Emma Gleave

Hi, thanks for visiting my page!

I’d like to use this space to share a bit about who I am and what you can expect from working with me / us here at The Radical Regenerative Rewilders!!

This is about my route into Rewilding and how I’ve ended up Rewilding most of my life!

I’ve worked, lived and travelled abroad in Greece, India, Thailand, Morocco & in the UK most of my adult life, and been living in a van full time, on land, protest camps or in off-grid communities with my 2 children for the past 6 years and many summers before that…

I now eat as close to a wild ancestral diet as possible, making use of roadkill and hunting waste. I butcher anything from squirrels to boar, to goats and sheep and am continually building my skills in hide tanning, foraging, hedgewitchery, natural healthcare, weaving, cordage making, whittling and more…

I adore sleeping out under the stars,
drinking from and bathing naked in natural waters,
I practice Yoga and Qi Gong,
am still very much on my journey
of connecting more and more deeply with nature, and sharing my gifts with the world.

My life’s mission is to give our next generation
the head start that I never had
- educating for freedom!

 
 

Background

I am a Northern Lass, born on the outskirts of Manchester.

I spent my formative years working in admin, project managing, and dabbled in childcare, and developmental psychology (but wasn’t very inspired with the options!).
I was always keen to be as prepared as possible, went camping, loved adventures and travelling!

Rewild Birth & Parenting

I had my first child at 26, which was my big awakening to who I really was, and am!

 
 

Researching birth and how messed up our maternity services are quickly led me to seeking out alternatives and hiring an Independent Midwife for birthing outside of the system, at home, away from dangerous hospital interventions, which have sadly become the norm for many women.

I joined pregnancy yoga and learned so much about positive mindset, I researched how to keep myself and my baby healthy through diet, breath-work, awareness, clean living and balance.

Of course one thing leads to another, and before I knew it I was full term breastfeeding, baby-wearing, bed-sharing, cooking meals from scratch, delaying vaccinations, and using homeopathy / herbal medicines - I’d never felt so alive!

Sharing The Knowledge

After having my baby I still just couldn’t give up researching birth, reading birth stories, supporting other women online…

I felt so passionate that the rest of the world needed to know this stuff, we were all being lied to - by the system that is supposed to help!!!

So I began to retrain and run support groups, I did a degree at the University of Bedfordshire - learning about how to read research papers properly and how information doesn’t change behaviour for most people! This was just the start amongst many other amazing and life changing experiences and trainings…

  • I sat on local MSLC’s & MVP’s
    (Maternity Service Liaison Committees / Maternity Voice Partnerships)
    to campaign for better NHS services (and learned that nothings ever changes by asking nicely!)

  • Taught National Childbirth Trust, Couples Antenatal Classes

  • Ran Pregnancy Hypno Yoga for birth classes.

  • Held Postnatal & Baby Yoga Classes

  • Led a Babywearing and Slings support group and hire service

  • Organised Arnica Parents for natural immunity support,

 
 

Single Parenthood

I had become sooo busy - I’d just never been so passionate about anything before - I felt such purpose!!
On reflection though I think there was a great void in my life from leaving my toxic relationship when Jake was 6 months old and I had a lot of work to do on myself - too much to go jumping straight back in to relationships…

But it was super tough & lonely being an unexpected single parent.
I did not feel held, I felt abandoned.

People do not socialise with their neighbours or communities anymore…
and most people work long hours,
their children in school and other childcare from early until late….

People don’t let their children play out, and most come home from school and stay inside on screens or TV.

 
 

It’s is hard to go against the tide.

But that life had never appealed to me, I registered as a childminder and joined home education groups.

See once I’d opened my mind, taken the pink pill and realised unequivocally
that the “health” service doesn’t promote health!!
Then what of the education system????
(Another blog needed for this huge topic!!)

Yes it wasn’t so much of a leap to realise how fucked the education system is, and how it is ROYALLY fucking up our kids.
(Just look at the suicide rates, and unemployment in the degree educated populations)
I feel the anger rise in me just thinking about it…

So I found a great community of home educators scattered across Manchester,
and with plenty of museums, parks, and attractions
as well as working in children’s areas at some niche,
alternative health and wellbeing summer festivals & camps we kept fairly busy!

Steiner Waldorf Education

As my children (2 of them by now) grew, I had became involved with some parent led Steiner Kindergarten Sessions,
and done some of the training that had been offered as part of this.
Experiencing some of this pedagogy was such an inspiration for me on many different levels:
the artistic nature, the understanding of the child as a whole being, importance of play, the beauty of the settings, story telling, and puppet shows, seasonal celebrations and the gentle, yet strong presence and guidance of the teachers - there was so much that felt so right.
I had trained in childcare in my early 20’s doing a BTEC Diploma, but had never experienced anything like this.

 
 

Amazingly there were a strong group of parents who wanted to see a full Steiner School in Manchester and I eagerly joined them to add my admin & planning skills and became a Director to help make the School a reality

after many trials and tribulations, fundraising, business plans, spreadsheets, calls for local support, a trip to London to collect and entire kindergarten of equipment and furniture, many months of storage whilst a forever home was found, being accused by OFSTED of running an illegal school….

