MEND ASSEMBLY RESIDENTIAL RETREAT
MEND ASSEMBLY RESIDENTIAL RETREAT
MEND ASSEMBLY’S FIRST RESIDENTIAL RETREAT!
A five day residential retreat, exploring wellbeing through individual and collective slow fashion practice.
Mend Assembly founder, Joss Whipple is creating a new space for slow fashion practice to emerge in partnership with a special venue partner in the south of France, La Belle Eco.
Come and join pioneering experts, local knowledge keepers, and every day slow fashion heroes for this carefully curated five day residency, designed to transform personal and collective connection through an exploration of traditional textiles skills, localised slow fashion excursions, daily wellbeing practice, group and individual reflective sessions using the universal lens of clothing and textiles.
WHAT is included?
Participants will choose a personal project to make inspired by customisable techniques, with a strong emphasis on hand work, using materials from an archive of exclusive vintage, reclaimed and sustainable materials, all selected from Joss’s private collection and personal sources.
There will be options for all skill levels.
Also included will be an exclusive resource pack of inspirational materials and guidance on how to adapt and apply Mend Assembly’s methodology to your own wardrobe and within your community.
The residency is all inclusive and hosted in the luxurious boutique hotel La Belle Eco
With space for up to 10 participants in beautiful art deco private or shared rooms with a range of prices. Participants will have access to all the facilities, including the natural swimming pool, the wood fired jacuzzi and sauna, the beautiful ancient woodland as well as the permaculture gardens that surround the house.
The resident chef at La Belle eco will be serving three meals a day using all local and organic ingredients.
In addition to one full day excursion, exploring local slow fashion initiatives, there will be optional daily wellbeing treatments and activities available on site.
WHY are we creating this space?
Big fashion combined with hyper speed digital culture is eroding our connection to the people, places and processes that bring us our clothing, alienating us from the ancient practice of sitting together and making.
We want to support people, from all backgrounds, to reclaim the inspiration, joy and wellbeing that comes from the simple act of making and mending, in community with others.
Our aim is to make space for the living memory of informal skill sharing so that participants can take these practices back into their own communities.
Our retreats encourage, curiosity and collaboration, we believe that change can be accelerated by hands on practice and that the age old action of making with shared intention is a powerful form of personal development and collective resistance.
WHO is this residency for?
We welcome anyone seeking practical ways to develop a personal or professional slow fashion practice as an extension to emerging or existing slow living or social wellbeing choices.
Whether you are right at the start of your journey or well along the way, you will be supported to deepen your perspective, connect, collaborate and create.
Maybe you feel confident in the wellbeing practice in most areas of your life, but your wardrobe is one area you haven’t managed to tackle? Perhaps you have noticed a gap in your local area and you want to learn ways to create an informal slow fashion offering of your own.
Or perhaps you’re simply ready to explore and develop new skills that offer deeper connection to clothing craft.
If you feel disconnected from materials, processes and people, or you’re feeling disillusioned and overwhelmed by the volume of clothing and other stuff everywhere and you’re confused about how to apply your values to your personal wardrobe, your local community or your work in fashion, this residency is designed for you.
WHO will be leading ?
The retreat will be led by Mend Assembly founder, sustainable materials expert and slow fashion pioneer, Jocelyn Whipple.
In creating this new space for you, Joss brings over twenty years of experience and combines her passions as a maker, mentor and fashion wellness facilitator.
There will also be other, carefully selected, specialist guest practitioners, offering craft, sustainable materials and clothing care activities and insights during the retreat.
In addition there will be professional wellness practitioners available for daily private or group activities.
WHAT will we be doing?
During the residential, participants will be immersed into a daily rhythm of materials exploration and learning, mindful sewing practice, formal and informal group discourse, curated excursions to slow fashion initiatives such as spinners, vintage retailers, makers and circular fashion projects.
DAY 1 - Project Selection, deciding on the materials and techniques you will work with and what you want to make.
DAY 2 - Mindful Making, guided sessions in the studio using the techniques you have chosen to make your special piece.
DAY 3 - In The Field, a day long excursion to local slow fashion places projects and places of interest. Meeting special guest experts
DAY 4 - Care and Repair, a day of developing care and repair practice, meeting special guest experts.
DAY 5 - Clothing for life, a final day of celebration and satisfaction, centering the pieces that have been made.
