learn more ABOUT US
Jamyang Leeds was founded in 1996 under the spiritual direction of Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Our core aims are to promote wellbeing and meditation, in line with Buddhist principles, and to preserve the Buddhist Mahayana tradition, throughout the North of England and further afield.
As well as being an active community wellbeing hub, our Centre in Holbeck, South Leeds, provides a peaceful place for meditation and a community of support for the study and practice of Buddhism and Wellbeing. We work with a number of local partners to promote wellbeing and mindfulness.
We offer weekly meditation classes, suitable for both beginners and people with meditation experience, and we run a dynamic programme of courses, talks and events. We run residential retreats three times a year and regular weekend group practice sessions, where we try to work more deeply on meditation techniques. Everyone’s welcome to attend the classes and courses in our spiritual and wellbeing programmes.
We honour the work of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and we are affiliated to the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) which is part of the Gelugpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.
We regularly host highly respected Buddhist teachers, both lay and ordained, from the FPMT network. As a registered charity, our aim is to make events available to anyone. While the majority of our students live in Leeds, Yorkshire and the North of England, we have students from all over the UK and world. We also live stream and record events that we share on our YouTube channel.
A note about our name: Jamyang is the Tibetan name for the wisdom aspect of the enlightened mind. A translation of the word is “Gentle Voice.”
our lineage
our teachers
Meet the Team
-
SARAH METCALFE
Centre Manager
-
Marie Odile Lecónte
Finance Officer
-
Jeannie Hay
Shop Manager
-
Tanya Fletcher
Cafe Manager
-
Emanuelle Jones
Spiritual Program Coordinator (part-time)
-
Chrissie Martindale
Spiritual Program Coordinator (part-time)
Since we moved into our new building in February 2019, we’ve had help from so many volunteers: Centre of Compassion Liverpool, The Buddhist Meditation Society at Leeds University, Bob Charlton & the Leeds English Language School, the local Tibetan and Nepalese community, locals from literally next door, others from local charities and support groups, Lou Beaumont, Land of Joy, Jamyang London, Joe Browns (Tony, Simon & Darran), local councillors, all in all we calculated 150 people helped in our first few months. Our management team meets once a week and all our volunteers and staff meet a few times a year.
We have divided further operations into a few areas:
Admin & Hospitality supported by Mark Cotton
Outreach: Chaplaincy led by Roy Poulter
Outreach: Inter-faith coordinated by Dr Marie Odile Leconte
Outreach: School and educational visits coordinated by Dr Marie Odile Leconte
Trustees (Chair John Websdale, Unjyn Park, Gordon McDougall, Kay Cooper, Dr Caroline Starkey, Sarah Metcalfe, )