The Centre exudes a peaceful and positive atmosphere. I love it!
Bookshop
Books, Buddhas and Ethical Gifts
Open six days a week, the Centre’s spacious ground floor shop is a great place to browse. New stock comes in all the time and almost everything we sell comes from Buddhist right livelihood businesses, other ethical sources, or small local independent businesses. All proceeds go towards the Centre and its activities. No minimum spend on card payments.
Our friendly receptionists can advise on what to buy and you are welcome to try out the meditation equipment and singing bowls to get what’s right for you.
In the Buddhist Centre Shop . . .
- Books on Buddhism and meditation, vegetarian cookery, day to day mindfulness and more. We also have CDs, magazines, calendars and a great second hand section – fiction too
- Meditation equipment – mats, stools, kindseats, shawls, cushions and meditation beads
- Buddha statues and singing bowls in many styles, sizes and prices
- Incense galore – Nag Champa, Morning Star and many others
- Vajras, bells and other Buddhist ritual items
- Yoga equipment – mats, blocks, straps, bolsters, neti pots
- Greetings cards and gifts, plus gift vouchers if you can’t decide
- Toiletries, soaps, Green People and Faith in Nature products – organic, vegan and not tested on animals
- Fairly traded teas, coffees, snacks and a great range of vegan and organic chocolate
Look out for our famous hand-made crafts stall in December, and other special sales from time to time.
Opening Times:
Mon: 10am - 6pmTues - Thurs: 10am - 7pm
Fri: 10am - 5.30pm
Sat: 10am - 5pm
Sun: Usually closed but shop open 11am - 3pm on 8, 15, 22 Dec.
Bank hols: Usually open - see calendar for changes
Closed 25 Dec - 2 Jan

We also have a reference library
With over a thousand titles – please ask at reception to use it. Mitras and Order members can borrow too.
School Visits
Welcoming Students of All Ages
Thousands of school children and college students come to the Buddhist Centre each year to explore Buddhism and see the Centre at work. Our acclaimed education service is run by Clear Vision, based here at the Centre.
Group visits
School, college and community groups of all ages are welcome on guided visits, with a tour of the ground floor and shrine room, discussion, questions and answers, and an optional meditative stilling exercise. Details are on the school visits page of the Clear Vision website.
Group visit enquiries and bookings
A Buddhist visitor in your school?
We offer Buddhist classroom-based workshops and assemblies for primary to AS/A2 level. We can bring the RE syllabus to life, and explore Buddhist perspectives on citizenship, community cohesion, identity, and PHSE themes.
- £50 per hour, or £240 for the whole day, including expenses
Enquiries and bookings
Teaching materials for Buddhism in schools
Clear Vision makes award-winning audio-visual materials for Buddhism in your classroom. See also their FAQ pages, Ask a Buddhist!

Thank you for the professional and friendly way in which you shared with our pupils the Buddhist vision of life, in what was an engaging, welcoming and reassuring environment. They were clearly impressed and enriched
We meditated for about ten minutes. It was fantastic, the longest time I’ve ever sat still and quiet
Room Hire
Beautiful Rooms in a Central Location
If you’re looking for a place to hold your team meeting, then our library and meeting room could just be the place for you. Located in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, we are well known for our friendly and attentive service. We are easily accessible from two train stations, with tram, bus and car parks close by. If you’d like to come and look at our rooms and facilities, just ask. Special rates for charities and voluntary groups may be possible – get in touch.
More information and booking
Contact Sthirajyoti on Sthirajyoti@manchesterbuddhistcentre.org.uk or 0161 834 9232.
Accessibility
The rooms we hire out are on the second floor, and we have a lift to all public floors. There are toilets on all three floors and a disabled-friendly one on the ground floor, with baby-changing facilities.
There are six steps up from street level to the front door of the Buddhist Centre though. We have received a very generous donation for a street level lift, and work on the required permissions, regulations and so on is being completed for installation in 2019.

Library – seats ten
- One hour – £32
- Half day – £90
- Full day – £170
Conference table for eight to ten people or a semi-circle of chairs with small table for ten people
Meeting room – seats nine
Circle of five lounge chairs and two settees
- One hour – £26
- Half day – £65
- Full day – £115
Included in the cost
Wireless internet access, suitable wall for projection, water and biscuits, flipchart
Extras
Use of tea and coffee making facilities on ground floor, with good range of tea, coffee, milk, herbal infusions and so on.
- £2 per person per half day
- £3 per person per day
- Lunch at Earth Cafe – contact us for details
Cancellation policy
- Within 7 days of booking date, half agreed cost
- Within 14 days of booking date, £30
- Outside 14 days of booking date, no charge
Meditation at Work
Team Sessions with Heart
The Buddhist Centre offers a range of options for local businesses and other organisations interested in bringing an approach of mindfulness and positivity to their work. Small and medium sized teams may wish to come to us – an attractive, affordable location right in the heart of Manchester, maybe with lunch at the renowned Earth vegetarian café. Or we can come to you, if that would work better. We can, at its simplest, offer meeting space with a little extra, right through to a complete tailor-made programme.
A package to suit your workplace
Typical packages are for full or half days and are led by a team of experienced teachers and facilitators, working with you on your requirements. We also offer shorter sessions on two themes – Cultivating Awareness and Cultivating Positivity. These include a practical introduction to meditation, with a focus on the part it can play in our daily lives.
Typical prices
Pricing varies with different packages but usually start at around £250 for a half day here at our Centre, and £125 for a one-hour session at your premises. Special rates for charities and voluntary groups may be possible.
Get in touch
- Please contact the Business Outreach Team at info@manchesterbuddhistcentre.org.uk

