'We cannot hold a torch to another's path without brightening our own.' - Ben Sweetland When Council Inspector Paul Clark visited the Peredur Trust in Cornwall over 20 years ago, he was under pressure to serve a legal notice to comply with various regulations or face closure. He expected to encounter a cult organization with weird and unpalatable practices. In the event, he found something quite different. As he says in his Foreword: 'I came to inspect - I stopped to evaluate - and I remained to admire!' Paul later became the Trust's chief executive. The Peredur Trust has been caring for disadvantaged and differently-abled individuals, effectively and successfully, for over 60 years. Siegfried Rudel, its President and one of its four founders, tells the story of how the impulse behind the organization - which is inspired by the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner - first transpired. But this is not simply the narrative and history of a single organization. Rather, this book represents a universal cultural impulse that embraces the needs of our time, and one that reappears today in many residential communities for people with special needs around the world.
In a fascinating presentation, and with the aid of many archival photographs, In the Light of the Lanthorn tackles interrelated themes including the arts, the environment, sustainability, agriculture and nutrition - all in the light of working with individuals with special needs.