Widening Circles: A Grief Tending Learning Journey

Nov 14	Fri 14th Nov 2025 6:30pm – Sat 15th Nov 2025, 5pm GMT (UTC +00:00)

	Carrow House, King Street, Norwich, UK

	https://dandelion.events/e/widening-circles

experiential workshop community healing loss grief tending emotional well being

Hosted by	Norfolk Grief Tending
Facilitators
Attending	< 10 people
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Enquiries to	hello@norfolkgrief.com
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Fri 14th November, 6.30pm-8.30pm & Sat 15th November, 10am-5pm

This workshop programme is for anyone interested in forming a grief tending peer group, and for professionals working in any context where grief is an issue who wish to find out more about this community approach.

A prerequisite for attending this programme is that you have attended either a 5-6 week group journey or a half-day (or longer) workshop with Norfolk Grief Tending or with others working in the same tradition. If you are new to grief tending in community, please sign up for the 6-week Group Journey (7 Oct-11 Nov), the online workshop on Monday 20 October or the full-day workshop on Saturday 1 November before booking your place on this programme.

Who Is It For?

Have you taken part in a grief tending circle, and feel inspired to find out more about this approach?
Are you working in a professional capacity with people experiencing grief, and keen to explore how this community approach could inform your work?
Are you looking to become more confident about approaching grief (your own and others) and feel drawn to the idea of growing a more grief-literate culture?
Are you curious about the crossover between professional and peer-led approaches to healing, and the interplay between individual and collective wellbeing?
Are you looking to take a first step towards becoming a grief tending facilitator?
Are you interested in learning how to set up your own group or in helping your community form a grief tending peer group?

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, you would be welcome to join us for this learning journey to explore these and other questions.

What to Expect

We will look at how a self-facilitating group can create their own grief tending space, drawing on learnings from other peer-group models. We will explore the flow of the Grief Tending in Community journey and you will have a chance to facilitate a process in a supported environment.

We will also explore questions around ethics and group membership. You will be able to take away a handbook to supplement the group learning journey, which contains background notes and a template to help you design your group process.

More About the Programme

Our broad aim is to encourage ongoing connections and community outside of workshop spaces, calling forth the facilitator in us all and helping to build regenerative culture in all its forms. We have shaped a programme around the following elements.

Group Formation in the context of Grief Tending

We'll explore how groups form (including this one) and how we can create the kind of group culture that will support this work. We'll also look at the differences and overlaps between facilitated grief tending spaces and peer-led groups, and we'll begin exploring the key elements of the Grief Tending in Community approach.

The Flow of the Grief Tending Journey

We'll look in more detail at each element of the approach we're working with: from welcoming and framing, to building the banks and surfacing grief, to expressing our grief, soothing and integration.

Playtime!

This will be an opportunity for members of the group (those who wish to) to have a trial run of a group session using the template set out in the handbook. We'll reflect together on any learnings and questions arising, and we will also have a look at questions around ethics and membership of the group.

Follow-up session

For those wishing to go on to form a group, we'll offer an evening looking at practical considerations including rotating roles within the group, finances, venue, etc.

The Gifting Approach - Pay What You Can

All our events are offered on a gift basis, which means there’s no financial barrier to participation. This is a bit different to simply inviting donations. We’re asking you to feel into a contribution that feels right for you.

When you register, you'll need to pay a ‘placeholder deposit’ of £25, which is a token of commitment to reserve your place (if this is a problem for you please be in touch). We will then invite further contributions on (or soon after) the event.

We will send you some guidelines about this, and we ask that you take into account what you would likely pay elsewhere for something similar. For a learning journey of this kind, you could pay up to £1,800. As a guide, we are suggesting between £100 and £420 in total (including your initial placeholder deposit) but it is fine for you to gift less or more. Your placeholder deposit is, in principle, refundable at the workshop, in full or in part, if your chosen gift is less.

This workshop is subsidised by Big Lottery funding. Your gift will ensure that we can continue offering sessions to everyone who needs them, regardless of their financial circumstances.

Norfolk Grief Tending is a non-profit community organisation that helps adults who are struggling with grief to find hope, healing and peace.

Our events are held by experienced facilitators, working with tried and tested trauma-informed practices. They are available on a gift basis, which means pay what you can.

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This initial £25 payment is a token of commitment to reserve your place. Let us know if this is a problem for you.

We're offering this event on a gift basis where you choose the amount. Suggested contribution is between £100 and £420 but it's fine to gift more or less.

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About you

What moves you to join this Grief Tending in Community event?

Please tell us about any grief tending in community workshops you have attended (e.g. dates, length, location, facilitators).

Please tell us about any experiences you have had of running groups, of being in organised or facilitated group spaces, and/or of being in peer to peer, self-led groups.

Are there any particular griefs moving for you at this time? Feel free to list multiple griefs.

Please tell us if there is anything else you'd like to share about your relationship with grief and your experience working with groups. All of which will help in welcoming you and in preparing for the session.

Terms and conditions

Your payment to reserve your place is non-refundable, except in extenuating circumstances (e.g. illness or emergency). However, we will be happy to refund your payment if the event is full and we can offer your place to someone else. Please  read the notes below, and get in touch with us before booking your place if you have questions or concerns.

Grief tending can stir up tender or difficult feelings that require ongoing care. There's also a subtle but clear connection between grief and trauma, and sometimes a grief tending journey can shine a light on these areas too. 

The practices we work with provide a safe container for stepping into this territory, and we have come to trust the wisdom that guides us as we do so. That said, tending our grief is brave work and it typically takes us deeper on our inner journey. Navigating these depths requires a commitment to self-care. We wish to invite a culture of radical self-responsibility around this work and to support each as we learn about what this means. 

By booking your place, you agree to join us in this intention, and to work at growing a network of support and resource that will enable you to continue your journey beyond our time together.

As a minimum, we ask all participants to schedule a check-in with a friend, family member or other support person after the session to let them know how it was, and to talk about anything that may have been stirred up. In addition, some of us, particularly when regularly experiencing intense and overwhelming feelings, may need to seek additional help, through one-to-one or group support for example.

There are also times when grief tending may not be the best approach. If you are experiencing a high level of fragility, perhaps facing a major loss that is new and raw, combined with feeling particularly low in inner resources and external support, this might not be the time for you to join us. Feel free to discuss this with us if you are unsure.

I agree to the terms and conditions

By proceeding you also agree to Dandelion's terms and conditions and understand this event is organised by Norfolk Grief Tending, who takes financial and legal responsibility for the event.