Aylesford, Kent, United Kingdom
The Friars, Aylesford
A Carmelite house founded in 1242, lost at the Reformation in 1538 and bought back by the Carmelites in 1949. Its Grade I listed medieval ranges and 20th-century shrine chapels form a working friary, retreat house and place of pilgrimage.
The Friars is an independent charity that says it is not financially supported by the Catholic Church and costs over 2,000 pounds a day to keep open. A chapel roof repair program estimated at 350,000 pounds has begun, on top of continuous repairs to the medieval and modern buildings. Its 2024 accounts say the estate is too large to be maintained from local income alone.
Before you act. The donations page is undated and no dated report of the roof program was found. The larger fundraising total is a long-running general fund, not a time-limited campaign.
Last checked 8 November 2026. Parts of this entry could not be fully confirmed; see the note above. Responsible body: The Friars, Aylesford (registered charity 1068518).
Chilworth, United Kingdom
For 2026 the monks are running the Abbot Paulinus Silver Jubilee Thanksgiving Appeal, aiming to raise £6,000 to fund six months of accompanying young men from poorer parts of South America who are discerning a Benedictine vocation (travel, pastoral visits and practical support), so that poverty does not decide whether someone can test a vocation.
near Ryde, United Kingdom
The abbey's 'Two Abbeys Project' aims to secure both the modern abbey and the medieval ruins before the 900th anniversary in 2032. It lists repairs to church windows and roof leadwork, a full repair of the Old House roof, then the cloister ranges and guesthouse, and consolidation of the ruins; grants require match funding the monks must find. The abbey says running costs exceed 1 million pounds a year and that a guesthouse refurbishment is planned.