Case Studies / Scargill House
Scargill House
Charting a sustainable future for a much-loved retreat centre in the Yorkshire Dales.
Taskscape provided strategic consultancy to Scargill House, a religious retreat and conference centre in the Yorkshire Dales facing financial difficulties, helping it navigate closure and plan a viable next chapter that stayed true to its founding values.
Brief
Scargill House is a residential retreat and conference centre in the Yorkshire Dales, founded in 1958 as an ecumenical Christian community. By the 2000s, it was in serious financial difficulty. Its offer still resonated with a loyal user base, including groups working with young people from deprived areas, but it was not attracting enough new business, its estate needed modernisation, and staff and volunteer capacity for renewal was uneven. Taskscape was contracted to help assess whether the centre could turn around as it was and advise on how to create a sustainable next chapter while staying true to its founding mission.
Activity
- Conducted cultural audits, purpose workshops and business case analysis with volunteers, staff, executive team and trustee board
- Assessed marketing reach and positioning
- Worked through two stages: immediate viability, then planning for closure and reopening under new stewardship
Outcomes
- Scargill House closed and put on the market by the Church of England for £2.5 million
- The estate was purchased for £1.3 million by the newly formed Scargill Movement, a registered charity that has maintained the centre’s original vision and mission
- Sale proceeds were used to establish The Wharfedale Foundation, a grant-awarding body supporting community organisations across Yorkshire and the Humber
