Our way of understanding how we are all connected, and of choosing the work we support. When a thread reveals itself, we follow it.
A man, a house, two centuries, and a community gathering now in the rooms he once kept.
The Invisible Thread is how the Salon understands connection, and how we decide which projects to support. We look for the thread that runs between people, between places, and between the past and the work being made now; when we find it, we follow it. Everything on this page is something the thread led us to.
Every thread has a beginning, and ours is a portrait. The first antique painting the Salon acquired is of Godfrey Thornton, once Governor of the Bank of England and, long before the Salon came to it, an owner of Moggerhanger Park, the house we now call our second residence. To sit with him is to sit inside the thread itself. This short film tells the story of how the painting found its way home.
A short film — The Portrait of Godfrey Thornton
The thread does not lead everywhere. It leads to particular places, particular people, and particular work. Three of those follow.
We meet only in places we feel connected to.
We hold our retreats only in places we feel genuinely connected to. A retreat is never simply a venue hired for a weekend; it is a place that already carries meaning, where the building and the land do part of the work. Two such places hold us at present.
A seven-acre colonial estate and mansion in the Woodmont neighbourhood of Arlington, Virginia. The Cedars gathers us around the prayer breakfast: mornings begun together, in stillness, before the day asks anything of us. It is a house built for hospitality, and we use it as one.
Enquire →Our second residence, and the house in the portrait. A weekend at Moggerhanger moves between reflexology, theology and prayer, paint and sip, and talks on architecture from David Grech, with a private chef holding the table together. The programme is generous, and there is always more than it promises.
Enquire →Carrying a beloved story forward.
Wovenkord is a film production company we are proud to support as it brings a new Chariots of Fire to the screen. The original remains one of the most loved British films ever made, a story of conviction, running and grace; this remake carries that thread forward to a new audience.
Great films are built by many hands and at real cost. If the story reaches you, you can help carry it. Contributions to the film are made through the Salon's endowment.
Contribute to the film →Good coffee, from a philanthropic place.
The Leaves of the Trees is a café we are incubating, and a national project we are raising money to launch across the country. Every cup serves Kickstart coffee, grown and prepared by women in Uganda, so that meeting a friend for coffee becomes a small act of philanthropy.
The idea is plain and good: communities gathered around a table, enjoying one another and a fine cup, with care running all the way back to the hands that grew the beans. Help us open the first doors.
Support the project →