Our Greener Healing research wins finance and fame

Comments from the August national press release of Wales Lottery Fund:

The National Lottery Community Fund funded Grwp Resilience to enable people with wellbeing needs to volunteer, and report how this affects them.

“We are working with people who have experienced damaging life experiences. They include people who have escaped war, mothers who have lost children, victims of long-standing abuse and young people damaged by life and substance abuse. They do not want to live as victims. They want to be valued, to be healers and to heal themselves.

“We are building greener healing from the grass roots.

The funding enabled one of the volunteers, Leoni Jenkins, to take a horse called Monk to Monkton Community Centre in Pembrokeshire.

Leoni, who is a volunteer at Dezza’s and Grŵp Resilience, said:

“I have had troubles nobody should, I have experienced emotional pain that is worse than physical torture through the loss of my children. However, I refuse to be defined by this pain. Working with Monk has honestly kept me alive at times. It has taught me simplicity, patience and compassion.

Leoni told us about one experience with Monk that will stay with her forever:

“A Dad approached us with his very shy, non-verbal daughter. She was interested in Monk but froze by fear of the other humans around. Her dad leaned down, picked her up and put her on Monk. Wow! An instant smile. We did a 20-metre circle and on our route back, out of the blue the little girl responded to a question I had asked ten minutes earlier. She said HER NAME! Her Dad could not believe she had spoken and I know it's down to the magic in Monk, and in any horse.

“There are parents who have also expressed a concern to me that local drug dealers are using their children to run drugs. These children are aged between 12 and 16. At least two of them came and met Monk. For those few moments, I watched them come alive and just be children.

“Wouldn’t it be a wonderful world if other people who struggle with anything could find comfort in the same way I have. It would give children the chance to lea

rn life skills that have kept me alive and sober! Unfortunately, this all comes at a cost and so for the most vulnerable and poorest of our communities, these skills are completely out of reach.

“My wish would be that we can help people learn the life skills that have very often kept me alive at my most troubling times.”