St Elizabeth’s Centre, a registered charity founded and administered by the Congregation of the Daughters of the Cross of Liege, may have grown and developed since it opened in 1903, but it has always kept its very personalised service for adults and children and the ethos of the founding Sisters still permeates the Centre. 

 

The Centre employs over 600 staff but the Congregation still has a presence on site with a small convent and members of the religious community make a positive contribution to the work of the Centre.  St Elizabeth's also has its own Chapel and Catholic Chaplain, and welcomes clergy from other denominations and faiths in providing spiritual and pastoral support to its clients.  The Centre also attracts volunteers from around the world who live and work on site for up to 12 months, making a diverse and vibrant contribution to life at St Elizabeth's.

 

St Elizabeth’s benefits from being very much a part of the local community and we also enjoy the support of people from the neighbouring towns and villages. 

 

One parent commented;

'you have the best of both worlds, you live in a beautiful country setting yet you are only fifteen minutes from the nearest town,  thirty five minutes by rail from London and thirty minutes from Stansted airport.'

 

Whilst the School, College and Home are all very different services with their own distinct premises, client groups, funding and staffing arrangements, they also work together within one overall Centre sharing a single centre-wide Senior Management Team with corporate support services such as Finance, IT, Personnel, Training, Domestic Services and Grounds and Property Maintenance.  This helps give a strong sense of belonging and community at St Elizabeth's and a shared sense of purpose amongst all staff and volunteers working there.

 

We have an ongoing fundraising programme to provide new buildings, improvements, specialist equipment, day trips and holidays, for which we receive no statutory funding.  To find out how you can help please see our Support Us page.

 

The Centre's Annual Report may be viewed here: Centre Annual Report and Accounts (PDF format 300k)