National and international Camphill movement supports co-workers
A wave of support is arriving from the world of Camphill. Co-workers in England's CVT communities are receiving enquiries and support from Camphill communities and bodies across the globe. Many have previously asked CVT to engage with co-workers and stakeholders to find creative and collaborative solutions. However, CVT still holds on to its decision of 13 May of moving over fifty co-workers into employment or out of the community; is employing more and more staff and has now sent letters to all co-workers requesting individual meetings by 15 October to explore employment in a restructured CVT community or leaving their community. CVT's management team is now in control and vocational co-workers completely disenfranchised, and they may soon be non-existent in CVT communities.
Listen here to a BBC Radio Interview regarding Botton with an appeal to CVT to pause and talk to co-workers and other stakeholders before making substantial changes to the community. Below are the letters of support for co-workers and calls on CVT to pause and talk to those who are holding on to Camphill values:
- The Camphill Village Trust of Norway, representing the 6 communities in Norway
- The Camphill Association of North America, representing 11 communities in the US and Canada
- The Core Group of the Camphill Movement Group, representatives of the worldwide Camphill movement
- The Camphill Northern Region Association, representing all Camphill places in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia and Latvia
- The Camphill Middle European Region, representing France, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic and Poland
- The Camphill Communities of Ireland, representing 18 communities in Ireland
- The Board of Directors of Camphill Special School, USA
- The Loch Arthur Camphill Community, Scotland
- The Association of Camphill Communities (AoCC) in the UK and Ireland
- The Lantern community, UK
- Anthroposophical Society in America SE Pennsylvania Branch
What is dialogue - and what isn't?
"We have, and so has the worldwide Camphill movement, appealed to CVT to pause and begin fair and open facilitated dialogue with its stakeholders. This has not happened so far even though CVT is claiming the opposite – this is not true. One-to-one discussions with the locality manager about individuals becoming employed or leaving Botton is an integral part of CVT’s restructuring program and cannot be presented as an offer of dialogue. There has so far been no debate about the issue arising from CVT’s letter to us of 13 May 2014 (that all co-workers must become employees or leave the community). This was a monumental decision in the context of a Camphill community and it is most unusual that the trustees of a Camphill charity should simply impose this onto our communities without real debate. Therefore, CVTs claim that this is evolution and not revolution is also untrue; the process is driven from the board of trustees and implemented by the management team with speed and pressure, quite the opposite of an evolutionary process.
We want to find creative solutions to the important questions affecting our community and charity, which we understand well, but we, like other stakeholders expect to be part of an inclusive collaborative process. This naturally requires the cessation by CVT of their current restructuring and recruitment; it is not an unreasonable request that CVT ceases the implementation of its new system as this is the very thing being debated, and continuing regardless would demonstrate contempt for stakeholders and for the process."