Ease, connection and celebration of our own and each other’s process will set the tone.
The pace of each day will be nourishing with space for exploration through quiet focused practice as well through inspiring group sessions and informal knowledge sharing.
Every day will be punctuated by delicious meals, wellness hours and shared experience.
WHAT will you come away with ?
The purpose of this retreat is to create a third space for individual and collective slow living development through the lens of clothing and textiles.
People who come on this retreat will take away a finished piece which they will make using traditional hand sewing techniques, natural materials and slow design principles.
They will also take away inspiration, practical guidance and a personalised toolkit on how to apply Mend Assembly’s methodology in their own local communities.
Many exciting new relationships and connections will be made, supporting a refreshed perspective and a new relationship to clothing product and a renewed sense of belonging to the global slow fashion and sustainable craft movement.
ESSENTIAL INFORMATION
A five day residential retreat, minimum attendance 5 maximum 10.
Dates
April 21st - 25th 2025
Prices:
Luxury suite single occupancy - £3750 Early bird £3500
Luxury suite double occupancy - £6250 Early bird £5750
Luxury double single occupancy - £3250 Early bird £2400
Luxury double shared occupancy - £5750 Early bird £5250
Standard Double single occupancy - £3100 Early bird £2850
10% Early bird offer ends February 10th
30% deposit required on booking / 70% balance payment due March 1st 2025
What’s included
Included in the ticket prices are the full 5 day program of activities, including one excursion day, rooms and access to the hotel amenities, 3 meals a day cooked by the in house chef. Some group well being activities will be included.
Whats not included
Travel to and from the retreat ( airport or train pick ups can be arranged)
Wine is not included with the meals but can be purchased by the glass using the in house honesty bar.
Massage and other individual wellbeing treatments can be booked as required in addition.
Nearest airports
Carcassone - 20 minutes by car
Toulouse - 1 hour by car
Bezier - 1.15 hours by car
Perpignan - 1.5 hours by car
Trains
Bram - 5 mins by car
Carcasonne - 20 minutes by car
ROOMS
La Belle Eco offers 3 different room types, all room prices are included in the ticket price and are for 5 nights (arriving Sunday 20th, check out Friday 25th)
Luxury suites; Miel, Flora & La Merais - Spacious rooms with Super kings size beds, Miel has an en suite bathroom and private lounge room, Flora has a private shower rooms and extra lounge space, La Marais has private shower room, extra living space, and a beautiful private terrace in the trees. Le Marais can be shared.
Luxury Doubles - Opium & Etoile - Large double beds with en suite bath or shower rooms. Opium can be made up as a twin room to be shared.
Standard Doubles - St. Germain, Monmartre, Lavande & Indigo. Large double beds with shared bathrooms.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
These are the terms and conditions on which we supply services to you.
Please read these terms carefully before you submit your booking to us.
1. CONTACT
The organiser responsible for this retreat is
Jocelyn Whipple (from now on referred to as ‘the organiser’) registered auto entrepreneur with the Chambre des Metiers
Address; Lieu Dit le Christ, Montbrun Bocage 31310, France
You can contact the organiser by telephoning on
+44 07870400502 or by writing to mendassembly@gmail.com
Or via the website www.mendassembly.com
The organiser will contact guests by telephone or by writing to you at the email address and telephone number provided to us with your booking.
2. BOOKING
When we accept your booking we email you to accept it, at which point a contract will come into existence between you and us.
If we are unable to accept your booking, we will inform you of this and will not charge you for the service. This might be because the event or retreat is at full capacity, because of unexpected limits on our resources which we could not reasonably plan for or because we have identified an error in the price or description of the service.
By making a booking with us, you agree to abide by any local laws and customs that we communicate to you.
3. CHANGES
If you want to make a change to the service you have booked please contact us. If the requested change is possible we will let you know about any changes to the price of the service or anything else which would be necessary as a result of your requested change and you will need to confirm whether you wish to go ahead with the change. If we cannot make the change or the consequences of making the change are unacceptable to you, you will be able to end the contract within the terms outlined in these terms and conditions.
We may make minor changes to a service, whether a tour or retreat to reflect changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements.
