What is L'Arche?
L'Arche is an international Federation of communities where people with and without learning disabilities live and work together.
Communities offer people with learning disabilities a home where they will be valued and respected, their gifts welcome and celebrated.
L'Arche began in France in 1964 when Jean Vanier, a Canadian, invited two men from an institution, Philippe Sieux and Raphaël Simi, to live with him. From these humble beginnings in rural France, there are now 134 communities in 31 countries. The communities, while sharing the same values, are very different according to their context and culture.
L'Arche Brecon was founded in 1978, first off the Cradoc Close and now in Llanfaes, well integrated into the local community. We are easily accessible to town and country, valuing diversity and welcoming difference. Community members have different intellectual capacities, social and ethnic origins, and religious beliefs. We believe that whatever their gifts or limitations, people are all bound together in a common humanity. Everyone is of unique and sacred value and has the same dignity and the same rights. People with and without learning disabilities belong to L'Arche Brecon in different ways. At the heart of our community is the community households, where people with learning disabilities and their assistants live together, sharing responsibility for the life of their home.