So far we have worked with migrant women, who either are, or recently have been destitute, undocumented and/or have experienced sexual or domestic violence.

Participants have been through a variety of traumatic experiences, including (but not limited to) sexual slavery, postnatal depression, depression, high stress levels, abject poverty and homelessness. These experiences are compounded by the inherent risk of detention and deportation, irregular immigration status brings.

Many of the women we work with have “No Recourse to Public Funds” (NRPF), are single parents and often have one or more children. Due to the uncertainty of their circumstances, and lack of access to funds, they are likely to live in risky accommodation - (often dealing with illegitimate landlords, in houses which are overcrowded and in poor condition, or may have been  pushed to sofa surfing/street homelessness).

Women in this circumstance are at higher risk of sexual exploitation, may have already experienced sexual violence and have poor mental health due to strains of living on the margins of society.

The Natural Resilience Project seeks to ease the personal, social and psychological impacts of living in such challenging circumstances.

As a necessary means to enable these women to benefit from the project, free childcare is provided at each session. The children’s program also works to promote connection, in the natural world.

Plans for the future

To date we have worked with women, who have experienced trauma and are negatively affected by their immigration status.  

However we are confident that our unique approach would benefit other groups with concerns in common and are open to suggestions for collaborations.

We are also interested in teaching our methods so that our work can be spread and shared more widely. In the future we would like to offer workshops to professionals working directly with vulnerable communities, weaving the strand of resilience into this important work.