Belonging Family Retreat
29TH JULY - 1ST AUGUST 2025
A radical new family-attachment retreat, providing two concurrent programmes for parents and young people aged 7-16, to learn how to reconnect with each other and the earth, in love, trust, and mutual respect.
Details
We’re so excited to finally announce Belonging! We’ll be providing two parallel programmes for parents/carers and their young people aged 7-16, to learn how to reconnect with each other and the earth, in love, trust, and mutual respect.
It is so often the case, that amidst the relentless pace of modern life, we can find it challenging to properly nurture the relationships that are most important to us: those within our own families.
Parents and guardians trying to find balance between work-life commitments and focussed time spent with their kids can feel they are not doing enough to foster trust and friendship in those relationships, or that the quality of communication can be frayed.
The demands upon young people’s attention from social media, gaming, and potentially unhealthy peer groups, can add to the strain upon the parent-child relationship, with neither party feeling like they properly understand the other’s perspective.
2025 DATES
29th July - 1st August 2025
PRICING
Prices for the entire retreat are fixed for children at £270. Adults prices are on a sliding price scale starting at £540.
Book your places here.
Your Facilitators
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Artist and activist Charlotte Church’s rose to fame as a child when she become known globally for her powerful voice. In a career spanning over 25 years, Charlotte has sold over 10 million records and performed for presidents, popes and people all over the world.
Charlotte’s passion and drive for change, along with her global platform has led her to following two passions in particular; Education and Nature connection. In 2019 Charlotte set up The Awen Project, a nature based pioneering model for education that is creative, democratic free to attend, and is a space where children can learn in a way that is relevant to them and their futures.
And in 2022, Charlotte set up The Dreaming; her inspiring new wellness retreat nestled in the heart of Wales. It is a place to rest, restore, be playful & be in nature. Through exceptional offerings, breathtaking surroundings, sacred ceremony and deep interconnectedness, Charlotte has created a space to rest, dream and play so that people can rediscover the deep relationship with ourselves and the world we live in.
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Rowan is a geographer, facilitator, community gardener and storyteller who loves playing, making things, meeting people, and engaging in deep, slow learning.
She is one of the founders and facilitators at Free We Grow, a self-directed, nature-based children’s learning community in Lewisham, and Putney Community Gardens, a network of green and wild growing and playing spaces on the Ashburton Estate in Wandsworth.
Rowan is a conscientious walk-out from the international development world and mass education institutions and is engaged in a quest to find harmonious ways of learning, healing, and growing healthy, connected and joyful childhoods, kinships and landscapes.
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Briggy is a charismatic leader, coach and trainer who has delivered many retreats, corporate transformational experiences, results in professional sports coaching and educational courses for 40 years. She speaks fluent German and English.
From working one to one, with small teams or groups of up to 350 people, Briggy brings her unique qualities of leadership and motivation to help inspire people to bring their best. This may be in their career, their sports performance or in their personal and family relationships, including growing children with” wings and roots”.
She does this through her kind heart, masterful skills and intuitive knowledge learnt, developed and practised over decades
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Jonny is an artist and educator. He is the co-founder and Head of Learning at the Awen Tribe, a radical free-to-attend learning community that runs in the forests of Dinas Powys in South Wales. There he holds space for young people to learn and grow, and specialises in facilitating co-created community art projects.
When he isn’t supporting young people to become solid-gold legends, Jonny also works as a creative musician and songwriter, and as a storyteller.
He is very playful, and very serious about play. He is also very serious about the world, and finds the unseriousness of the people who run it indefensible. Engaged philosophically and practically in the act of being a human, he wants people to feel safe and brave and capable.
Overview
Over 4 days we will be enabling parents to transform the bonds within their families through the:
sharing of practical parenting strategies
exploration of psychology and the neuroscience of the developing brain
the acknowledgement and healing of inter-generational pain
world-connection through nature
remembering of how to play.
Whilst holding a safe but brave space for honesty, compassion, and forgiveness, our facilitators will also be honouring the need for joy, nourishment, and well-deserved rest.
Meanwhile, the young people will be diving into the epic depths of wildness:
out on the land
connecting mind, soul and body to nature
discovering and animating the innate poetry of their souls
realising what it means to belong to the earth.
Through serious play and awe-inspiring story, learning woodland skills and tribal practices, and immersed within the deeply magical land of the Dreaming, practitioners from the Awen Project and Free We Learn will be holding a highly energetic space for young people to learn who they are in relation to their families and the earth, what they want to do and how to state their needs, and how to hold onto hope in a world turned inside out.