In addition, we may make the following changes to a service, but if we do so we will notify you and you will have the right to end the contract before the changes take effect and receive a refund for any services paid for but not received, within the terms and conditions outlined:
· change of location;
· change of accommodation
4. SERVICES
The organiser is not responsible for delays outside our control. If our supply of the services is delayed by an event outside our control then we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know and we will take steps to minimise the effect of the delay. Provided we do this we will not be liable for delays caused by the event, but if there is a risk of substantial delay you may contact us to end the contract and receive a refund for any services you have paid for but not received.
5. INFORMATION
We may need certain information from you so that we can supply the services to you, for example, any medical information, details of any ailments you may be suffering from and/or allergies you may have, as well as any dietary requirements. We will contact you to ask for this information. If you do not give us this information within a reasonable time of us asking for it, or if you give us incomplete or incorrect information, we may either end the contract or make an additional charge of a reasonable sum to compensate us for any extra work that is required as a result. We will not be responsible for not supplying any part of the services if this is caused by you not giving us the information we need within a reasonable time of us asking for it.
6. POSTPONEMENTS
The organiser may have to suspend the service to:
1. deal with technical problems or make minor technical changes;
2. update the service to reflect changes in relevant laws and regulatory requirements;
3. make changes to the service as requested by you or notified by us to you
The organiser will contact you in advance to tell you if we need to postpone the service and rearrange a date. You may contact us to end the contract for a service if we have to postpone it and we will refund any sums you have paid in advance for the service in respect of the period after you end the contract. Please note that in the event that we need to postpone the service and rearrange a date, we are not liable for any cancellations you may have to make as a result of the service being postponed.
7. INSURANCE
We strongly recommend that you have adequate travel and health insurance policies in place should you need to cancel your booking due to unexpected events. We would recommend that your insurance cover includes, but is not necessarily limited to: illness, personal accident and injury, medical expenses, return flights in the event of injury (if applicable), missed flights (if applicable), any other specific personal conditions which may result in you not being able to attend your booking. It is also recommended that your insurance includes personal liability cover in case of accidental damage caused by you as this will not be covered by our insurance.
8. CANCELLATIONS BY A GUEST
You can end your contract with us by written request. If you end the contract any reimbursements will depend on whether
1. There is anything wrong with the service
2. How we are performing
3. When you decide to end the contract
If what you have bought is misdescribed you may have a legal right to end the contract (or to get some or all of your money back). You must make us aware of your complaint as soon as reasonably practicable. If you feel that a part of the service is misdescribed, you must inform us at the time, and not after the event, so that we have an opportunity to address the issue.
You may end the contract for any of the reasons set out below at which point the contract will end immediately and we will refund you in full for any services which have not been provided and you may also be entitled to compensation. The reasons are:
1. The Organiser has told you about an upcoming change to the service or these terms which you do not agree to
2. The Orgainser has told you about an error in the price or description of the service you have booked and you do not wish to proceed;
3. There is a risk that supply of the service may be significantly delayed because of events outside our control;
4. You have a legal right to end the contract because of something we have done wrong.
For most services bought online customers have a legal right to change their mind within 14 days and receive a refund. The services provided by us fall within an exemption under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 which mean you do not have the right to cancel. This means that once you have made your booking and it has been accepted by us, you do not have the right to change your mind within 14 days to cancel your booking and receive a refund.
Even if we are not at fault, you can still end the contract before it is completed, but you may have to pay us compensation. A contract for services is completed when we have finished providing the services, for example, when a retreat is complete, and you have paid for them. If you want to end a contract before the service is completed where we are not at fault, you must contact us to let us know. If the request is acceptable within these terms and conditions the contract will end immediately and we will refund any sums paid by you for services not provided but we may deduct reasonable compensation for the net costs we will incur as a result of your ending the contract.
If you find you need to end the contract and cancel your place at any time and for any reason up to 14 days before the start of the workshop we will refund what you have already paid minus the non-recoverable costs at the point of cancellation. If we are subsequently able to re-sell your place on the workshop we will refund you the non-recoverable costs as well, minus any bank charges to process your payments as well as a reasonable administration cost. Please note there can be no refund if you cancel fewer than 14 days before the start of the workshop. If we need to cancel the workshop at any time and for any reason you will be offered a place on a postponed workshop or a full refund.
You may wish to take out appropriate and adequate insurance. There are policies available that cover you for all risks and eventualities.
