Diane Louise Jordan opens new Arts & Crafts and Environment Centre
Diane Louise Jordan with the Bishop of Chelmsford
Songs of Praise and ex-Blue Peter presenter, Diane Louise Jordan, accompanied by the Bishop of Chelmsford, the Right Revd John Gladwin, has officially opened the brand new Arts & Crafts and Environment Centre at St Mark’s College, Audley End, Saffron Walden.
Diane Louise Jordan said “I am very impressed with the new centre and with the good work of St Mark’s College in helping people develop their physical, mental and spiritual capabilities”.
Jonathan Wayper, College Warden added: “We needed to extend our craft and art work with young people, as it is a fruitful, non-threatening way to allow sometimes difficult and challenging behaviour to be diverted into positive, shared results. We are going to use the new facility to further our work on environmental issues, and will include some astronomy.
The College of St. Mark has been operating since 1993 as the principal youth residential and conference centre for the Church of England in Essex and East London. Since then, over 40,000 young people have visited, either for residential courses or day visits. The live-in staff, consisting of young volunteers and a small permanent staff team, makes input into these visits in a variety of ways including outdoor activities, such as archery, trampolining, adventure course, low ropes courser and a range of team-building and initiative games, designed to extend and enhance their educational opportunities through the vital medium of “informal” education.
