Embracing Grief: A One-Day Queer Community Journey (London)

EMBRACING GRIEF – A ONE-DAY QUEER COMMUNITY JOURNEY

“A well held space for queer grief. I felt safe, seen and heard. Recommend to anyone seeking community.”

Join us in a One Day Workshop for queer/GSRD (Gender/Sexuality/Relationship Diverse) people, to find support with grief, and welcome our unique expression of it. A day allows more spaciousness than our introductory 4 Hour sessions, with more time to connect, and gently explore our inner worlds. We offer permission to open our hearts and speak our truth, in the presence of a deep holding circle. It’s a chance to really be seen, and to connect authentically with others. We encourage listening across our differences in order to hold a compassionate, non-judgemental space.

Step gently with us into the wild waters of emotion, and welcome-in life.

One Day from 10am-6pm in Hackney, E5 London. 
The facilitation team will offer a step-by-step series of guided exercises and rituals to build trust, connection, and relaxation. We encourage self-kindness and taking care of our needs during our time together. Everything we suggest is optional. People will bring different histories, cultures, socialisations, and neurobiologies to their experience of grieving. We offer a variety of ways of working during the day, including speaking, listening, writing, moving, sounding, singing, and embodiment. 

Grief tending offers grief support without trying to fix anything.
Grief is a natural response to difficult things happening. This may include a whole spectrum of feelings such as sadness, anxiety, depression, anger, numbness and overwhelm. We offer a guided journey through this landscape, whether your experiences of grief are personal, collective or ancestral. We offer tools to discover and express our own unique responses, together in a group. To help us to remember how to be human in community. People may bring challenging themes and strong expressions of emotion.

This workshop is for you if you want to feel more alive.
Perhaps you are looking for support with grief? You may be with the spectrum of grief feelings, or disconnection from emotions. You may be dealing with something that happened in the past, a current situation, or something that you fear happening in the future. We welcome grief on any theme, including bereavement, injustice, absence and change.

To see more about what happens in a Grief Tending workshop, and the practice of Grief Tending for grief support, there are a series of short animations HERE.

If you have any questions, please email Sarah welcome@loveandloss.co.uk .

ABOUT YOUR FACILITATORS

Sarah Pletts (she/her) is an experienced facilitator. She has spent hundreds of hours sitting alongside people finding their way with grief. She brings an embodied understanding of mortality and consent to the practice of Grief Tending. She has come through chronic illness, been a care-giver, and has a deep connection with the natural world. As an artist-maker she designs experiences that inspire, and creates beauty through ritual (www.loveandloss.co.uk). You can find her hand-drawn animations at www.griefsupport.org.uk/videos. She regularly co-facilitates with Tony Pletts, Bilal Nasim, Sophy Banks, Jana Light, Rasha and others. She lives in Hackney with partners, chosen family and friendly squirrels. 

Jana Light (they/he) is a facilitator, trainer, somatic conflict coach and grief tender. After some years of working for Navigate  they now offer their work freelance. Jana is currently based in the Netherlands, where they live with one other human and one cat. They enjoy complex board games, miss spending time in open water, and have a penchant for collecting different types of non-caffeinated tea.

Rasha (she/her) lives in London, working as a therapist. She appreciates the different potential for experience that Grief Tending offers.

Embracing Grief Ethics Statement:
https://www.loveandloss.co.uk/ethics-statement/

FEEDBACK 

"It was such a heart soothing and soul-enriching experience to participate in the space you created. I felt so utterly welcomed, free to bring whatever was alive in me, and never pressured to be anywhere I wasn't. I had moments of feeling a huge resistance in myself, and was allowed to dance with that and invite what was hiding underneath. The threads that you wove to create our container felt so gently, lovingly and intentionally woven, held with both sincerity and lightness." - Anon

EVENT DETAILS
 
Exact address will be included in your confirmation email.  

TICKET PRICES: 
£45 Bursary (2 spaces available on request - please email Sarah: welcome@loveandloss.co.uk)
£65 Low Income (2 spaces available)
£85 Standard
£100 Higher Income
£125 Supporter

Once you have purchased a ticket, you will receive an Advance Information Form which we require to be completed before the workshop - This is both to help you to prepare for the session and for us to be able to support your needs. 

NOTE: We only send the exact address and what to bring upon receiving a completed Advance Information Form. 

There will be a maximum of 12 available places excluding the team. 2 of these places will be available at the Bursary rate for those who are either unemployed, have insufficient/unstable income or are clearly unable to afford the Standard price. Bursary places must be requested, to do this please email Sarah: welcome@loveandloss.co.uk). 

2 more places are available at the Low Income rate. The Supporter and High Income price part-subsidises those paying the Bursary and Low Income price. 

Please note: We require a minimum number of attendees for events to go ahead. Please book early to avoid disappointment.

Note: We will start on time, please arrive 15 minutes before start time. 

NO ENTRY AFTER:  30 minutes after start time. (If you are running late please contact us immediately).

ENQUIRIES: Sarah: welcome@loveandloss.co.uk

If you have any access requirements please get in touch and note that the venue has awkward steps/stairs. It is also a colourful community/home, which allows us to use the space flexibly, and offer the work at a more accessible price. This workshop is inclusive to everyone regardless of age (18+), ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs and otherwise.

Some of the proceeds of this event will go to WAYout Arts Worldwide.

REFUNDS POLICY: Please note, we do not arrange refunds or exchanges. When possible we encourage reselling on Ticketswap.

ACCESS:  We do our best to include everyone in our events, regardless of health circumstances. If you have access requirements please email the event organiser directly to discuss. Many facilitators are able to offer reduced ticket prices for those truly unable to afford the ticket price. If this applies to you, do please get in touch with the event organiser.

For PSYCHEDELIC KNOWLEDGE AND RESOURCES please check out the Psychedelic Society website. 

Our facilitators have agreed to our code of conduct. Learn about our procedure for raising concerns

MEMBERS of the Psychedelic Society get a discount off almost all of our events.
Join from £5 a month and become part of this amazing community with invites to special events and more.