The Iwerne camps (/ˈjuːɜːrn/YOO-ern), officially the Varsity and Public Schools (VPS) holidays and later Iwerne and Forres Holidays, and commonly known as Bash camps, were British evangelical Christian holiday camps aimed at children from British public schools.
Revd E. J. H. Nash ("Bash") ran his first holidays in 1930, and from around 1940 these were hosted at Clayesmore School in Iwerne Minster, Dorset. The original camps were aimed at boys from the top 30 UK public schools (i.e. the UK's most prestigious private schools), with later holidays held in other venues and aimed at girls and boys from lower-ranking public schools. The camps were influential in the British post-war evangelical resurgence, with attendees including theologian John Stott, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, bishops David Sheppard, Timothy Dudley-Smith and Maurice Wood and Alpha course founder Nicky Gumbel.
From 1932 until 2000 the holidays were nominally run under the auspices of Scripture Union, but in practice came to be run as an independent operation, with funding from the Iwerne Trust. In 1997, in a move to regularise oversight of the holidays, the Iwerne Trust was succeeded by the Titus Trust, which in 2000 fully took over formal responsibility for the holidays from Scripture Union. In the early 2000s the holidays moved from Iwerne Minster to Gresham's School in Norfolk, but retained the Iwerne name. In later years they were grouped with the Forres holidays for younger (prep school age) children.
In 2018, information emerged about abuse carried out in the 1970s and 1980s by Iwerne Trust chairman John Smyth against boys from the camps, with Titus Trust reaching a settlement with survivors in 2020. Further reports followed of abuse by another Iwerne leader, Jonathan Fletcher. In 2020, the Titus Trust announced that it would cease to run holidays under the Iwerne name. The trust continues to run related holidays under its other brands.
The Iwernecamps (/ˈjuːɜːrn/ YOO-ern), officially the Varsity and Public Schools (VPS) holidays and later Iwerne and Forres Holidays, and commonly known...
organisation to the Iwerne Trust. It runs evangelical Christian holiday camps for children and young people at private schools. The camps provide adventure...
independent school for boys and girls, aged 8 – 18 years, in the village of Iwerne Minster, Dorset, England. It is both a day and boarding school and is a...
rooted in the 'Bash Camp' network founded by Eric Nash. Welby became a dormitory officer at the camps held in the Dorset village of Iwerne Minster. From 1978–81...
camps at Iwerne Minster in Dorset. David Fletcher, who took responsibility for the camps after Nash, described Alpha as: "basically the Iwernecamp talk...
perpetrator, John Smyth, was a leader of the evangelical Christian Iwernecamps (known as "Bash camps" after the nickname of their founder, E. J. H. Nash) where...
found that the camps were not in practice run by Scripture Union, but by the Iwerne Trust, the SU employed three of the staff at Iwerne and supported its...
was a strong influence on E. J. H. Nash, who founded the influential Iwernecamps in the UK and cited Torrey as his theological mentor.: 34 Denominations...
was subsequently identified as John Smyth QC, whose victims from the Iwernecamps started coming forward shortly after publication of the article, culminating...
School in 1938, Stott heard Eric Nash (nicknamed "Bash"), director of the Iwernecamps, deliver a sermon entitled "What Then Shall I Do with Jesus, Who Is Called...
Nash, the British Evangelical Anglican clergyman and founder of the Iwernecamps (along with fellow cricketer David Sheppard). In 1945, he was one of...
Faith Mission in Scotland; and the highly influential founder of the Iwernecamps, E. J. H. Nash, valued the Keswick Convention and considered R. A. Torrey...
impressed by a visiting lecturer, Donald Soper. He was involved with the Iwernecamps ministry of E. J. H. Nash. He was ordained in 1955, serving his title...
(2.5 kilometres) over hills to the west, lies the major part of Blandford Camp army base (including the Royal Signals Museum). In the 2011 census the parish—including...
Philip Vanwilder. The estate subsequently passed to the Freke family of Iwerne Courtney and then Sir Robert Meller (or Mellor) of Winterborne Came, who...
employers in the area include Bryanston School, Clayesmore senior school at Iwerne Minster about 5 mi (8 km) north, and The Forum School at Shillingstone 5 mi...
kilometres) northeast of Blandford Forum. The parish includes part of Blandford Camp to the west and a few buildings on the northern edge of neighbouring Tarrant...
to Romano-British sites in the area, and there may have been a military camp and trading post in the area. It is possible that Ashmore may have been a...
Hambledon Hill and Hod Hill, before Buzbury Rings, Badbury Rings, Dudsbury Camp and the port at Hengistbury Head. In the 1850s, during the construction of...
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