Scientology Volunteer Ministers were spotted providing controversial Touch Assists on members of the public at the Dorset County Show last month, with a press statement released by the Church claiming they performed healing miracles.
The show, which took place on Saturday and Sunday 6th – 7th September 2025, is described by the organisers as “an action-packed celebration of rural life with an exciting line up of attractions, both new and much-loved favourites.” This year’s entertainment included stunt riders, action horses… and Scientology Volunteer Ministers (VMs).
Famous for their yellow jackets, Scientology’s Volunteer Ministers often show up after major disasters in a bid to gain publicity for “helping on the front line”, despite reports often describing how they hamper relief efforts and get in the way of emergency responders.
Earlier this year as devastating wildfires spread across Los Angeles, Scientologists flocked to the worst-hit communities with camera crews only to be slammed online for exploiting the victims for a “propaganda video”. In one comment posted on social media at the time, a local resident wrote “Beware of these people. They came to the Santa Anita race track donation center and helped themselves to food and good for ‘their low income community’. Wouldn’t listen to us volunteers and now half the food is gone.”
In January we reported Volunteer Ministers had targeted minors over the Christmas period, delivering gifts to a number of children’s hospitals across the South of England for a promotional piece in the Saint Hillier magazine. And now, Scientology Business can reveal that the VMs showed up at the Dorset County Show, offering ‘touch assists’ to passersby.
Touch assists were developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard as a way of providing relief to a painful area, although it is not based on scientific evidence and has not been adopted by medical practitioners. Similar to Reiki, it involves lightly touching the sensitive area and asking the patient to “feel my finger” before acknowledging with “thank you” and repeating the process in various places around the body.
In a press release, the Church of Scientology claim to have “helped hundreds of attendees, providing hands-on support that addressed both physical discomfort and emotional strain” at the County Show. The statement goes on to describe several miracles performed by the Volunteer Ministers.
“Visitors experienced dramatic, immediate relief. A 70-year-old woman who was suffering from aches received an assist and was astonished, “I am very relaxed and all my aches disappeared. I have tried a lot of things but this was very gentle and worked.”
A tennis player preparing for a final match received an assist to ease her pain and afterward exclaimed, “I can play the final tomorrow.”
Another woman recovering from a C-section felt so relieved that she wanted her husband to learn the technique at home to continue supporting her.”
Church of Scientology press release, October 2025 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE)
It provided no evidence of the apparent miracles and we could not find any media coverage mentioning Scientology’s presence at the County Show.
Speaking to Scientology Business, a local resident described seeing Volunteer Ministers at the event as “extremely disappointing,” explaining “the local Scientology Mission made out that the stall was a roaring success but this was simply not the case with the big yellow tent being empty. But also the same faces manned the tent that pray on members of the public in Poole high street.”
Scientology operates a Mission in nearby Poole, which is thought to be behind the Volunteer Ministers’ presence at the event. “Dorset residents like myself have lived alongside the members of Scientology and know the basic scams they pull. Like in Poole high street, members cross to the other side to avoid interaction. What’s even more disturbing and disappointing is that the organisers of the County Show haven’t opted to refuse their attendance. As I local I will be speaking to the organisers in a hope they don’t return for 2026.”
Scientologists believe that physical illnesses are caused by past traumas and negative experiences stored in the ‘Reactive Mind’, a part of your psyche which can be removed through their practice of auditing. The concept was conceived by failed science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard in his 1950 book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. Despite lacking scientific credibility the book became an instant bestseller, something Nobel Physics Prize-winner I.I. Rabi described as “distressing evidence of the frustrated ambitions, hopes, ideals, anxieties and worries of the many persons who through it have sought succor.”
As well as explaining how auditing can fix what it describes as “psychosomatic illnesses”, Dianetics also claims children shouldn’t see anything wrong with receiving a “passionate kiss” from an adult and refers to homosexuality as a “sexual perversion”, with people in the LGBTQ+ community being “quite ill physically.”
The book was recently revised and republished in celebration of its 75th anniversary, and these offensive passages were not removed or given any disclaimers.
Scientology Volunteer Ministers are often comprised of staff members and parishioners who believe in administering Hubbard’s ‘technology’ in order to ‘Clear the planet’. They use fairs and events like the Dorset County Show as an opportunity to recruit new people into the controversial organisation.
