Charlotte Church: ‘People are in dire need of being held through some very difficult times’

Charlotte Church says her outlook on life has been shaped by seeing “a lot of suffering”.

Perhaps in response, the Welsh singer-songwriter founded The Dreaming in 2023, a retreat space in rural Wales, focusing on nature, community and sound.

“There’s never been any eureka moment necessarily,” Church says about her approach to her own wellbeing and why she wants to help others. “I have just seen a lot of suffering. I’m from a very working-class background and the vast majority of people that I’m still around and associate myself with are from both a middle class and a working-class background.

“I think I’m very sensitive to people suffering. I’ve experienced it very acutely within my own family.

“My mum has had a really complicated mental health situation for the last 20 years, [as have] lots of other members of my family. I feel really compelled. I’ve also got quite a strong sense of justice, which I think a lot of us do.”

Cardiff-born Church, 39, released her first album, Voice Of An Angel, when she was 12. Since then, she has released more music, appeared on TV – including her own chat show in the Noughties, The Charlotte Church Show – and in 2025 was part of the cast on The Celebrity Traitors.

Church says The Dreaming is a response to the pressures of contemporary life. “I am really passionate about what we do, because I believe more than ever, the world and the people of the world are in dire need of being held through some very difficult times.

“There are some very difficult transitional times for us as human beings on this earth. This is also due to the excesses in which society is so much based around, capitalist values and ideologies, meaning there is then less around care, people, community, nature and belonging.

“We are crying out for these things, every single one of us,” adds Church, who has two children with her former partner, Gavin Henson, and one with her husband, Jonathan Powell. “No matter your gender, creed or age, I see it everywhere.”

When it comes to her own wellbeing journey, Church says: “A couple of years ago, it was much more wellness and health stuff that I wanted do, but it just went on to the already enormous ‘to-do list’ of things I had to do.

“Now, my wellness journey or spiritual path has become about ultimate compassion for self and others. We are nature, and we are massively linked to the ecosystem and to each other.”

Church says the popularity of retreats and slower, nature-led experiences reflects a broader cultural fatigue. “For most of us in the West, our coping mechanisms have been different types of addictions,” she suggests.

“That could be from substance misuse, smoking, alcohol, shopping, scrolling and a million other things to distract ourselves from our own suffering.”

While Church says The Dreaming, which has seen more than 2,000 people since it opened, “can’t fix everything”, she adds: “It’s not a magic pill, but it is a magical place.”

It isn’t the first time Church has established a project in nature – back in 2019, she set up the charity the Awen Project, which she describes as “a free-to-attend democratic school in the woods”.

What compelled Church to start the charity? “Young people are leaving the mainstream education system in their droves,” she explains. “Parents are desperate and don’t know what to do or where to turn to – that’s another area that I feel really passionate about, being able to provide a free alternative, not a paid-for alternative, but a free alternative for people who want a more nature-based, more humane, more natural [education].”

Church advocates for “a more naturalistic way of young people learning in their village and amongst their families, in their own environment, to follow their own passions and interests”.

So what of the future? “I’m anticipating it becoming harder in the years to come for everybody,” Church says – but she’s not overly pessimistic about things moving forward.

“I’m also anticipating that there is going to be a huge upswell in collectivism and deep community. I do think that these support networks are really going to accelerate now. That gives me hope and I think that is where the future is headed,” she adds.

“I really want to be an advocate for people to be aware, to switch on and to open their eyes to what’s happening. I want people to come together as much as possible, although that can be particularly difficult when we’re in this age of polarity.”

Personally, Church says she hopes that The Dreaming is seen as a “sanctuary”, adding: “Also the musical output that I’m still doing and using my voice for, I hope that people find solace and belonging and a bit more ease through that.”

For her own role in the coming years, Church says: “It’s quite simple really. I’m not trying to have this big legacy or an idea that I’m going to change the world.

“I’m just doing my small part. My tiny, infinitesimally small part in trying to be an advocate for a more balanced, beautiful, loving place for us all to be and live.”

Charlotte Church has announced a new land-led eight part online course The Dreaming of The Earth available to purchase via The Dreaming website.