NOVEMBER'S theme in the CC online community is Wrapped in Care. We'll explore how to navigate the holiday season by building self-care and support for the moments that feel hardest. This is in addition to the regular offerings, subgroup events and carefully moderated support. Access now or join instantly with a free 7-day trial. Memberships to suit all pockets; same level of access.
NOVEMBER, Sun 1st. Earlybird booking closes for feel-share-emerge groups (2 groups, one for North America starts Jan; one for Europe starts March). Both supportive, ten-week groups are led in English by licensed Gateway Women facilitator, World Childless Week ambassador and TRA therapist Catherine-Emmanuelle Delisle, and her colleague Stefanine Laprise. Details here.
NOVEMBER, Sat 7th & Sun 8th: Only 4 places left on our last LondonReignite Weekend of 2027 with Yvonne John and Sarah Lawrence NEXT WEEKEND on Sat 7th & Sun 8th November. Also, Reignite Weekends in London for February and October 2027 are now open for booking here.
NOVEMBER, Sat 14th, 9am GMT: ElderZoom with Jody for members of the Childless Collective at 9am GMT UK/IE time (works well for UK/EU and Australasia). Live on Zoom, not recorded and open to all members of the Childless Collective over 50. And other member-led Elderzooms in different timezones too. Click here to join the call if you're a member, or click here to join the CC with a 7-day free trial and then navigate to the ‘Childless Elderwomen’ subgroup.
NOVEMBER, Sat 14th, 6pm GMT: I've been invited to speak to members The Childfree Village on my/our Alterkin project (creating a local community of care for those ageing without children). We Are Childfree's work is focused on the childfree-by-choice experience and is inclusive towards the childless-not-by-choice experience too - much as my Gateway Elderwomen project is about ‘elderhood without motherhood’ rather than colouring inside the pronatalist lines! More info here.
NOVEMBER, Sat 21st: Fireside Wisdom Live with Sue Fagalde Lick, 6pm GMT UK/IE (works for UK/EU & North America). Next up in my new NomoCrone interview series will be Sue Fagalde Lick, author of the fantastic childless novel series Up Beaver Creek (a real favourite of mine), the non-fiction collection Love or Children: When You Can’t Have Both, and the excellent Substack Can I Do It Alone? charting her experience as a widowed childless woman in her 70s living alone in rural Oregon. No need to register, and accessible with a free (or paid!) subscription to my Substack Gateway Elderwomen.
FEBRUARY 20th & 21st: REIGNITE LONDON with Yvonne John and Sarah Lawrence. Earlybird closes 9th January. Details here.
MARCH 13th & 14th: REIGNITE MELBOURNE with therapists and World Childless Week ambassadors Sarah Roberts & Judy Graham.Earlybird closes 30th November; all bookings close 25th January. Info here.
CHILDLESS THERAPISTS: Three new childless practitioners have been added to my free listings in the last month, bringing the global total up to about ninety! First up is in Germany/Austria, an area with very little support for childlessness, so thank you to Anke Egger, a Psychological Counsellor, Family Constellations & Embodiment Coach (both online & in-person) in Munich, Nuremberg & Salzburg. The other two are both in the USA: Wendy Ackley,LICSW, is a coach mentor in Massachusetts, offering both In-Person/Online support and a 12-week online coaching programme; and Kerry Cannon, LCSW, a Therapist/Grief Coach based out of Coos Bay, Oregon, who offers grief coaching online across the US & Canada, and also has an online program to explore. Remember to read their profiles on the GW Therapist Listings to find out more about them, in addition to their websites.
None of these are affiliate links; I share them only to help you find support and connection. If you have something you'd like me to consider for inclusion, please let me know. And if you felt able to appreciate my work with a small tip, you can do so at BuyMeACoffee :)
Just a short letter from me this month as I'm getting ready to open my home next weekend to twelve extraordinary childless elders-in-training for my very first Romancing the Crone weekend. You can read more about what we'll be getting up to here, and if you'd like to know when the date for 2027 is announced, just hit reply to this email and I'll be in touch next year. A room full of 13 powerful, soulful childless women ready to ‘own their crone’… what have I let myself in for? Woo hoo!
Â
As you can see from the photo above, the garden and polytunnel have been bountiful right up until now, and even now that we're in November, there are still a few aubergines, peppers and tomatoes to come. You can see that my first try at pumpkins produced mini-pumpkins, and I only got one butternut squash out of a massive jungle of vines because I didn't know that I needed to hand-fertilise them with a paintbrush - which feels like an ironic learning curve for a childless woman! I'm so grateful to my garden and the gorgeous food it's produced for the kitchen, and the healing benefits and comfort it's brought through a year that's been so tough on my health and morale. (I'm pleased to say my recovery from post-viral fatigue continues to improve).Â
Â
And all of you have kept me going too, whether we've met online in the Childless Elderzooms, or in the World Childless Week webinars, in person at StoryhouseCHILDLESS in September, or at Childless Collective Teashop Gatherings in Clonakility (last one of those coming up on Saturday 21st November; the group continues to meet in Cork City and Dublin), or in the many comments you've left for me on my Substack or in your emails in response to this newsletter.Â
Â
I would not be the woman I am today, at peace with my life and excited about what the rest of my croning has in store for me - without each of my childless sisters. Thank you.
Â
Once the workshop is over, then it's time to get stuck back into finishing my novel about a single, childless, middle-aged, perimenopausal, snarky and occasionally a bit cackhanded heroine. No relation to self, of course :)
Â
Â
Â
I'm thrilled to announce that our Reignite Weekend programme continues to change lives around the world! In 2027, the workshop will be 15 years old, and thousands of childless women have walked nervously through the doors to discover a whole new outlook (and friends) awaiting them! Info on ALL Reignite Weekends here.Â