We finally became a full OFSTED registered Kindergarten!!

and our own children became the first pupils!

Apple Blossom is the name and it is still running now…

What an achievement for everyone who was involved over the years!!!

Special Educations Needs & Dark Days

My eldest had always been ‘a handful’ but after his younger brother was born, it became more apparent
- eventually at aged 9, after 5 years of confusion, fighting, and sheer despair we received his diagnoses of
Demand Avoidant Autism, alongside ADHD and Dyslexia
(I will wright a whole blog about these labels one day!)

Although it was a relief to have some answers we still didn’t get any support (not unusual)
and I had been feeling more and more that he did need some more specialist help in reading a writing,
as well as emotional support…

The amazing Forest School ‘Learning in The Woods’ he had been attending for many years also started to really struggle with his behaviour and it became impossible for him to attend and we were all at our wits end with what to do.

I was the mum / dad / educator / educational psychologist, solicitor fighting the council for help….
how many more hats could i wear???

I was sole everything 24 hours per day 7 days a week,
whilst running my own business and a voluntary CIC, and the Steiner School Project…
with no support from my family who thought his behaviour was my fault for being different
(or they were going through their own stuff and forgot to tell me)

No Dads on the scene, Jake barely slept no matter what I tried,
his meltdowns were getting worse and more violent, he was getting bigger and stronger..
he couldn’t be left to join in at any activities on his own,
and was extremely ‘Demand Avoidant’
- my mental health was on the edge!!

The Local Authority would only offer him a place at a naughty boys Pupil Referral Unit, which we looked around and I knew I would never send him somewhere that had small cupboards to put children who were having a meltdown!

But what the hell was I to do??

It was my job to make sure he was loved, educated, and not made to feel bad…
I knew he was beautiful, amazing and had gifts for the world.
I just needed some support to be able to support him better.
It’s hard to think clearly in those situations.
I begged MY Dad to help, I begged the local authority…

But none came.

I was the one I was waiting for!

Community & Rural Living

I’d always had a vision of living in community, on land, growing food…
at the house I bought with my husband (now ex) we’d always planned to have goats, chickens and a vegetable plot.
(Although being brought up hooked on supermarkets
and convenience foods I had no role models for how to actually do any of that!!)

So as my boys got bigger I’d started learning more and more about permaculture, no dig gardening, real seeds…

Then - seeing how my boys, especially my Jake, with his challenges,
thrived from being outdoors and active -
I decided to make a break and get out of living in the shackles of domesticity…

(lots of research says ADHD is not a disorder, its actually a benefit for people who live closer to nature)

 
 

Land Work, Protesting & More Skills

We packed up our house into storage in 2016 and set off on our biggest adventure.

We used the websites Workaway and Woofing to find land-based volunteering opportunities.

We built mud brick houses in Morocco, worked with heritage breed sheep in Lancaster, rescue ponies in. the Yorkshire dales, and many more exciting adventures.

We lived in Pembrokeshire in land based communities, growing food, learning permaculture, bender building, self butchery & animal processing, coppicing, wood processing and many more practical skills!

Some of the most important skills & non skills were the people side
- seeing how difficult community can be when people are wrapped up in power struggles
caused, in part by land ownership.

And as the first lockdown hit we went to live in an amazing community woodland,
which also led to us joining the HS2 protest camps
(one of the safe sites, as were were a family)

and we witnessed some of the most amazing self organising, resilience, courage and love.

Essentially though my energy was not focussed on fighting the old systems,
but for building new paradigms, and education.

The Rewild Project

I met Scott and we realised that our visions aligned, we travelled & adventured together, joined forces, made plans…

 
 

and as they say the rest as they say is history!

Over the last few years I’ve put many of my skills to good use,
and we have run some absolutely out of this world projects..

  • I jazzed up the website,

  • Won hundreds of thousands of pounds in grant money

  • Helped to make amazing community work happen.

  • Created some amazing jobs,

  • Ran the Wildlings Holiday clubs.

  • Ran the whole craft area at Land Skills Fair - fed 100 people

  • Ran stalls at festivals,

  • Taught tanning,

  • Debated,

  • Represented us in court

  • Uplifted….

It hasn’t been plane sailing though.

In some ways we were so naive
- anyone who has employed people will tell you not to!!

We tried out fully trusting people to self-manage and learned some harsh lessons!

Being left with 10k in debt to the National Lottery because a member of staff paid herself half the grant money then left!
Another member of staff taking us to tribunal because she was overpaid by her friend!!

But we found some amazing people too &
They are something to hold on to!

And last year 2023 was my / our toughest one yet,

being FALSLEY accused by Forestry England, during #IceGate scandal..
then having one of our community spaces, Kensley Sheds taken from us was a huge blow
- but I believe the universe guides us for the highest good and better things are in store.

2024

We have spent the winter in Spain, in community.
Resting, reconnecting with ourselves and our tribe.

I now have space & am ready to support more women 1:1 with their births,

Work that I am deeply called to - but got distracted from!

As well as running more workshops, classes and events.

This is going to be a fantastic year, our Steiner Early Years Training continues
and our links with the BirthKeepers School Da-A-Luz Oasis is strengthened.

Keep following

Thanks for reading!