Nature & Wellbeing projects
Read about some of the amazing projects that have taken place at the Barn recently.
Tina's Haven
Tina’s Haven January 2023 to September 2023
Project partners Tina’s Haven, Addictions North East, The Women’s Liberation Collective, The Barn at Easington, East Durham Creates
Tina's Haven is a pioneering groundbreaking project researching and building holistic and therapeutic support to birth mothers severed from their children by addiction. The project was delivered in a beautiful, calm, safe, outdoor setting at The Barn at Easington. Tina’s Haven was born out of one family’s own tragic personal experience of severance, trauma, and loss, along with a determination to create something positive and hopeful and to bring about change. The intention was to develop a replicable model of holistic and therapeutic support that is based on nature and art.
The project included a 9-week psycho-educational course Own My Life delivered by Jo Costello from The Women’s Liberation Collective.
Forest bathing session led by artists Nicola Balfour and Elaine Beard and trauma therapist Ingrid Ford
Photography sessions led by photographer Sharon Bailey.
Taster film sessions led by Ellin Hare.
The project resulted in a 4-week exhibition of the women’s photographic work at The Arts Cafe East Durham Trust and a comprehensive evaluation of the impact of the project on the women from ANE by Dr Sue Robson
Field of Hope
Field of Hope November – December 2022
A research project delivered at The Barn at Easington working with women under the care of Addictions UK and Sue Robson founder of Tina’s Haven The workshops were delivered at the Barn at Easington in November 2022 led by arts practitioners and highly experienced trauma-informed therapists, trained in addiction recovery, and women’s self-empowerment.
The aim of the development phase was to introduce the Barn to a group of women from Addictions UK through a series of taster sessions in Forest Bathing/land art, photography, and sound sessions all based in the outdoor environment. The aim of the project was to give agency to the women and enable them to be involved in creative ways to tell their individual stories by being more deeply connected to the natural world.
A beautiful film created by filmmaker Ellin Hare, co-director at The Barn at Easington, documents the women's journey that resulted in an exhibition of photographs made by the women from ANE at The Arts Cafe East Durham Trust. Watch the video below.
Project partners
Wild Winter Walks
Wild Winter Walks September 2021- December 2021
East Durham Trust and Durham County Council Covid 19 Recovery grant funded 30 well-being walks from The Barn at Easington. We took participants through a carefully structured mindful walk to connect with nature and calm our nervous systems. We walked with over 100 adults and worked alongside Mind and East Durham Trust. It was a lovely heart-warming project that brought people from all over County Durham to experience.
Comments from the sessions.
“A really lovely session, I felt really peaceful in the forest"
"Absolutely fantastic. Loved every minute of it, relaxing and clearing my head ,lying in a hammock."
"Absolutely loved it. At one with the forest life: trees, birds, flowers. earth. So pretty, perfectly peaceful. As always this was a fantastic session."
"Calming with Forest Bathing and really interesting learning about filming."