Who We Are
About the Wren Project
The Wren Project exists to bridge the gap between a life-changing autoimmune disease diagnosis and access to mental health support.
Founded by people living with autoimmune diseases, we understand the huge impact a diagnosis has on your mental and emotional health.
Many of our Wrens, people we support, have experienced a long wait for a diagnosis. The impact of living with unexplained and worsening symptoms, to receiving a diagnosis and then managing medications and appointments, is life-changing.
We believe that by harnessing the power of deep listening, we can reduce feelings of grief, loneliness and helplessness. We create spaces where our Wrens feel heard and validated in their experience. Here, you can talk openly about how you are feeling, without the time constraints of a medical appointment and to your trusted volunteer.
How the Wren Project began
Kate’s Story
The Wren Project was founded in 2020, by Kate Middleton. Diagnosed at 17 with Lupus, she says: “Having an autoimmune disease is a lonely journey. My story is an ongoing battle.”
And along the way I have become very good at positive face, no complaints because it is easier for the people around me to see that rather than the truth. It is easier for me to stop talking and for them to stop listening.
When your words are not listened to it makes you go mad. If people don’t believe what you’re saying it must be because you are making it up. It must all be in your head. You stop being able to tell what is fact or fiction, what you feel or what you are making up, what’s true and what’s false. I often have pain in my chest: is it pneumonia? lupus? myositis? All I’ve been hospitalised for in recent years. But for such fear of being gas lit or told it is all in my head I believe myself that I am imagining this pain. I ignore it, I silence it.
Feeling silenced makes you feel very small. No one is interested in something that can’t be fixed, something that’s just depressing and has no silver lining. If I knew someone would listen I would talk about lupus all the time. It shapes me in every way- whether I want it to or not. It feels less lonely living with it if I speak about it. But who would want to hear that? Why would I add that burden to anyone? So, the answer is always, “yes I feel fine.”
“I was diagnosed with lupus when I was a child. Beginning my gap year, ready to take the world by storm. It came to a grinding halt. I was lucky, my doctors listened to me and took my symptoms seriously. Others are not so lucky, the average time for a diagnosis is 7 years. But as the days of diagnosis rolled into years of becoming someone living with a complex disease, I began to feel silenced and somehow the listening stopped.
The effect of hearing the wrong words is devastating. The wrong thing is usually said when people don’t listen and of course, it is very easy to get it wrong. How many times might you have said: gosh you look great, you must be feeling much better. Ah! I have a similar symptom to that! Have you ever thought about ginger? I heard it can do wonderful things for immunity.
Perhaps it is so difficult to listen when it contradicts what you see. It is too easy to think I must be fine because of the way I look. My entire adult life I have lived inside a body that attacks me. I have been diagnosed with six autoimmune diseases, and I’m certain there’s more to come. I’m on medication for life to stop my body from destroying itself, from killing itself. I spend every day ignoring that pain, sadness, that reality.
Often it seems the world is trying to destroy itself perhaps like an autoimmune disease does, and we have totally lost sight of how powerful listening can be.
Maybe one day the Wren Project will teach everyone in the world to listen.
There are 6 million people in the UK that feel like I do. Silenced, isolated, mad. A lonely community, but one we can help feel heard. The Wren Project delivers the answer: it’s called listening. We don’t provide the solution- there IS no solution! We just hear how bad it is without trying to make it better. We let people feel how they really feel, no gloss or shine..
Because when those 6 million feel listened to we feel like normal people again- we feel less broken and less damaged. Because feeling listened to is powerful and life changing.
So listening matters. I sometimes wonder if the Wren Project is a metaphor for the entire world. Often it seems the world is trying to destroy itself perhaps like an autoimmune disease does, and we have totally lost sight of how powerful listening can be. Maybe one day the Wren Project will teach everyone in the world to listen. But for now, we will focus on the six million people living with autoimmune diseases.
These truths of mine might make you feel hopeless and uncomfortable, but it shouldn’t. Because it is hopeful, the Wren Project changes people’s lives. We are not hope through spin, we are hope through daring to listen and face the difficulty.
Testimonials
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.
FAQs
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If you have a diagnosis of autoimmune disease, are in a period of distress, aged 18 or over and living in the UK, you can apply for our support.
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To receive our free listening support, simply head to Our Support Page to apply.
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We aim to respond to all applications within one week.
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You are free to talk openly and honestly about how your autoimmune disease is affecting your life.
“Exactly what I needed at the time I need it most.”
— Wren
Our Mission
At the Wren Project, we want to raise awareness of the reality of living with an autoimmune disease, and the impact on mental, psychological and emotional health.
We address the inadequate access to emotional support, by providing individuals with a safe space to talk openly and honestly about how their autoimmune disease is affecting their life.
Our support is free, accessible from anywhere in the UK and available to anyone over the age of 18 and in a period of distress.
Through our highly-personalised service, we can work to give a voice back to individuals who feel alone, silenced and helpless.
Our Impact
We are a small but growing charity with a mission to amplify the voices of an often silenced community. We exist to address the inadequate access to emotional and mental health support following an autoimmune disease diagnosis.
Become a Volunteer
Our volunteers are at the heart of what we do. We recruit and train individuals who want to make a difference in the lives of people with autoimmune disease.
Become a Wren
We understand that an autoimmune disease diagnosis is life-changing. Through one-to-one listening support sessions, we can help navigate those changes together.
News from the Wren Project
