Jenny Mathieson has told us of a catalogue of disasters at Claridge House, the Quaker Healing Centre, which is in need of some healing itself.

Although the centre has had its share of the woes that beset non-profit-making organisations, there have been other gremlins at work to discourage the hardiest Quaker spirit.

'Some problems are normal but when can it look as if it goes beyond the norm?' Jenny asks us.

There appears to be a curse on incoming wardens (now called managers). Recently, this has been the sequence - a warden was diagnosed with a tumour before arriving' another suffered a heart attack before arriving; another couple escaped the curse, but had decided to emigrate before taking up the job and so went on to leave' a few days before the current manager took up her duties, her husband suffered a stroke. Then a colleague needed sick leave for heart problems, and a warden drafted in to give the current manager a respite break needed hospital treatment himself before he could relieve the manager!

Phew! Eye agrees with Jenny that this is all just too much of a bad thing. So Friends are asked to say some prayers for the beleaguered staff. 'We need to lift all at Claridge House on a raft of prayers for at least three months', she says, 'not just individual prayers but please ask everyone who is a part of a prayer group to pray for them too'. Every day from 9.45am until 10am Claridge House comes together in prayer and Friends are asked to join them in spirit.

Photograph from http://www.flickr.com/photos/dipics/2310170594/