Joining the Gaia House residential service community

We ask for a minimum 1-year period of service which can be extended to two years subject to a review and agreement by both parties.

All our Residential Community Members spend around two-thirds of their working time on shared tasks such as being on-call, kitchen support, holding registration and talks on opening day, acting as the main contact for the group teachers and supporting work retreatants in their tasks.

The other third of their time is spent in their department (see below). After a thorough induction period, all members are expected to take responsibility of the retreat environment and are encouraged to use their initiative to pro-actively have ‘eyes on the house’.

The department roles are as follows:

• Kitchen – To ensure well-balanced nutritious plant-based meals are provided for retreatants at Gaia House. The numbers vary widely from 25 to 100. Please note this is a physically demanding role.
• Household– The main purpose of this position is to ensure all preparations are made for the provision of a clean, safe retreat environment. This includes organisation and participation of the cleaning of the house, supporting our work retreatants and planning their schedules, room allocation, laundry, shop, and indoor plants.
• Caretaker – To support the smooth running of the house and its grounds, by undertaking a wide variety of basic tasks in the house such as: control of hot water and central heating, fuses, lighting, minor DIY repairs and outdoors such as: clearing gutters, watering and harvesting, pruning, clearing paths and working alongside retreatants in their tasks.

You do not need extensive experience in any of the roles as you’ll be given all the guidance, training and support you need. You just need to have a willingness to get involved and deal with any issues that might arise.

The following support package is in place to help you experience the full potential of your stay at Gaia House, in terms of both your own personal and spiritual development, as well as providing a much-valued service to others:

• Obligatory regular 1:1 sessions with our Staff Support Teacher
• Obligatory once or twice monthly Process Work – facilitated group sessions
• Obligatory check-ins with your department line manager for work-list reviews and training needs

Optional ‘Dharma Practice Sessions’, where all staff get together to explore Dharma themes also led by our Staff Support Teacher.

Joining our residential community for a period of service can be an incredibly special experience. The opportunity to experience practice and work within a Dharma community setting can provide a rich base for combining practice with everyday life. On top of this, we offer:

• Free board and lodging including a 7-day settling in and closure period
• A monthly stipend (currently £163pm)
• A share of donations (dana) given by retreatants for the residential service community (please contact for a current rough calculation).
• Encouragement to join our “in-house” or “online” group retreat programme free of charge throughout your time with us during your time off; this will depend on the type of retreat and any specific requirements.
• A Gaia House car is available to borrow when it is not needed for house business. There is a charge per mile for private usage to cover running costs.
• There is an electric bike you can use to explore the Devon countryside
• On completion, community members’ benefit from free retreat time calculated according to their period of service to the house. This helps provide continued support for practice and a long-lasting connection with Gaia House

The residential team share a dedicated wing within the house, which includes a meditation room, lounge and a shared staff living/dining room. You will have your own bedroom and there are four shared bathrooms. There is also a designated area of the garden for staff use.

• The rota allows everyone 12 days off per month (11 in February) and is based on the needs of the retreat programme to support the centre being open 365 days of the year.
• 3 days off in a row are possible, though need to be requested
• One flexi-day per month is accumulated and can be used after three months to make up to six days off at a time, subject to cover.
• Daily hours depend on the retreat programme needs, your department and the meeting calendar. Members will be asked to balance the busy days with quieter days.

What you choose to do with your days off is totally up to you. We would encourage some time spent connecting with the community and the retreats on offer when you can.

However, we are not able to promise particular days off each week. Rota requests are submitted in advance of the rota and considered and met where possible.

Yes, guests are able to come stay, we ask for a £5-a-night donation to help towards food costs.

Between group retreats, your guest can stay in one of the rooms in the house, during a retreat, they would need to stay in your bedroom. They would also need to understand the code of conduct here, which involves respecting the silent communal spaces. Guests can stay for one or two nights occasionally. Anything over this would need to be requested from the community and the Operations Lead.

Before applying to become a member of our residential community you will need to have completed a minimum of two weeks’ silent meditation retreats in the Buddhist Tradition, but not necessarily at Gaia House. You should also have a regular daily practice.

We manage a rolling recruitment process. This means that we are open to discussing applications without having a fixed role or start date. We have found that giving service is a big commitment and requires a two-way process to discover whether it’s the right time/place for you to join us. Here is an outline of the process:

• Email retreatmanager@gaiahouse.co.uk to request the role descriptions, giving us a short description of why you’re interested in joining the Residential community, what your retreat experience is and when you might be available.
• Request an application form from retreatmanager@gaiahouse.co.uk and complete this as thoroughly as possible.
• If your application is successful, you will be invited to join two online zoom interviews, one with Laura  Ruiz (Operations Lead) and a department manager and the second interview will be with Laura Bridgman (Staff Support Officer).
• If your interviews are successful, we will invite you to Gaia House to take part in a four-day residential try-out.  This is a valuable opportunity to meet with the current serving members of the community, shadow some of the key shared tasks as well as department tasks, see the retreat centre at work and meet some of the non-residential team. This stage will only be held once a start date and role have been agreed in principal.
• Following the try-out there will be a community meeting and we will come back to you with the outcome.
• If offered a position, there will be a 12-week probationary period, after which, your period of service would be confirmed. Support and reviews will be held throughout the probationary period.

Due to time constraints (we can only apply three months in advance of a start date) and limited number of Visa sponsorship allocations per year, we give preference to those who do not need a Visa to work in the UK. However, if you have a very strong application, have been to GH before and would be available for an in-person try-out during the recruitment process, we are happy to continue with your application. There are costs with the visa application process which will need to be borne by the applicant.