Where Nature, Healing and Community Take Root
From Soil to Soul:
A smallholding in Wiltshire offering healing with nature & animals
When Richard was diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma in 2021, our life shattered into a thousand pieces. We simply wouldn’t have got through were it not for the support of family, friends and total strangers! We raised £40k to help with his treatment, and thanks to endless acts of generosity, we raised much more than we needed. It was here that we started helping others with their cancer experience via grants, resources and through creating a community of fellow cancer members.
We accompanied his orthodox cancer treatment by embarking on a journey of integrative treatments and learning about the power of nature-based healing and, in 2022, Richard got into remission.
Our dream had always been to live on a farm and following our life altering diagnosis, we embraced a Seize The Day attitude. We knew we wanted to welcome in a slower, gentler and more connected lifestyle so, having found our dream home, we had soon moved into our smallholding, nestled in a pretty village in the Cotswolds.
It was soon evident as to the array of health benefits to be derived from growing & eating our own food, connecting to our animals daily and living more mindfully whilst tending our land. We were shocked to realise how our previous life had become so disconnected from seasonal living & eating. Along with the incessant pull to be on technology all the time, not moving our bodies enough and not making adequate time to calm our nervous system & ground our energy, we had become toxic.
Human beings and the planet are all in need of care, love and attention and that’s why we decided to create a Community Interest Company, The Willow Tree Foundation, a sanctuary where nature, healing and community take root to create a sense of wild belonging.
Our aim is to inspire and empower people to connect with nature to support with their own healing journey and to live in greater alignment with Mother Earth; transforming our agricultural land to help improve the biodiversity and support the environment, whilst holding nature connection workshops for people, offering therapy with our alpacas and spaces where people feel held by this land. The bees, chickens, trees, plants and even the lichen, all offer wisdom and lessons as to how we can live a life with greater connection and better health.
Our Western model of health leans heavily on pathology and fixing our illness. Often this comes too late. We are choosing the Salutogenic way; creating spaces that nurture good health and wellbeing. It is grounded in the notion that we all have the inherent capacity to move towards good health. Rudolf Steiner was the mastermind behind the Anthroposophical approach; the art and science of being most fully human. This speaks to us and guides us to bring harmony into our creative, natural and wild spirit.
- Our workshops and programmes support people to heal from burnout, grief, mental or physical illness whilst, at all times, building relationships within our own community. The communities in which we live are such a rich source of nourishment, and yet, for many of us, any sense of living amongst our village, is something confined to the past.
- Our therapy offering entails psychospiritual therapy, animal assisted therapy, walking with grief sessions and free integrative cancer treatments.
- And for those whom life feels just way too heavy to bear, we offer our land as a place of sanctuary and solace where you can rest a while in our slither of paradise.
It is possible we have painted an idyllic picture of our life on a farm full of fluffy animals. Let’s be real, it is not without its tests and challenges. Bringing all of this to life requires endless applications for funding, drawing up designs to obtain planning permission, the day job just to pay our bills and of course, the colossal aftermath of cancer. There is no doubt, each day is a school day, full of learning and detentions! And yet, we believe that what we are doing will not only tend our own souls, but those of whom we serve and care about.
Our hope is to nurture human wellbeing by restoring connection to ourselves, each other and to the natural world. Reciprocity & healing are our goal, forming a healing relationship with individuals that empowers them to care for and heal the planet, creating a mutually beneficial cycle of well-being for both people and all sentient beings. We very much hope you will join us on the journey.
