I first came across a the Centre for Complementary Care about 10 years ago, when I was a member of the Bishop's Healing Advisory Group.

We were looking at all sorts of complementary health care and George Hacker, who was Bishop of Penrith, then was Chairman of the group. He took us all to the centre to meet Gretchen and see her work, and from that moment I was hooked!

I was impressed straight away by the simple “goodness” of the healing by light touch that was offered there. Clients seemed to get better alright, but it was chiefly the peaceful and happy environment that made an immediate impact.

Later, as I got to know the work of the Centre better, I began to realise that people really were getting better and that something very important was happening.

As Director of Public Health for the district I was very lucky to be able to set up a small contract with Gretchen in 1995 to treat some NHS patients with a variety of problems such as chronic pain, stress, skin diseases, arthritis and cancer. A simple but valid quality of life questionnaire was used to evaluate the healing, and it was no surprise to find that most of the patients improved after the healing sessions. Local GPs agreed that their patients were benefiting and noticed that they sometimes needed fewer prescriptions for analgesics or were coping better with ill health.

The next stage was a proper research project which was generously funded by Cumbria County Council and North Cumbria Health Authority, and the results are now being published in scientific journals of world wide reputation.

I have no doubt that healing by gentle touch can work. It is safe, and complements rather than replaces medical care … and it is “good” because it is underpinned by a life of prayer and faith.

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