The legacy of Leonard Cheshire and Sue Ryder lives on in a new student residential hall at Australia’s first tertiary liberal arts college in Western Sydney, Campion College.
Fr Ted Burns, long-time financial supporter of Ryder-Cheshire Australia and Klibur Domin; Peter Newton AO, former president of Ryder Cheshire-Australia, and Siobhan Reeves, Ryder-Cheshire Foundation Victoria member, have been working with Campion College over the past few years to foster a strong partnership between Ryder-Cheshire Australia and Campion College. The relationship with the College began from 2012 to 2018 when six Campion College alumni volunteered at Klibur Domin. Campion College can continue to be an opportunity to recruit young people with a humanitarian spirit to Ryder Cheshire-Australia’s mission ‘for the relief of suffering.’
Campion College prioritises residential campus accommodation for students as an integral part of a liberal arts education. Ryder-Cheshire Hall is one of six residential halls on campus and is home to 17 female students. The hall features eight twin-share bedrooms and one single room, all with adjoining study areas and ensuites. Ryder-Cheshire Hall also features a communal kitchen, laundry and shared living spaces.
In consultation with Elizabeth Cheshire, daughter of Leonard Cheshire and Sue Ryder, a portrait of Leonard Cheshire and Sue Ryder has been commissioned and is being painted by a talented Australian artist and Catholic nun, Sr Josephine Marie of the Sisters of the Morning Star in Brisbane. The portrait is intended to help Campion students connect with this incredible couple who were given fully to God and to each other in the service of the poor and dying and so ignite students’ personal desire for holiness and service in their own lives. The painting will be displayed in a prominent position in the residential hall along with a short summary of their lives and work.
The building has been completed and the students are in residence. A formal naming ceremony is tentatively planned for 2023, having been delayed due to COVID restrictions, and further details will be made available in due course.
A short video of Ryder-Cheshire Hall is available at this link: https://vimeo.com/701968857/eeca0b781c .
More information about Campion College is available at this link: https://www.campion.edu.au/.
Siobhan Reeves
Artist at work on portrait of Leonard Cheshire and Sue Ryder