About The Dorothy Kerin Trust
A natural approach to healing
About the Trust
The Dorothy Kerin Trust is a charitable trust dedicated to supporting physical, mental and spiritual therapy and healing for the public benefit in Kent and East Sussex.
The Trust does this through the funding and support of Christian-based or Christian-led charities, community groups, startups and organisations, preventing and relieving suffering through activities such as:
- the provision of outdoor space for healthy recreation and wellbeing
- counselling and medical therapy
- advancement of the Christian faith for the benefit of the public in Kent and East Sussex, including the provision of chaplaincy services
The trust aims to enact Dorothy Kerin’s legacy through its creation of a funding platform that supports initiatives that fit the values and vision Dorothy had for physical, mental and spiritual therapy and healing.
Our aims for the future are:
- To change our focus from buildings to provision of outdoor space for healthy recreation, counselling and medical therapy to prevent and relieve physical and/or mental illness
- To continue the partnership between religion and medicine, initiated by Dorothy Kerin, through the provision of chaplaincy services.
- To work with others who are doing God’s work with local communities which are struggling in Kent and East Sussex by giving financial support in the form of grants
To date, the trust has invited applications from pre-selected organisations. The Trust is now warmly inviting applicants to apply by checking eligibility through our eligibility questionnaire and, if successfully meeting the criteria, to make an application to the trust.
Grants have been given to a range of projects including:
- the creation of an outdoor garden area at a community centre serving two deprived areas in Kent
- provision of a potting shed and storage area for tools to a church which outreaches to the homeless
- funding for a bursary fund for a Christian counselling service
- a project worker at Rochester Cathedral to develop the grounds outside for the benefit of a wide range of users
About Dorothy Kerin
Our Founder, Dorothy Kerin, was born on 28 November 1889 to William and Emily Kerin in Walworth, East London. Her father died in 1902 and Dorothy, who was particularly close to her father and greatly affected by his death, became very ill. At the age of 15 she had diphtheria and spent time in isolation hospital and then at a convalescence home. On returning home, she remained very ill, and developed pneumonia and pleurisy, followed by tubercular peritonitis and meningitis. In early 1912 she was unconscious and blind for two weeks and doctors warned her mother that death was imminent.
On 18 February 1912 she was very close to death. Her doctors at the time, as well as her mother and sister, have confirmed this, as well as Dorothy herself. In Dorothy’s own words:
“The Living Lord laid his hand upon my life and restored me to perfect health and wholeness in the twinkling of an eye. My healing was instantaneous and complete; there was no weakness or convalescence.” She was able to get up and walk unassisted and she went downstairs to get herself a substantial meal. As a result of Dorothy’s complete restoration to health, she stated her commitment to support others in need:
“I have been entrusted with a message to the whole world, a promise of healing to the sick, comfort to the sorrowing and faith to the faithless.”
Homes of Healing
Dorothy spent the next 17 years preparing for her life’s work, mainly in the home of Doctor Langford-James, a teacher and priest. She then set about opening homes of healing, all of which had a Chapel as the centre, the heart of her work, and every decision was underpinned by prayer. The first, in 1929, was a rented space, St Raphael in Ealing, London, for “the weary in spirit and those convalescing from illness.” Dorothy oversaw all the decorations and furnishings, and each guest was welcomed with a vase of beautiful flowers arranged by her. Chapel House quickly followed in 1930 – 1948 and was registered as a nursing home, which began the partnership between religion and medicine. Dorothy always stressed that these two instruments of God’s power must work hand in hand in a harmonious and fruitful relationship.
Burrswood in Groombridge, Kent, opened in September 1948 as Dorothy’s long-term focus for her future and ongoing healing ministry. A weekly healing service was held in a small chapel in the main building and included the laying on of hands and a new wing, St Faith’s, opened ten years later. The Church of Christ the Healer was dedicated on 14 May 1960, and four services of healing a week were held. Many people stayed with a range of illnesses, physical, mental and spiritual, and were cared for by nurses and doctors and chaplains working as an integrated team. Many visitors have commented on the therapeutic benefits of the beautiful grounds. Dorothy died on 26 January 1963 in her home at Burrswood.
In order to continue Dorothy’s work of Christian healing, the Dorothy Kerin Trust was first registered as a charity in the 1970s, and continued to operate at Burrswood as a 40 bedded hospital until 2016 for patients needing nursing, physiotherapy, rehabilitation after surgery, respite care and palliative care. Financial pressures, including changes required by the Care Quality Commission, led to a reduction in beds to 12 for rehabilitation and respite care. Visitors continued to be able to stay in the Guest Wing and the café at one end of the building thrived. Throughout this time, twice weekly services of healing were held in the Church of Christ the Healer, open to all.
Sadly, by 2018, Burrswood became financially unsustainable, and the very difficult decision had to be made by the Board of Trustees to go into administration in April 2019. A Service of Thanksgiving and Farewell to Burrswood was held in the Church of Christ the Healer on Sunday 22 September 2019.
During the time of administration, trustees continued to meet to pray and consider the future and to work closely with the administrator. Online meetings (due to Covid) were held with several Christian organisations to help inform the way forward.
The charity came out of administration in April 2021 and with £3 million in the bank, after all financial obligations had been fully met. The Dorothy Kerin Trust is now managed by a group of seven experienced Trustees, chaired by Mr Simon Joyce.