Location
Nestled in the heart of the Elan Valley, Wales. Our retreat offers a serene and rejuvenating environment, away from busy work life, whatever the weather.
Accommodation
Luxurious rooms with modern amenities await you, each designed by award winning designers to provide comfort and tranquility, along with luxury yurts out on the land kitted out with bunk beds for your little’uns and big’uns.
Each rooms interior reflect our passion for other cultures. Natural materials and tactile draping create den-like spaces, whilst original floorboards and textured walls give coherence and a cosseting feel to the seven rooms, each with its own distinct name and character.
The essence of connection thrives through our shared rooms. Our distinctive approach assigns beds individually rather than by room, encouraging meaningful interactions with fellow guests.
Embracing shared living is ingrained in The Dreaming’s values, creating an environment where bonds flourish.
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For 2 Individuals Sharing
Inspired by Luna herself, The Moon is designed to honour the lunar goddesses. Using handmade natural materials, it is a purifying and calming space, with soft flowing white fabrics. Luxurious beds with fabric privacy screens, a spacious seating area, and an ensuite with moon-shaped bath overlooking the Moon Garden.
It is south facing, overlooking the Elemental garden, with a breathtaking view of the Nant Caethon Valley.
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Mixed Gender Dorm / For Four Individuals Sharing / 4 x Single Beds
An exceptional space designed for four guests to experience the perfect blend of tranquility and connection.
South-facing with a private balcony, this room offers breathtaking views of the Elemental garden and the Nant Caethon Valley, making it the perfect setting for shared moments of peace and reflection. The room's hand-sewn furnishings, crafted from a collection of rich Indian saris, shift in colour as the day progresses, adding to the room's vibrant yet serene ambiance. Its spacious seating area and single beds with fabric privacy screens provide both comfort and intimacy, while encouraging guests to relax, unwind, and enjoy quality time together.
The ensuite bathroom features a stunning golden tadelakt shower, enveloped by lush botanical plants, creating a truly rejuvenating experience. Whether you're here to bond with loved ones or create new memories with friends, The Mystic Room is a haven that invites relaxation, connection, and renewal. Sharing this beautiful space enhances the experience, offering not just a room, but a sanctuary for togetherness. South-facing with a balcony, to take in the breathtaking views of the Elemental garden and the Nant Caethon Valley.
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For 2 individuals sharing
The best place to experience the breaking of day, The Dawn is south facing with a balcony to enjoy the view of the Elemental garden and the Nant Caethon Valley.
The handmade soft furnishings were created using natural dyes to reflect the colours of sunrise, bringing a brightness to the room. With luxurious beds and fabric privacy screens, a seating area, rustic pine furniture, and an altar to honour the solar deities, a stay in The Dawn is an energy restoring experience. Its bathroom is across the hall, and has a Moroccan-inspired tangerine tadelakt shower.
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For 2 Individuals Sharing
Inspired by the wonders of mycelium (the network of fungal threads that connects all the plants of the forest together) The Mushroom is designed and crafted using rustic natural materials to achieve an earthy, grounded feel, dark antique wooden furniture and warm neutral tones in its spacious seating area, and luxurious beds with fabric privacy screens.
It is south facing, overlooking the Elemental garden, with a breathtaking view of the Nant Caethon Valley, and includes an ensuite bathroom, with a walk-in shower, and a bath with a view, surrounded by a selection of botanical plants.
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For 3 Individuals Sharing
A stay at The Wanderer is an immersive experience, with natural materials and artefacts from Africa, Peru and Mexico. This is the room for explorers, and has a spacious seating area, and luxurious beds with fabric privacy screens.
The room is south facing, overlooking the Elemental garden, with a breathtaking view of the Nant Caethon Valley, and includes an ensuite bathroom, with a shower and bath, and a window seat to take in the view.
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For 1 Individual or Couples
Honouring the design and forest reverence in Japanese culture, Forest Spirits is north facing and overlooks the ancient woodland.
With traditional Japanese tatami flooring, a spacious seating area, and a luxurious king-size bed, the room also has an ensuite bathroom with a black tadelakt shower and a porcelain lotus sink. Immersive Japanese experience for all of the senses, including the scent of traditional Japanese Tatami Mats.
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For 2 Individuals Sharing
North-facing to the deep forests, The Womb is a celebration of womanhood. With soft flowing fabrics, all handmade and dyed using natural ingredients, it has the nourishing, secure feeling of being swaddled. Luxurious beds with fabric privacy screens, a seating area, and a playful ensuite with a pink tadelakt shower.