This year has been a real rollercoaster! I think it has been for everyone during this time where the world has lost its mind (hopefully temporarily). For the women we support it has been really fucking tough, women who have been pregnant and given birth during these last two years have had to deal with a whole lot of extra shit. You’re amazing.
For us there have been lots of changes and developments in the way we work. It’s been hectic, difficult, exhausting, fabulous and is definitely ending on a high.
We needed lots of hot chocolate, tea and coffee!!
This year we stopped attending births, we found out what Zoom was, we were able to reach women outside of Manchester, we adjusted to working from home and online, we ran a brand new project with young girls which was an absolute game-changer, one of our directors Lauren resigned and we adjusted to GMD being a two-woman operation! We felt like we were drowning at times, and then we got shit done. We also met some amazing women along the way (you know who you are!).
We have exciting times ahead of us and we’re glad you’re along for the ride. We decided to start attending births again, but exclusively freebirths – this is something we’ve wanted to do for a long time. Find out what led us to that decision here. We were worried that by becoming freebirth doulas we would end up with very few clients, but it has had the opposite effect (we knew you were all out there somewhere…) and we are so excited to be going on-call for some truly wild women in the New Year!
We are in the process of applying for Reaching Communities funding from The National Lottery which would make it possible for us to support women in so many ways for three years. This is something we’ve been working on behind the scenes and we’re getting closer. Fingers crossed!!
In 2022 we hope to start facilitating more of our existing community groups in-person and also introducing a new Consciousness-Raising Circle. More on this when we come back in January.
Oh, we also went to the tip lots of times (Elle’s favourite place), had a stall at the Platt Fields Winter Market and met a tiny dog which was super fun!!
All in all, 2021 was full of twists and turns for GMD but we are in a great place right now and really looking forward to next year! We are officially off from today, so it’s time for us to enjoy the cosiness of Christmas and the rest of December. We can’t wait to soak in the excitement and freshness of a brand new year!
Thanks for your ongoing support, wisdom and love.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Elle & Amy
