What began as a scorching August has turned to trusty rain here in Borrowdale and we’re starting to see autumn creeping over the horizon. Here’s what’s coming up and some highlights from the past month… it’s busy busy!

🎻 Sunny Dancer ☀️

Hopefully you spotted on our socials that the Sunny Dancer team treated three of our Youth Voices Panel members, Mel, Chloe and Aimee, to an amazing three days in London at the film’s launch. If you haven’t seen Mel’s epic interview with George Jaques and Bella Ramsey, you can take a look here.

And our special Sunny Dancer screening is at the Keswick Alhambra on Friday 4th September. A “joyous celebration of youth”, Sunny Dancer is a heartfelt, uplifting coming-of-age story about resilience, friendship and discovering how to live life to the fullest. It features some familiar faces, including Bella Ramsey, Neil Patrick Harris, James Norton, Jessica Gunning and a very unexpected cameo… We’ve got you a post-show Q&A lined up and the chance to win t-shirts & goodie bags on the night.

Our thanks again to the Alhambra and True Brit for making this fundraising screening possible.

🥾 Lakes 5 Days 🧭

Our lovely neighbours and supporters Chris, Liz and Emma set up camp with a Flynne’s Barn stall at the Lakes 5 Days orienteering event, to catch participants as they passed through Borrowdale. They did some great fundraising and some great networking – thank you to those who stopped and donated!

🧘Yoga retreat🧘

On Sunday 23rd August, our friend Zael from Zael Moves held a Yoga Day Retreat at Flynne’s Barn, kindly splitting the proceeds with us. Here’s Zael’s take on the day:

“We spent the day nestled in the beauty of this place, moving slowly together in the cosy, intimate barn, swimming in a delightfully chilly river, and sharing good food and stories over a cuppa.

In a magic twist of luck, we could practise outside and bathe in warmth for the restorative flow and meditation practices. It was a real treat to let the sunshine soak into our skin, relax muscle and bones, feel a River Derwent shiver, rest our eyes on hundreds of shades of green, listen together to the sounds of the stream, birdsong, and rustling leaves, and offer ourselves exactly what we needed.”

We hope to host another in 2027 – we’ll let you know when booking opens.

🏃 September challenges ✈️

We’ve got a few new Flynne’s Barn legends in the making as we head into September.

On 12th September, Flynne’s aunt Nicola is taking on the incredible (but terrifying!) feat of jumping out of a plane to raise money for us 😱

And a day later, we’ve got Rebecca, Flora, Josh & Daniel representing us at the Great North Run. If you’re somewhere between Newcastle and Sunderland on Sunday 13th September, look out for Flynne’s Barn vests and give them a cheer!

🎨 August Stays🦉

Katherine’s reflection

With the heat this summer, our residential groups have enjoyed being outside and soaking up the beauty of the valley well into the long evenings. From watching young barn owls fledge, to seeing butterflies and striking hummingbird hawkmoths feeding on the plants by the barn, it’s been a delight and inspiration for nature lovers. Evening BBQs and cooking over the fire have been fun too.

The cooler, wetter weather heralds the autumn and now we see the house martins and swallows mustering for their migratory journeys.

This month, we had the pleasure of welcoming Jordan Worsfold to the barn, bringing his music and wisdom with words to our journaling workshop. There’s something wonderfully calming about taking five, settling into the barn or gardens, and simply sitting with your thoughts and observations. A practice many of our visitors take away and continue with beyond the barn.

We’ve also enjoyed some lovely landscape painting workshops lead by Jenny, with extraordinary pieces being created. It’s been wonderful to see everyone’s creativity unfold and the landscape interpreted in so many ways.

On 12th August, our visiting TCT Northwest group headed out to take in the eclipse. Armed with pin hole cameras, some ventured up into Comb Ghyll to gain some height for the show, whilst the rest of us enjoyed chilling on the boulders along the valley path. The sky was somewhat cloudy and the eclipse a little underwhelming, but we had such a lovely time chilling and chatting it was well worth it.

As always our brilliant volunteers are integral to keeping the show on the road. Thanks to each and everyone who has helped to make this summer season so vibrant and impactful.

We’re currently inviting applications from experienced Youth Workers to join the team as sessional staff.

Click here to find out more and apply.

And last but not least, a very warm welcome to Mel Kelly and Andy Hopkins who have both joined the Flynne’s Barn team this summer. Mel visited Flynne’s Barn in our first year. Since then, she has volunteered many times and has spread the word widely amongst the young cancer community about our services. Andy has recently moved to the area and brings with him a wealth of experience in business support and administration. We’re very lucky to have both of them on board!

That’s all from us for now. We do love to hear your news too – please always feel free to drop us any thoughts or updates.

With best wishes from all at Flynne’s Barn