The Monastery Guesthouse: The Year in Review 2

Dom Brendan Thomas • December 31, 2020

New Guests for Hedley Lodge

We were all thrown into confusion with the arrival and spread of the coronavirus at the beginning of the year. In March, almost as soon as the crisis started, we were approached by Herefordshire Council to ask if we would take the homeless in to Hedley Lodge.

It immediately seemed the right thing we should do. Our guesthouse is usually put to a different use for those coming on retreat or as a convenient place to stay in the locality. We have quite a mix of people through our doors at the best of times. But while St Benedict calls us to welcome all as Christ, he says “great care and concern are to be shown in receiving poor people and pilgrims, because in them more particularly Christ is received; our very awe of the rich guarantees them special respect.” It seemed absolutely the right thing to do to help at a moment of crisis even if we were not sure how it would work out.

From the beginning it was clear that we would not be required to provide food, but all our rooms were made available as accommodation. Sadly, we have had to reduce our regular staff, having supported them during the summer, but we have had two full time staff, Dawn and Maxine looking after our new guests, with occasional help from others. The whole project has worked very well. The increased stability it has given some has helped them get back into work.

Many of them were away with family over Christmas, but those who remained had a beautiful Christmas lunch prepared by our cook, Sue.

It seems probable that the current arrangement will continue until March, and then we will look at refurbishing the guesthouse ready to receive our regular guests whom we know are waiting to return. The Council are looking into a long-term solution to housing the homeless. There is still much uncertainty so we cannot give a definite date to the reopening of Hedley or future plans.

Visit from our MP

In October, the Abbot welcomed Jesse Norman, MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire, to Hedley Lodge, to see for himself our accommodation for the homeless and to see this Government-funded scheme in action. It has led to a big reduction in the number of rough sleepers.

After a tour of Hedley Lodge and conversations with some of the guests, who praised the efforts made on their behalf and the support offered by the staff, Jesse, who is Financial Secretary to the Treasury in the Government, said:

“I am so pleased to see for myself the benefits this Government programme has brought, both to the people it has helped directly, many now comfortably housed in Hedley Lodge, and to the wider local community, in our great national effort to limit the spread and the effect of Coronavirus. "It is particularly fitting that Belmont Abbey, in keeping with its Benedictine tradition of welcoming all guests, has made this accommodation available and I am most grateful to the Abbot, the Community and the Abbey’s staff for welcoming me to Hedley Lodge and for providing me with the opportunity to meet some of the guests and the staff, and to find out more about the delivery of the project, both from them and from the supporting teams from Herefordshire Council and the local police.”

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Belmont's Organ Back in Action!

December 5, 2025

Belmont Abbey Organ is the second largest organ in the County of Herefordshire. It has 3 manuals (keyboards) and 54 stops and is second only to the organ of Hereford Cathedral (4 Manuals and 67 stops) - Belmont has the largest organ in our Catholic Diocese.