The Le Fosso Centre is celebrating its 30th year!
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From the beginning of the Le Fosso Centre, its aim has been to create and provide accommodation open to all. It has been designed to welcome without exception disabled people, the elderly or people with any special needs in the same way as young people, families, school groups and clubs.
Mike and Hilary, the owners, have over the years renovated and improved an old farm and its buildings, created gardens and pathways, car-parks and areas devoted to relaxation. After four periods of renovation, the centre now boasts 35 beds in 14 bedrooms and has welcomed more than 1000 groups since it opened to the public in 1991. In 2015 the centre received full recognition for its accessibility with the award of the certification “Tourisme et Handicap”. It received the rare distinction of being validated for all disabilities; physical, learning, visual and auditory. This was in addition to the Centre's certification for youth and school groups. |
The centre has never ceased to reach out beyond the village of Gomené, making links with local tourism organisations, sports facilities, tourist attractions and businesses. It offers themed and immersive visits including the discovery of the local area, from the Pays du Mené and the centre of Brittany, to the north and south coasts.
Over the years, the team around Mike and Hilary has grown to number seven part-time employees, all having diverse skills and abilities which complement one another. Friends, partners (those providing services from which the centre benefits), faithful supporters and new supporters surround this hub and bring their own energies. For the past 18 months we have been reflecting on the future evolution of the centre, the development of new activities and the transmission of the business. Rather than seeking to sell the existing entity to an outside organisation we began to explore the possibility of creating a cooperative which would maintain the values and ideas of the past with new energies and with new momentum for the future.
Over the years, the team around Mike and Hilary has grown to number seven part-time employees, all having diverse skills and abilities which complement one another. Friends, partners (those providing services from which the centre benefits), faithful supporters and new supporters surround this hub and bring their own energies. For the past 18 months we have been reflecting on the future evolution of the centre, the development of new activities and the transmission of the business. Rather than seeking to sell the existing entity to an outside organisation we began to explore the possibility of creating a cooperative which would maintain the values and ideas of the past with new energies and with new momentum for the future.
Strong principles and shared values for a transition towards a cooperative
Réflexion partagée - novembre 2018 : orientation et vision collective | |
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- Social inclusion: Through its different activities the coopertive wishes to reinforce its role and make its mark as an example and promoter of social inclusion. For example, one of the activities within the Le Fosso Cooperative is a Digital Resource Centre and it will be providing digital services for the local community, developing an educational role for young people in their use of social media, or helping older people access digital services. Also, by facilitating access to cultural events in a rural setting by providing a meeting place for social interaction and the creation of social links across the generations.
- Breaking social isolation: by participating in the local cultural and associative scene, the cooperative wishes to facilitate and organise events. The objective is to make Le Fosso a "Living Social Space", encourage social interaction, mutual support and the sharing of human and material resources.
- Accessibility for all: the centre and its services guarantee an accessibility, both physical and social, to all. We will continue to improve disability access on the site and to develop links with organisations which have similar aims.
- Taking care of the planet: the new coopertive will continue to work towards having the lowest possible impact on the environment. The objective is to think about how to reduce this impact by making positive choices. For example, the choice of energy providers, the use of local and organic suppliers, and through effective recycling systems, rainwater storage, dry toilets etc.
- Taking care of one another: this principle has been deep in the DNA of the business since it was created. It can be found in the very choice of a cooperative as a legal structure, in all the activities and objectives mentioned above, and in the desire to develop activities with a link to well-being and reconnection with nature.
- Sharing resources equitably: Through making the centre's facilities available to diverse activities, and the equal remuneration of the employees, this last principle will be constantly present in the organisation of the cooperative.
Contacts
Tel. (0033) 296 28 47 97 / (0033) 615 26 96 24
E-mail: [email protected]
Postal address: Centre de Séjour Le Fosso, 22 230 Gomené, FRANCE
E-mail: [email protected]
Postal address: Centre de Séjour Le Fosso, 22 230 Gomené, FRANCE