The gift of being heard.
We offer gentle peer-led supportive groups in a quiet, welcoming space, surrounded by horses and animals.
Peer-led support groups offer a variety of topics led by lay members of the community who desire to connect and share their journey, in a supportive environment, that fosters healing hope and addresses the need to be heard.
In practice that is a circle of chairs by the fireplace, and people who understand what you are carrying. It is a space where individuals can come together in mutual support and compassion, offering the gift of being heard.
It is peer-led. That means it is run by people who have been through grief themselves, not by clinicians. Nobody will assess you, diagnose you, or take notes. Nobody will tell you which stage you are supposed to be at.
You do not have to speak. A lot of people come for a long time and mostly listen, and that is a complete and legitimate way to use the group. When you do want to say something, there will be people in the room who already know why it is hard to say.
These groups and activities are not therapy
They are grounded in mutual support, compassion and the many therapeutic benefits of being in community with others who share your journey as you move through grief. These groups and activities are designed to allow self-expression, to provide healing and hope and a chance to connect with others.
This is peer support, not counselling, and it is not a substitute for medical care. If you are already working with a therapist or a doctor, this sits alongside that, not instead of it.
What an hour here looks like.
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You arrive
Park on the gravel and come round to the gathering room. Please ask before going into the barn or out to the paddocks. Never enter a fenced area on your own: a horse may be in it, even if you can't see one from outside the fence. If you would rather sit in the car for ten minutes first, that is fine, and it happens often.
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We sit
Chairs in a circle. Whoever wants to speak, speaks. What is said in the room stays in the room. That is the one rule everybody agrees to.
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You go when you're ready
Some people leave straight after. Some stay by the fire pit, or go and brush a horse. There is no expectation either way, and no register.
Grief, and everything next to it.
Our activities are here to support those who are grieving, and also anyone who is facing personal struggles. You do not have to have lost a child. You do not have to have lost anyone recently. Grief does not run on a schedule and neither does this.
If you are not sure whether you belong here, that feeling is extremely common and it is not a reason to stay away. Ask us, and if we are not the right place for what you need, we will say so and point you somewhere better.
Dates move with the season. See the calendar, or ask us when the next one meets.