9. REFUNDS
To end the contract with us, and request a refund please let us know by:
Phone or email. Call The organiser on +44 (0) 7870 400 502 or email at mendassembly@gmail.com
We will refund you the price you paid for the service by the method you used for payment. However, we may make deductions from the price, as described below.
We will make any refunds due to you as soon as possible.
10. CANCELLATION BY THE ORGANISER
The organiser may end the contract at any time if:
1. You do not make any payment to us when it is due and you still do not make payment within 30 days of us reminding you that payment is due;
2. You do not, within a reasonable time of us asking for it, provide us with information that is necessary for us to provide the services;
3. We consider that your behaviour is disruptive, abusive or threatening and/or you are causing disruption to other customers or to the provision of the service. In such circumstances, we reserve the right to immediately end the contract with you and to request that you depart from the retreat or event immediately and you will not be entitled to a refund for any part of the service that was not provided to you as a result of your behaviour.
If we end the contract in the situations set out in these terms and conditions we will refund any money you have paid in advance for services we have not provided but we may deduct or charge you reasonable compensation for the net costs we will incur as a result of your breaking the contract.
We may write to you to let you know that we are going to stop providing the service. We will let you know as soon as reasonably possible in advance of our stopping the supply of the service and will refund any sums you have paid in advance for services which will not be provided.
11. PRICE AND PAYMENT
The price of the service will be the price indicated on our website when you placed your booking. We will use our best efforts to ensure that the price of the retreat or tour advised to you is correct. However it may happen that there are errors in our prices in which case we will contact you, within a reasonable time frame, with our adjustments and you will have the opportunity to agree or to end your contract.
It is always possible that, despite our best efforts, some of the services we sell may be incorrectly priced. If we accept and process your booking where a pricing error is obvious and unmistakeable and could reasonably have been recognised by you as a mispricing, we may end the contract and refund you any sums you have paid.
We accept payment only via our website unless otherwise specifically requested and agreed with The organiser. You must make an advance payment of 30% of the price of the retreat when making your booking. We will subsequently invoice you for the remaining 70% of the balance price of the retreat 60 days prior to the start of the retreat or event. You must pay each invoice within 30 calendar days after the date of the invoice
12. LOSS OR DAMAGES
If we fail to comply with these terms, we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breaking this contract or our failing to use reasonable care and skill, but we are not responsible for any loss or damage that is not foreseeable. Loss or damage is foreseeable if either it is obvious that it will happen or if, at the time the contract was made, both The organiser knew it might happen, for example, if you discussed it with us during the sales process.
We only supply the services for domestic and private use. If you use the services for any commercial, business or re-sale purpose we will have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity.
13. PRIVACY AND DATA USE
Your privacy and personal information are important to us. Any personal information that you provide to us will be dealt with in line with standard privacy and data protection laws. Our privacy policy explains what personal information we collect from you, how and why we collect it, store, use and share such information, your rights in relation to your personal information and how to contact us and supervisory authorities if you have a query or complaint about the use of your personal information.
14. USE OF IMAGES
We may take photographs of you and your work during the supply of services and use these on our website and other branded material for promotional and marketing purposes. Should you wish to opt out of photographs of you and your work being used please contact us to let us know.
15. OTHER IMPORTANT TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Schedule. Where specific timings are detailed on any itinerary we ask you to be punctual at all times. Where timings are not adhered to and as a result you miss any content element, including any transportation arranged by us, we are not responsible for any liability incurred by you in respect of rearranging an alternative including transportation and the associated costs.
Transfer. We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation. We will contact you to let you know if we plan to do this. If you are unhappy with the transfer you may contact us to end the contract within 14 days of us telling you about it and we will refund you any payments you have made in advance for services not provided.
You may only transfer your rights or your obligations under these terms to another person if we agree to this in writing.
This contract is between you and The Organiser. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms. Neither of us will need to get the agreement of any other person in order to end the contract or make any changes to these terms.
Enforcement. Each of the paragraphs of these terms operates separately. If any court or relevant authority decides that any of them are unlawful, the remaining paragraphs will remain in full force and effect.
If we do not insist immediately that you do anything you are required to do under these terms, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of your breaking this contract, that will not mean that you do not have to do those things and it will not prevent us taking steps against you at a later date. For example, if you miss a payment and we do not chase you, we can still require you to make the payment at a later date.