About me
Hello there, I'm Gill and I am happy to welcome you here
I passionately believe that as women we deserve more! More of everything!
We deserve space that is ours, where we are met exactly as we are without any kind of expectation or judgement. A community in which we are held, nourished and truly seen, and a beautiful space that is warm and welcoming bringing peace and connection.
Our ancestors chose to sit around fires sharing the stories of their lives, making sense of the world around them and their place in it, as a child I was drawn to these stories whether told by my family and friends or read in books.
The river of these stories began to run through me as I grew and learned to use my own voice, the more time and space I had to listen the deeper the stories ran.
Life, as it does for all of us, began to demand more of me and it left little time to immerse myself within the stories yet subconsciously I followed a path where the stories could still be heard. I began in law and the stories were often difficult and multi-faceted struggling to find space within a complex and inflexible system. They came with me as I transitioned into motherhood and family life feeling the deep generational pull of love and connection handed down to us from our ancestors. They found another home in my work as a humanist celebrant where I am lucky enough to witness the raw and emotional family stories of love and connection, weaving all those individual strands into something fluid and sparkling that tells of a life well lived or a marriage filled with love and heart.
Broadening into pastoral work and deep conversations about life’s great transitions and what it means to be human in our ever-changing world led me to consider where the opportunities were for human connection with other women outside these rituals of birth, death and marriage.
There was a pull towards something that I couldn’t name, something old and familiar yet totally in tune with today’s world. In finding Circles I found something deep within myself that spoke of a gentle energy longing to connect with others and in Circles I have found a way to do that.
Circles create a sacred* space where everything stops for 90 minutes and we intentionally move across the threshold into a slower pace, sitting alongside each other as equals. In voicing what is important to us and having those words witnessed there is a cathartic effect for both those speaking and those listening and we settle into a deeper understanding of what it means to be human. The stories shared are rich and varied casting out threads into the wider group where they are weaved into our own tapestries of life and experiences. We share joy, laughter, tears and compassion often finding hope and connection along the way
In creating and facilitating Circles we are making space for all that it means to be a woman in these turbulent times, the good, the bad, the tidy, the messy, the fear, the laughter, the anger and the joy, we speak to it all. Each Circle is unique, different things arise and we are there for all of them bringing our curious and compassionate selves. We speak our truth from the heart and when we listen to the words of others with our hearts open we allow the space for further truths to emerge, connecting us to ourselves and other women in a way that is nourishing and compassionate.
*Sacred in this sense is not religious and refers to anything deeply revered, set apart, inviolable, or deserving of supreme respect and care. It represents values, objects, or relationships—such as nature, human rights, or personal integrity—that are treated with high importance and protected from violation, often serving as a personal, ethical, or emotional anchor.
How would it feel to sit with us in our next Circle?
Regular Circles are held online enabling you to join with others from the comfort of your own home. A Circle will last 90 minutes and is held within guidelines of confidentiality, non-judgement and without the requirement to speak, silence is a quiet and beautiful part of our groups.
Where did the name "With Warmth and Heart" come from?
I spent a lot of time trying to work out how best to refer to my Circles, what was truly important to me and how the Circles would feel to those joining. Having spent all that time, the answer had been with me all along, it is the way I end my messages and emails “With warmth and heart”
I hope that having learned more you are feeling curious and intrigued by sitting in Circle and will join us in one of our next Circles, you will be welcomed exactly as you are without the need to do, plan or be anything. Without any expectation, you are invited to simply be.
With Warmth and Heart
Gill x