What we value

Treating people with dignity and respect: We value every person and celebrate who they are. We do not just tolerate diversity, but actively embrace it in our communities. A key way we demonstrate dignity and respect is by being fully present to each other when we are together and listening deeply to one another.

Friendliness and welcome: We are deeply committed to building friendships together, which calls us to live life with a joyful and grateful spirit. A key way we demonstrate friendliness and welcome is by offering meaningful invitation and welcome to newcomers, and also to each other, on a daily basis.

Empathy: We are committed to understanding and sharing the feelings of one another. We prioritise the qualities of compassion, caring, and kindness to nurture empathy. A key way we demonstrate empathy is through the quality of the shared life we build together.

Integrity: We strive to have integrity in everything we do and in every relationship we build. We seek to be authentic and honest, trustworthy and open, because to build meaningful relationships we need to reveal who we are. A key way we demonstrate integrity is through our willingness to be both vulnerable and courageous.

Commitment to community building: We choose to share life together rather than merely work together. Sharing life means we create mutual relationships with one another and also share responsibility for the life and wellbeing of the community as a whole. We practice forgiveness and celebration, and create places of belonging that are open to all who share our mission and values. A key way we demonstrate our commitment to community building is through our nurturing of our shared spirituality expressed through the community traditions and practices that shape our daily life together.

Openness to reflection, learning and growth: We are personally committed to growth and development in the dimensions of L’Arche identity and mission, and also support the growth of the whole community by nurturing the gifts of each person, creating a learning culture together and being attentive to our personal and communal spiritual life. A key way we demonstrate our commitment to learning is the frequency and quality of our personal and group reflective practices and processes.

Commitment to the vision and mission of L’Arche: We actively engage in all dimensions of the L’Arche mission and practice, both personally and communally. We demonstrate our commitment as people with and without learning disabilities sharing in life together through engaging in our local neighbourhoods, and the wider world, to shape a more human society.

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Ismayil's story

‘I think L’Arche is one of those places where you can change the world, and changing the world starts with changing yourself.’
Henri Nouwen

In the summer of 1985 Henri Nouwen left his role as a professor at Harvard Divinity School and joined the L’Arche community in Trosly-Brueil, France. Henri spent nine months living and sharing in life with people with and without learning disabilities. At the end of this period of discernment, Henri joined the L’Arche Daybreak community in Canada to serve as their pastor, where he lived until his death in 1996.
Thérèse Vanier

Thérèse Vanier established the first L’Arche community in the UK, in Canterbury, in 1974. In the 1960s she became the first female consultant at St Thomas’ hospital in London. She was a pioneer in palliative care, working with Cicely Saunders at St Christopher’s Hospital in London. Colleagues agree that it was Thérèse who did more than anyone else to bring the principles and practice of palliative medicine to a wider francophone world.