Claire and Simon Gray

There is a beautiful irony in that Fiction writer Simon and entrepreneur and artist Claire, met at the aptly named ‘F*ck It’ Retreat in 2009. Both unhappy and unfulfilled within their relationships at the time, thrust outside of their lives with the space to reflect on what they truly wanted, they both decided to end their respective relationships. They fell in love and a decade on, have become something of ambassadors for the power of the retreat!

Parents to Twelve year old Abi and five year old James, Claire and Simon have grown Brooklands Barn into a countryside home for those in need of rest and reconnection to themselves and their lives, through self expression and creativity.

In high demand, Brooklands have hosted everything from yoga and business coaching to juicing and detox retreats. 2020 has been a challenging year for lots of people.  Despite the terrible virus, we still believe that retreats will soon be in demand again, a well deserved rest for lots of people.   Simon and Claire will launch their own in-house creative retreats to celebrate the venue’s 15 years of transforming lives, Tribe Retreats. 

The life pivot which resulted in Claire making the bold move to secure an eye watering mortgage to purchase Brooklands Barn began in 2005, when she received a call to say that her beloved father had died. Incredibly close to her dad, his passing changed her life and was the first event which catalysed her into change and an exit from what she admits had been a toxic relationship.

And so it was that just a month before her daughter Abigail was born, Claire became an instant entrepreneur with no guarantee of success in a new industry; “My friends thought I’d lost the plot,” Claire recalls.

Simon by his own admission was 'not a great employee', and has been a property entrepreneur for nearly 20 years.  A childhood spent travelling with his family in Europe and South Africa gave him a taste for adventure.  HIs false starts professionally, lead him to begin writing adventure fiction, a passion he explains is much more to him than a rung in his career's ladder - it is "the paracetamol to the headache of my past corporate experience".

Simon describes his decision to sign up to the F*ck It Retreat in Italy, as a spontaneous decision to take his ‘hands off the wheel’ and see what more life could offer him. He could never have predicted that it would deliver a destined meet with the woman who would later become his wife and business partner.   

Having written four books to date, Simon’s novels are classified as thrillers but inspire readers to deepen reflection as they journey into the world of human feelings in search of answers to everyday questions.

Twelve years on and together Claire and Simon have proven any naysayers wrong. Brooklands Barn has blossomed into a coveted space for creative expression. where individuals are invited to connect, restore and create through retreats and workshops.

“Ultimately our work is about reconnecting people with their own personal legacy, by offering a space for them to become reminded of who they are beneath the layers of their roles and responsibilities,” Says Claire.

“Creativity is a tool which reconnects us with what is important and meaningful to us, so it’s an honour to provide that opportunity for people at Brooklands,” adds Simon.

When we step outside of the everyday doing of our lives we rediscover who we are and what we want. In some ways the Gray’s marriage and success with Brooklands Barn, is testimony to the gifts which switching out of doing and into being can bring.

Claire and Simon will be launching their own retreats in 2021 following their passions of writing, art, mountain biking and yoga. Watch this space...