The JEEL (Youth of the Evangelical Liberist Church) aim to offer to the children of its denomination a place to holiday. In 1978, this association chose the village of Mazet Saint Voy, situated on the plateau of Haute-Loire, known for its Protestantism and volcanic region with breathtaking and atypical landscapes to construct a holiday centre, with a view of the Lizieux. The centre is called la Costette 1000: costette is the name of the local area which means little hill and 1000 refers to the altitude in which it is built. To get the project going, the JEEL created a construction committee of 7 membres: M Jean Gardrat, Pierre Bonnet, Charly Marilleau, Camille Dutronc, Jean Ponsonnet, Rolland Barriol and Jacques Maurel. The committee chose the architect Mr Datchary from Grenoble to come up with the plans. After having come up with the final plan, Mr Datchary chose architect Boudignon from Puy en Velay to be the contractor. It is here that the 2 years of construction began. The Fournier enterprise from Tence built the big part of the main building and left the big work of the Mazet wing and the Lizieux wing to the work camp led by Camille Dutronc and Jean-Pierre Delpeche. The first work camp took place from the 5th to the 25th of August 1978. He gathered people from all over the region and particularly from the evangelical liberist church of Riou, from all of France (Paris, Lyon, Orthez, etc) and all of Europe (students' camp concordia: Iceland, Denmark, Poland, Switzerland, Spain, England). The Fournier enterprise went on to build the roof for the entire la Costette. A second work camp took place from the 1st of July to 15 of September 1979. This allowed for the central building and the Mazet wing to be finished which enabled la Costette to have its first kids' camp a year later from the 3rd to the 24th of August 1980. In the same year the last works were done, the Lizieux wing was finished and marked the completion of the buildings. It should be noted that during these 2 years of construction, the elected locals and especially those of Mazet Saint Voy were of invaluable help to this project of the JEEL.
To manage the construction and to welcome the group of volunteers and the first occupants, passionate people who are full of energy were needed, which is where Marc and Janie Moncaut came in to be the directors of the centre from 1978 to 1980. From 1980 to 1981, it was a year of transition. The Moncaut couple stay at la Costette to welcome groups while the new directors, the pastoral couple, Jean and Mireille Gardrat, manage the centre from a distance while still playing an active role in a church in Nimes. The Gardrat couple move in in 1981 and stayed until 1987. As well as the kids' camp in August which has become a key event in the calendar, they launched the older camps in September 1986. In 1987, the centre welcomed Regis Teissonière as director until 1991. In 1991, it was the pastoral couple Pierre and Eliette Bonnet that took over the direction. The centre has put down roots and developped as a holiday centre for christians and had marked its own identity.
In 1991, JEEL's new project for Costette, the Garay multipurpose hall with 500 seats, became a reality after 2 years of implementation. La Costette therefore had new perspectives. She could now host weddings, conferences, gatherings, concerts, but also allow sports clubs to practice tennis, football, volleyball, basketball and offer all these activities to the people she received in the center whatever the weather. It was therefore the Bonnet couple who worked on these new possibilities until January 2000. That same year, the center had as new directors the couple Jean-Pierre and Martine Charlemagne. Jean-Pierre, being a former science teacher and a geology enthusiast, set up the green discovery classes. La Costette then had young schoolchildren and their teachers as new customers.
From January 2007 the Board of Directors resolved to change the mode of organization and to pool certain resources with another local association, in which several members of JEEL were also invested. A partnership is being established with ESAT “Les Amis du Plateau”. La Costette then becomes host boss for certain ESAT workers with disabilities. First of all, a partnership with a green spaces team for maintenance of the surroundings of Costette, then quickly a partnership with a kitchen team supervised by a workshop instructor within the Costette structure itself. ESAT staff also participate in table service during the day. Thierry Ferrand, Director of ESAT 'Les amis du plateau', takes over the administrative management of La Costette, from 2007 to 2023. In March, he was surrounded by a manager of Reception and Stays. Then came different reception managers: Annabelle Devaux 2007, Christian Bury 2011, Dominique Belsoeur 2013, Florence Veldhuizen 2015, and finally Kevin Chamard 2018.
From 2024, the Board of Directors is considering a re-structuring. Several local people are involved in the structure. The Board reaffirms its desire for partnership with the Friends of the Plateau, it is renewed by half. La Costette resolutely wishes to rediscover its vocation first seen by its founding fathers and also rediscover its partnership with the Union of Free Evangelical Churches of France.