#AsIAm

Learning disability touches every society, culture, faith and class. It knows no boundaries. L'Arche too is global. This reach creates an exceptional opportunity to bring together the voices of those with learning disabilities across the world.

Filmed in 12 L’Arche communities around the world, L’Arche International’s film series, As I Am, is an invitation to imagine the world differently and to rejoice in who you are as you are.

December 2015

There is a gift in brokenness... if you can find it. In this episode, Mateusz Jaworski from L'Arche Poland shares an inventive way of giving.

.

January 2016

For centuries, travel writing has shaped the way we view the world. But when’s the last time you heard from a travel writer with cerebral palsy? Meet Musa from L’Arche Kenya. In this episode, Musa Kirokote takes us where dogs dress like humans and humans eat like goats.

.

February 2016

Bogdan Senyk, from L’Arche Ukraine, grew up under a government that denied his existence. In this episode, he explains his method of civil resistance: joy.

March 2016

For Raffaella Monterosso, from L’Arche Italy, disability means when your father grows old and there’s nothing you can do but love him. As L’Arche celebrates World Down Syndrome Day on March 21st, we honour all those with Down Syndrome who, like Raffaella, are taking care of their aging parents.

.

June 2016

In the 1990s, people with autism began using the internet to build online communities, breaking the myth that autism imprisons people in a solitary existence. In this episode, however, Larry Gourley finds a limit to the gift and reaches the edge of the internet.

.

September 2016

People with disabilities are often more disabled by the societies they live in than by their bodies or diagnosis. In this episode, Nagat from L’Arche Egypt explains how she and her brother faced societies’ attempt to disable their humanity.

.

December 2016

When wars break out, many heroes go unnoticed. On International Day of People with Disability, L’Arche celebrates these unnoticed heroes everywhere, of every ability. In this episode, we share the story of Colonel N'Da from L’Arche Côte d’Ivoire and his decision to break down the walls that divide us.

.

March 2017

When a life is over, we grieve. But there are certain lives, even certain populations, which society would have us forget. On World Down Syndrome Day, we remember Bapi from L’Arche India.

.

July 2017

Your country wakes to the news that you are disposable. Tell them the truth... no words, just actions, no ink, just paper. In this episode, we see L’Arche Japan's response to the largest mass murder in their country since World War II.

.

May 2018

Katherine Black is a mum to two budgies, a sneaky gambler, and a fledgling cook. When Katherine was 57, she lost her mother, leaving her parentless in the world. This film tells her story as she journeys toward independence while trying to avoid its pitfalls by staying close to a loving community.

Latest

James' story

'You can’t make things perfect here. Instead you learn to use the imperfect things as gifts.’
House Leader, L'Arche Preston

£22,173 - £23,379 (40 hours a week). Offered as a permanent role.
Walking Together: Register your place
Will I get a map of the route?

Words of the World

L’Arche International has produced an extraordinary project Words of the World - a digital collection of interviews with 34 people with learning disabilities from 34 different countries. All are members of L’Arche Communities from the four corners of the world.
Summer in the Forest

Summer in the Forest is a full-length feature film about our founder Jean Vanier and the L’Arche communities in Trosly, France and Bethlehem. It tells how two L’Arche communities, though quite different from those in the UK, share our common values, and shows how people with learning disabilities and assistants / care workers that support them are living together.

Residential vacancies

L'Arche live-in assistants live and work in our Communities with and alongside people with learning disabilities. They provide them care and support. Apply here.
Join us as an assistant

Spend a year as an assistant and we will give you an experience of difference that will change your life.
L'Arche in the UK

There are twelve L’Arche Communities based across the UK, where persons with and without learning disabilities live together. Volunteers and care workers are providing support. They try to promote Jean Vanier philosophy. All faiths are welcomed.
What we do

In a world that values winning, L’Arche Communities are places where people with and without learning disabilities can discover who they are and not just what they can do.
Statement from L'Arche, following the verdict at the inquest into the death of Joe Ulleri

Speaking outside the Coroner’s Court in Manchester, Kevin Coogan, Community Leader of L’Arche Manchester, read out the following statement on behalf of L’Arche.
Jean Vanier: Biography

Jean Vanier founded L'Arche in 1964, after becoming aware of the plight of thousands of people with learning disabilities who were institutionalised in France. He was an inspiring teacher whose life was testament to a radically different way of living and being in the world. He created a Community where people with and without learning disabilities were living together.
Summer in the Forest

Summer in the Forest is a full-length feature film about our founder Jean Vanier and the L’Arche communities in Trosly, France and Bethlehem. It tells how two L’Arche communities, though quite different from those in the UK, share our common values, and shows how people with learning disabilities and assistants / care workers that support them are living together.
L’Arche statement following the recent BBC Panorama documentary and the release of the CQC report into the detainment of people with learning disabilities

The Panorama programme aired by the BBC on Wednesday 22nd May showing the abuse of people with learning disabilities, and the recently published CQC report revealing the detainment of people with learning disabilities and autism in ATUs (Assessment and Treatment Units), once again reveals the appalling mistreatment and abuse experienced by some of society’s most vulnerable people.
Jean Vanier interview: belonging in a time of loneliness.

We interviewed Jean Vanier, the founder of L'Arche, at his home in the L'Arche Trosly Community in France. Listen to Jean as he reflects on ageing and fragility, loss and loneliness, and the mystery that compels people to L'Arche.
Supported living

While some individuals wish to live in a home with other people, others prefer to be supported to live independently. At L’Arche we help people to choose a way of life that feels right for them, and for their families.