Music star Charlotte Church creates wellness retreat in former home of Laura Ashley

Welsh music star, TV personality and activist Charlotte Church has opened a new wellness retreat in the Elan Valley in Powys, Wales.

Called The Dreaming, the new destination is designed to offer an escape from the complexity of modern life; connecting people back to the land, to themselves and to their journey.

Church felt the location was the perfect space to combine the three things she is most passionate about: climate action, wellbeing for all and economic equity.

In a nod to this, prices start at just £450 (US$576, €528) for three nights, including all meals and activities, plus there is a “pay what you can” space on every three-day retreat.

Opened on the grounds of the former home of the late Laura Ashley – called Rhydoldog House – The Dreaming is a seven-guestroom retreat surrounded by waterfalls, forest, rocks and caves.

Programming ranges from short residential retreats with daily wellness activities to longer retreats with specialist practitioners.

Activities include yoga, sound healing, foraging, mythical storytelling, star-gazing and cold water immersion, as well as singing at dawn, den building, sensory portal building and painting.

Guests can also partake in dreamwork, outdoor cinema experiences, herbalism, woodwork, meditation, silent discos and nighttime forest bathing.

Visitors are invited to participate in as many or as few of these offerings as they like. They can enjoy a full three-day schedule or relax in the beautiful surroundings in their own time.

Retreat stays include access to all 47 acres of Rhydoldog House, including the Waterfall Shower, Wood Henge, The Pool of a Hundred Reflections and The Den – which allows for outdoor sleeping to comfortably experience the nocturnal wildlife.

The retreat’s curated gardens are central to the sustainability ethos of The Dreaming and form the backdrop for many of the activities.

For example, The Physic Garden provides medicinal herbs for the apothecary, where guests can make teas, balms, tinctures, soaps and other lotions and potions; while the potting shed is a place for retreaters to mix soils and pot seeds.

Church said: “I have regularly tried to use my platform to campaign for climate action, economic equity and wellbeing for all. Some of that has turned out to be effective and meaningful, but I always felt there was more I could be doing.

“I think that’s why I fell so utterly in love with Rhydoldog House, as it gave me a vision of an integrated healing centre in line with my most deeply held values. The realisation of that vision has completely changed my life and I hope that we can help our guests change their lives too, even if it’s just in small ways.”