Reflecting on 2024 and Looking Ahead to 2025

As we step into 2025, we can’t help but notice how much of the world’s priorities seem utterly misplaced. While we’re trying to align our lives with nature and its rhythms, the systems around us seem to be doing everything possible to sever that connection. Solstices and equinoxes—real markers of time and cycles—are ignored, replaced by a relentless push for productivity and consumerism. Is it any wonder people feel so disconnected?

A Year of Recovery and Frustration

2024 was supposed to be a year of recovery, and in many ways, it was. But let’s not sugarcoat things: rebuilding after the chaos of 2023 was brutal. Losing nearly everything we’d spent a decade building was a bitter pill to swallow. Yes, there were lessons in resilience and non-attachment, but what about the blatant lack of support for communities like ours—in areas ignored because they don’t fit neatly into the tourist-driven economy? The truth is, people in these areas deserve better, and the system continues to fail them.

Birth Work: A Small Light in a Broken System

Over the winter, we threw ourselves into birth work with the incredible team at Da Luz Oasis (https://daaluzoasis.co/). Birth work is one of the few areas where we feel we can make a tangible, positive impact. But even here, the challenges are staggering. The UK’s caesarean rates have skyrocketed—over 55% in some hospitals. More than half. How did we get here? And why isn’t this being talked about more?

We’re tired of the silence. Birth trauma has long-term consequences, and the system is failing families right from the start. It’s infuriating, but it’s also why this work matters so much.

Spring and Summer: A Frenzy of Activity

By spring, we were back in action, balancing countless projects and events:

• Scott’s Tree Planting Work: Thousands of trees planted on unforgiving hillsides, for pennies, while living out of a car. It’s a stark reminder of how undervalued essential work like this is.

• Emma’s Birth Work and Admin Marathon: Holding everything together, supporting the family, and running projects—Emma somehow managed it all while juggling the mental load of organising and admin.

• Wildlings and Rekindle Youth Holiday Clubs: Thanks to support from the Forest Voluntary Action Forum (https://fvaf.org.uk), we brought Steiner-inspired outdoor education to children on free school meals. Seeing these kids thrive was a rare bright spot in a challenging year.

• Noxon Farm Log Cabin Roundhouse: We completed the walls of our log cabin roundhouse (https://www.therewildproject.com/workshop-feed/log-cabin-roundhouse-phase3), creating a space for future workshops despite the uphill battle of making these projects viable.

A Summer of Highlights and Headaches

The summer was non-stop, packed with events that showed both the best and worst of what we’re up against:

• Green Scythe Fair: Promoting Emma’s Antenatal services and running a sling library at (https://www.greenfair.org.uk). A great event, but it’s always a hustle to make it worthwhile financially.

• Land Skills Hub: We offered solidarity to this vital project by the Land Workers Alliance (https://landworkersalliance.org.uk/news).

• Green Gathering: A whirlwind of activity, representing Radical Regenerative Rewilders and Emma’s Antenatal (https://www.greengathering.org.uk). Highlights included workshops on birth and butchery, but the lingering animosity with the Vegan Organic Network added unnecessary drama.

• Love Jam Festival: Rain, chaos, and relentless work running a craft area—all with no budget (https://www.lovejam.community/about). People loved our activities, but the financial strain of these events is hard to ignore.

• Organic Growers Gathering: Despite being sandwiched between vegan propagandists, we delivered a standout children’s area with clay cob workshops, needle felting, and more (https://organicgrowersgathering.org). Events like this show what’s possible when creativity and community come together.

Fighting for Change

Dissolving The Rewild Project was a heartbreaking decision, but it was necessary. We’re now operating as Wildlings Ed CIC, focusing on Steiner-inspired outdoor education. Rewilding isn’t just a trendy buzzword to us; it’s a deeply political stance against systems that prioritise profit over people and the planet.

Looking ahead, we’re excited to support the Da Luz Radical Midwifery School in Spain, taking on roles as guardians and caregivers. It’s another step in our journey of creating spaces for healing and growth, even when the odds feel stacked against us.

A Thank You to Our Supporters

To everyone who’s stood by us: thank you. Your support reminds us that change is possible, even when it feels like the world is falling apart. Here’s to a new year of fighting for what matters and staying rooted in hope.

With determination,
Emma & Scott