General FAQs

The Findhorn Foundation is a charitable trust which was founded in 1972 to provide a way for the growing community at The Park in Findhorn to own property and provide education and other activities on a charitable basis. In the decades since, the Foundation grew to include a wide array of programs and initiatives across a broad spectrum, with most of those activities taking place in Ecovillage Findhorn or at Cluny in nearby Forres.

The Findhorn Foundation SCIO intends to provide educational experiences that allow participants to experience the Findhorn spiritual impulse and core principles on a broader geographic basis. By providing education in and beyond northeast Scotland, we hope this will reduce the ecological impact of people having to travel to experience our programmes. A SCIO is also a more modern and appropriate legal form for these activities than a charitable trust (see next item).

The decision to change from a charitable trust to a SCIO (Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation) was made several years ago by Findhorn Foundation trustees, as a SCIO is a more modern and appropriate legal structure for a charity with the Foundation’s activities. This legal form was introduced with the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005.

The fundamental difference between a charitable trust and a SCIO is that a SCIO is a legal entity in its own right, whereas a trust has no legal identity of its own. This has two important consequences. Firstly, property is owned by trustees on behalf of the trust, and contracts are made by trustees on behalf of the trust, not the trust itself. This makes many things more complex for an actively trading charity. A SCIO, however, can directly own property and other assets, and can enter contracts directly.

Secondly, because legally trustees are acting directly on behalf of the trust, they are personally liable for the activities of the trust. In an increasingly complex and litigious world, this has made it harder to find new trustees. A SCIO, on the other hand, is a limited liability legal structure so they are not personally liable unless they are negligent in fulfilling their duties as trustees. This limitation of liability is essentially the same as received by directors of most private companies in the UK.

The first SCIO was established in 2011 and in the short time since then, the SCIO has become by far the most common structure for new charities.

We are currently working with the Educational Circle and its Working Group that arose out of the Park Ecovillage Findhorn in the last two and half years. The Education Circle includes many workshop developers, independent learning developers and many faculty who were formerly Findhorn Foundation co-workers and/or focalisers. Together we are exploring what curriculum we will offer over several seasons as we build out workshops, retreats and experiences for personal and collective development. We will be focusing on providing experiences that allow participants to connect with each other and nature and explore our core principles as a way of being in the world. We are planning to offer spiritual retreats and new versions of Experience Week at Park Ecovillage Findhorn where participants will explore our core principles in the company of our community.

Registration for programmes will be announced on the website and through our social media. You can check out what workshops are being offered in the community by independent workshop leaders here and sign up for our newsletter here to receive the latest information and notification of when new programmes start and registration updates.

One of our core principles is “Love in Action”. Engaging with the local communities where we run our programs will be an important part of what we offer participants. We are looking forward to creating opportunities for our participants to support local community projects while they connect with each other and nature.

You can support the Findhorn Foundation SCIO in several ways. We believe in the power of manifestation and positive thought. Please hold a vision of our success in your thoughts and meditations.

Your financial support will help us build a sustainable and growing network of light. We hope to continue our “Pay it Forward” campaign to build an endowment that will ensure access to Findhorn Foundation education and experiences in perpetuity.

Inner listening and attunement is at the heart of what we offer, and it is also at the heart of how we work. We bring into silent listening any questions that we would like support with, and anything that has a particular impact on how we move forward.

The Foundation Trust owns a number of properties at the Park Ecovillage which are no longer used for educational purposes. We are working with a number of Park community organisations to transition these assets to more direct community ownership so that they can be better used, cared for and developed by people in the Park community. The Findhorn Foundation SCIO expects to collaborate with the new owners/stewards of the properties that support learning activities, including the Original Garden, the site of the old Community Centre, some accommodation and education space.

On Friday 7th March 2025, Findhorn Foundation trustees completed the sale of our beloved Cluny to its new owners, a London-based group that operates a number of small hotels across the UK. We understand that they intend to operate Cluny as a hotel, but don’t have details about their plans.

Over the decades the Foundation has hosted many different workshops and amazing teachers. In order to deliver the best quality programmes which are most relevant to today’s world, we have are exploring new programmes that build on our core spiritual principles. We will continue to focus on providing experiences that allow participants to connect with each other and nature, and to explore our core principles as a way of being in the world. We will also be connecting with the new Erraid operation and the Isle of Iona retreat centre in a new relationship with holistic centres.

Please find more information and get in touch with the visitor centre at visitecovillagefindhorn.uk/visit-us

Get an overview of the community and what is going on at visitecovillagefindhorn.uk

Find a record of our Community history written by our Community members at

celebratingoneincrediblefamily.org