance and of a high standard, in which those involved can take real pride.
Fulfilment and happiness are the rights of everyone. By providing a rich and varied life style in a supportive and caring environment, we aim to make this ideal a reality.