Rewylding CIC

Welcome to our Autumn update! They say momentum is power and though momentum is slowly trickling in, I am one of those people who must practice patience often in these spaces, I want to charge ahead but alas, build projects rarely go to plan or within schedule. This is especially true in the infancy of businesses that run off the generosity of volunteers and fitting around other work commitments, the weather and varying energy levels.

Celebrations

In the digital realm, we continue to build the website, we finally got a bank account sorted so, our donation page is up and running, with new buttons being added asap to make it a bit smoother. Pretty much all of what we offer at Rewylding is funded by donations with ticket sales set at sliding cost to keep our sessions accessible for those who need them. We are a people not profit business. Currently at the top of our list wish list is a sturdier wheelbarrow and some extra building materials, .

Our primary site for sessions currently is the orchard at Blackberry Barn, Halwell. Humans have gathered in orchards and groves for centuries (something I often find myself understanding more deeply when I’m there. We are the ‘isle of apples’ after all). It feels very uplifting to be continuing to do so in such trying times. like a returning home to something nourishing.

Mel and Hedley have put so much love and effort into this space. Planting hedgerows, rewilding the majority of it to increase biodiversity and creating space for children to access outdoor education. Mel and I have worked on many projects together, she shares my passion for ‘the old ways’ and for helping people heal. She too knows the importance of being able to spend time in nature which is why she shares her space so generously. The orchard is beautifully set up with shelter, fire pit and the nicest compost loo you will ever visit. Our circles always seem to end with us sat in silence, soaking in the sounds of wind rustling the grass, crickets and various birdsong. There are small frogs, regular deer and hare sightings, an array of butterflies and moths, and a particularly industrious mouse I see regularly to-ing and fro-ing. Much like myself.

The Orchard is booked out for the majority of Autumn for Family SEN days with Wild Embers. Another local business doing great things. We took the final space available for our Nourished AF day retreat. (You can book your place here) Expect fireside crumble, coil basket making, grounding, soup, foraging for Haws to make medicinal ketchup and the usual shenanigans from myself.

One of the intentions I have for Rewylding is to develop the spaces we use, with this in mind we have been given permission to build another workshop space at Blackberry Barn; lovingly named ‘The Nettle Garden’. It’s been slow going this far. We don’t use heavy machinery for several reasons, the top one for me being that we don’t decimate the wildlife. I’ve clawed back some space myself and had some hours donated from generous folk to make it accessible as the Orchard is less so for those differently abled.

Vulnerability in New Spaces

I had a beautifully challenging moment in trying to get this done late August. I had organised some help from a builder friend. Intending to get it finished in a day, I ordered the materials required from the local builders merchant to be delivered on said day. They had issues with their lorry and in managing their own challenges unknowingly created more for me. The 1 tonne dumpy bag of gravel I ordered was delivered a day early, to the site I wasn’t at, without my knowledge. The truck they did have was too big to get in the gate and so was left outside of the front of the site.

I phoned in a flap, how did this happen? What was I to do? Hedley’s wheelbarrow is fine for light garden waste but not for heavy gravel and what’s more, I have 1 day to get this done, I was not keen on using up all of my energy ferrying gravel from where it was to where it needs to be. Fortunately said builders merchants lent me a shiny new wheelbarrow and it has only strengthened our relationship going forwards. Even more fortunately, we already have community excited about what we are building and once again they came through for us; arriving early with their own wheelbarrow and younger bodies than my own, it was moved in an hour. Did we get the whole job done in the day? No, No we did not as humans are often unpredictable and sometimes through their own patterning, struggles and goings on, are unable to show up in the ways required to get the job done. Another lesson in patience and adaptability, I am getting better I promise.

Again, I was given more opportunities through this challenge though. While in said builders merchants, trying to lean into good humour, I ran into another handy person I know and asked for a hug because I was feeling dysregulated. Wild behaviour I know, to be hugging people in the builders merchants and openly sharing my vulnerability! This person has tools, know how and currently, more ‘spoons’. Thankfully he was keen to help. He made time to help get the posts bashed in properly and now we are back to where I started the week before. Just in time for the rain to arrive.

I’ve run several successful community days and I’m planning to do more here to get it finished. Likely, the nettle garden will be complete by next spring, not this side of winter as I had hoped but I am going to keep going at the same pace, you really never know. And I am nothing if not determined.

What I love about these days and projects, is the sense of wellbeing we get from working alongside others, through the ups and downs of building projects we strengthen our connections to each other and our selves. We build our skills (some of these being patience and resilience) share our stories and have the warm fuzzy feeling of contributing to something that supports others wellbeing along with our own, this is not just for the benefit of humans, the hedgehogs and frogs are also very grateful. Not only do I highly recommend it, Soon I can invite you to experience it for yourself at Blackberry Barn. We will work, eat, dance, chat, laugh, I’ll likely cry at some point, and create core memories to look back on. Building things together is something humans are excellent at. It’s in our DNA and it benefits our mental health greatly. I look forward to sharing these experiences with you, putting our shared energy into shaping a space that many can reap the benefits of for years to come.

Much Love

Kate Goth, Director and Founder