The Wren Project announces ‘WrenGroups’ for Men living with lupus

the wren project, listening support, autoimmune disease

The Wren Project is excited to announce we will be piloting our listening space in a group format, specifically for men living with lupus, together with our charity partner, LUPUS UK.

Launching this October, we will be inviting eight men living with lupus to join an online listening group to share and explore the physical and emotional impact of living with their autoimmune disease.

Run by some of the project’s experienced listeners, this group will allow men to explore and reflect on life with lupus amongst their peers. Individuals will be invited to talk openly and honestly about how lupus affects their lives and relationships in a confidential and supportive environment.

Speaking about the pilot WrenGroup scheme - the first for our charity which offers one-to-one listening support for all autoimmune diseases as our key service - Kate Middleton, CEO of the Wren Project, said the move will deepen the charity’s mission to offer listening support for people with autoimmune diseases by adding a community format. 

“As a charity, we have seen firsthand the impact our active listening sessions have on people living with difficult AI diagnoses,” she said. “Our decision to pilot a group scheme, initially for men living with the complexities of lupus, shows our commitment to finding new and innovative ways to give people space, time and support to talk about the true impact their diagnoses have had on their lives.

“Our hope is that, in the private support of a small group environment, we can enable individuals to feel heard and validated in their experiences among peers with a shared understanding.”

Kate added: “Our partnership with LUPUS UK is born of a continued mutual support and respect of our individual organisations and a desire to further our support to people living with a complex and difficult diagnosis, who might have so far struggled to find an avenue to speak openly about their diagnosis.”

The Wren Project offers free listening support to people living with the complexities of an autoimmune disease. Since our founding in 2020, we have supported over 600 ‘Wrens’ -  individuals living with autoimmune diseases - in one-to-one sessions. We currently have an active volunteer population of 60 members, who offer fortnightly calls to people in a time of distress.

While one-to-one listening support remains our core service, our move to pilot a group listening environment is in consideration of the growing increase in autoimmune disease diagnoses in the UK and the benefit that sharing and hearing from others will have.

Currently 6 million people in the UK are living with AI diagnosis, with this figure growing by 8% year on year. As a charity, we wish to be able to offer support to as much of this population as we can. WrenGroups will provide us with an opportunity to efficiently provide support to distress in a small, inclusive environment, as individuals listen and share among peers with similar diagnoses.

The WrenGroup pilot scheme for men with lupus will run from Thursday, October 10 between 10am and 11.30am for eight weeks. We are now accepting applications until Monday, September 30.

Sessions will run via MS Teams and will be led by two trained listeners including Nick Tedstone, Director of Development, at the Wren Project. Calls last for 90 minutes and run for eight weeks.

To apply, you need to:

  • Have a diagnosis of lupus;

  • Identify as male;

  • Be based in the UK, have access to the internet and happy to join a video call (group calls are run over MS Teams);

  • Have a private and quiet space in which to join calls;

  • Be open to talking about your experience with your AI disease.

To find out more and apply to join this Wren Group pilot scheme, please apply by sending an email to: groups@wrenproject.org

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