How Our Listening Support Can Help

If you are living in difficulty with your autoimmune disease, then we are here to support you.

We understand that an autoimmune disease diagnosis can be very overwhelming. It can feel as though your life has been changed forever and it is hard to describe how you are feeling to friends and family.

Navigating appointments with consultants and specialists as well as managing medications and their side-effects, often means little attention is given to the emotional impact of your diagnosis.

The Wren Project offers a warm, welcoming and understanding space to talk openly about how your disease is affecting your life. Here, you can talk honestly and without fear of judgement without being given medical advice.

Thanks to our highly-trained volunteers, we can offer regular support to anyone in a period of distress with their autoimmune disease. We are here to listen and quietly support, in a safe and confidential space.

All of our ‘Wrens’ - individuals we support - attend a fortnightly appointment with their dedicated volunteer. This session is run over video or phone call and for up to 50 minutes. Our Wrens use this space to share how their autoimmune disease diagnosis makes them feel.

Our support is unique, person-centred and free. We can currently only support people with an official diagnosis of autoimmune disease, as recognised by the NHS. We support people aged 18 and over, who are experiencing significant distress as a result of an autoimmune diagnosis.

To be eligible you must live in the UK, have access to a phone, and/or WiFi, and want to talk about the impact of your autoimmune disease diagnosis.

“The Wren project has helped me to open up and speak about how I feel emotionally, physically. I have always been a type of person to just get on with it, through pain. Being able to open up and say how I feel, not in a negative way, has helped me mentally deal with the pain and anxiety it brings.”

— Wren

How Our Support Works

Our goal is to provide you with a safe and supportive space in which you can talk openly and honestly about how you are feeling. We believe that being listened to and validated in your experience, is life-changing.

GET SUPPORT HERE

FAQs

Anyone with a diagnosis of autoimmune disease, as recognised by the NHS, can apply for support from the Wren Project. We support people aged 18 or over and who live in the UK. You must be willing to talk about your autoimmune disease and the impact it is having on your life.
Our listening sessions are an opportunity to talk about how your autoimmune disease is affecting you and your life, without advice or judgement.
Anyone over the age of 18 and with an autoimmune disease diagnosis can apply for support. Once you have completed our online referral form, we will respond within a week.
We offer one-to-one, remote listening support. Our aim is to provide a dedicated, private space for you to talk about whatever is on your mind. We do not pass judgement or give advice, instead we offer spaces in which individuals can talk openly and honestly. Our aim is to help reduce the grief, loneliness and isolation often felt by people living with autoimmune disease and through reflective practice, realise your own strength and resources.
All of our sessions are conducted over a private MS Teams call, or over the phone.
If you have a desire to support others in times of difficulty, we would like to hear from you. Our volunteers are there for anyone navigating the complexities of an autoimmune diagnosis. You do not need to have any specific experience or understanding of autoimmune disease.
If you would like to become a volunteer at the Wren Project, we ask you to fill out an application form online. We will then be in touch to find out more and see if the role is suitable for you.