Newsletter February 2025

It is my pleasurable task as a trustee to write this, the latest newsletter, on behalf of the Dorothy Kerin Trust (DKT). When I was shaping the letter in my head these words of Jesus came into my mind and remained there. “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10.10). It seems to me that this is ultimately what Dorothy Kerin intended through her mission to ‘heal the sick, comfort the sorrowing and to give faith to the faithless’ – that the lives of all those whom she encountered, and who came to Burrswood, should become more abundant. As a group of trustees we regard ourselves as her successors and it is our intention to sustain her vision and pray that, through the variety of projects we support, the lives of those whom the projects serve will indeed be abundant.

As a relatively new charity we are having to feel our way into the new vision that has been presented by the emergence of the Dorothy Kerin Trust following the closure of Burrswood. We are fortunate to have a group of trustees who not only have a deep attachment either to Burrswood itself or to Dorothy Kerin’s vision, but who also encompass a set of skills from their previous activities and professional lives.

We are therefore delighted to welcome another new trustee to the team. Dr. Anthony Jones is a retired GP who, throughout his career, has had an interest in mental health, social prescribing and public health. During his working life he was also a GP tutor, an Associate Dean for Health Education England and the Clinical Director for Maidstone Central PCN (Primary Care Network). Tony’s interest in social prescribing has led to a passion for collaboration between Christian charities and statutory services so his inclusion in the current Board of Trustees will, give us the benefit of his experience and wisdom.

As regards our projects, we are pleased to update you on two of them. St. John’s Church, Chatham is engaged in a major refurbishment project to transform both the church building and the area surrounding it. The trustees have agreed to give a grant towards creating a community garden on either side of the church and the first tranche of the grant has now been given and we look forward to following the progress of the project.

The Corner Garden is a project initiated by Thanet Community Churches to create a garden area that will be multi-purpose and family friendly, offering a variety of activities and becoming a peaceful and welcoming open-air space. We are happy to have been able to offer a second grant to enable further development of the garden. There also are a number of new applications in the pipeline which will come under consideration at our trustee meetings. We are always looking for more however and would welcome applications that fulfil the criteria – that of being projects, based in Kent and East Sussex, that are rooted in the Christian faith and are all about increasing well-being in a holistic, whole-person way. This can be something as apparently mundane, yet essential, as providing toilet facilities, to creating or restoring gardens and outside spaces or to providing counselling and support to young people.

As always we are deeply grateful to our supporters and would ask that you pray for us as we pray for you. Please feel free to share this with anyone you feel might be interested or who has loved Burrswood and would be glad to know that Dorothy’s vision is still alive.

May God bless you.
Sarah Partridge
On behalf of the Dorothy Kerin Trustees.