By the Light of the Lanthorn

When Council Inspector Paul Clark visited the Peredur Trust in Cornwall more than twenty years ago, he was under pressure to serve a legal notice to comply with various regulations or face closure. He expected to encounter a cult organization with weird and unpalatable practices. In fact, he found something quite different. As he says in his foreword, “I came to inspect—I stopped to evaluate—and I remained to admire!” Paul later became the trust's chief executive.

The Peredur Trust has been caring for disadvantaged and differently abled individuals, effectively and successfully, for more than sixty years. Siegfried Rudel, its president and one of its four founders, tells the story of how the impulse behind the organization—inspired by the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner— first transpired. However, this is not simply a narrative and history of a single organization; rather, this book represents a universal cultural impulse that embraces the needs of our time, and one that reappears today in many residential communities for people with special needs around the world. In a fascinating presentation, and with the aid of many archival photographs, In the Light of the Lanthorn tackles interrelated themes including the arts, the environment, sustainability, agriculture and nutrition—all in the light of working with individuals with special needs.