Track record
Previous satisfied customers include the Albert Kennedy Trust, Big Life Centres, the Co-Op Group, Great Places Housing, Parsons Brinckerhoff and Selfridges.
The feedback was fantastic – we highly recommend the sessions to other businesses!
. . . relaxed and more able to cope with pressures afterwards
Bodywise Natural Health
Enhancing physical and emotional health
Located on the Buddhist Centre’s second floor, Bodywise practitioners work together in a spirit of generosity, co-operation and compassion. A beautiful studio hosts classes and workshops alongside three treatment rooms.
Yoga
Through the practice of yoga we begin to slow down, re-inhabit our bodies and rediscover the natural rhythm that supports our well being. Bodywise’s yoga teachers are all experienced practitioners, trained in a number of styles.
There are drop-in sessions, bookable courses, weekend workshops and one-to-one sessions. Specialist classes include pregnancy yoga, parents and babies yoga, yoga for chronic fatigue, as well as Chi Kung, Pilates, Feldenkrais method and other movement practices.
- Yoga and movement classes on Bodywise’s website
Therapies at Bodywise
Acupuncture, Alexander Technique, career coaching, counselling and psychotherapy, homeopathy, massage, reflexology, shiatsu and more.
- Details of therapies on Bodywise’s website

Contact Bodywise
16 – 20 Turner Street
Manchester
M4 1DZ
0161 833 2528
health@bodywisenaturalhealth.co.uk
bodywisenaturalhealth.co.uk
Our second floor reception is open Monday to Friday.
While you can reach Bodywise by lift from the Buddhist Centre ground floor, building access is still via six steps from street level. The Centre has received a very generous donation for a street level lift, and work on the required permissions, regulations and so on is being completed for installation in 2019.
Breathworks
Breathworks and Mindfulness
Breathworks delivers mindfulness teacher training and courses to help those living with pain, long-term health conditions and stress live happier and healthier lives, through its mindfulness-based pain management program.
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a state of present moment attention where you can clearly perceive thoughts, physical sensations, emotions and events at the moment they happen without reacting in an automatic or habitual way. This means you can make choices on how you respond to things, even in difficult circumstances.
How Breathworks started
Breathworks grew out of the experience of Vidyamala Burch, who has suffered from severe chronic back pain for most of her adult life following a spinal injury in her teens. Since 2004, Breathworks has grown within the UK and internationally.

Mindfulness Courses
Breathworks runs courses in Manchester and many other locations as well as by telephone and online. Breathworks website has full details of local Mindfulness for Health and Mindfulness for Stress courses, plus Mindfulness Taster Sessions. We have training programmes to become a Breathworks accredited teacher, and for health and social care professionals wishing to bring mindfulness into their work.
We also arrange bespoke courses and training for organisations looking to introduce mindfulness into your workplace. Vidyamala’s books and guided meditation CDs are available direct from Breathworks or from the Buddhist Centre shop.
Contact Breathworks
16 – 20 Turner Street
Manchester
M4 1DZ
0161 834 1110
info@breathworks.co.uk
www.breathworks-mindfulness.org.uk
Earth Café
Daytime Café and Juice Bar
In the Buddhist Centre’s basement, Earth is a relaxing and comfortable place to enjoy delicious, healthy and affordable vegan and vegetarian food, coffee, cakes and juices. You don’t need to be a vegetarian or vegan, just into great, healthy home-cooked food.
Everything is available to eat in or take out and outside catering is also available – no more beige buffets!
If you are aiming for vegetarian / vegan food in a relaxed atmosphere this place is great. Good choice of tasty food… Welcoming staff… Nice atmosphere

Contact Earth Café
16 – 20 Turner Street
Northern Quarter
Manchester
M4 1DZ
0161 834 1996
info@earthcafe.co
www.earthcafe.co
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Opening times
- Mondays to Fridays: 10 – 4
- Saturdays: 10 – 5
- Sundays: closed
- Bank holidays: usually closed
The human body, at peace with itself, is more precious then the rarest gem
Opening Times & more
Opening Times:
Mon: 10am - 6pmTues - Thurs: 10am - 7pm
Fri: 10am - 5.30pm
Sat: 10am - 5pm
Sun: Usually closed but shop open 11am - 3pm on 8, 15, 22 Dec.
Bank hols: Usually open - see calendar for changes
Closed 25 Dec - 2 Jan Charity reg no: 514937
