• Our Members are women, and are generally over the age of 50. If you are younger than this but feel drawn to this community you are still welcome!

• We are straight, gay and bi; white, brown and black; we are mothers, childfree and childless; we are neurotypical and neurodiverse; we are introverts and extroverts; healthy and living with health conditions and sickness; single, in new-ish and longterm relationships, and married; we are freelance, employed, on sabbatical, retired and unwaged; we are homeowners and renters;  we are financially comfortable, wealthy, hard-up and everything in between

• In other words, we are a wonderfully eclectic group, brought together by this season of life.

• Our Members relish deep and honest sharing and listening. They are curious; have open minds; seek both stretch and ease; are interested in personal development, caring for themselves, the planet and each other. They are open-hearted and inclusive to both those who they feel easy simpatico with and those who have characteristics, histories and stories different to their own - no matter ethnicity, creed, domestic set-up, economic situation, relationship status, family set-up, size, sexual orientation, disability, communication style, neurodiversity, health or gender assigned at birth

• These are one of my very favourite things about Middle Years Monday.

• The number of women present changes every week and can be anything from three or four to a dozen or more of us. Sometimes the format changes a little but we usually start off with a sharing round when everyone has the chance to respond to a gentle prompt offered by me and then we spend the second part of the Cuppa enjoying freeform conversation - during which we may pick up on some of the threads from the sharing round, or we may venture into entirely unrelated topics.

• Every Cuppa is different in tone, intensity, mood, pace - driven by whoever is there that week and how they are doing. We talk about anything and everything and the conversations are “juicy” (to quote a Member) real, meaningful and sometimes very funny. They are serious; silly; happy; and sad. Sometimes the energy is high and sometimes tiredness is more present. Grumpiness, joy, gentleness, tears, guffawing with laughter - it's all allowed! Come as you are and enjoy being wrapped in a warm embrace.

• Everyone who comes to these gatherings has their camera on, but there's no pressure to talk if you're in the mood just to be quietly in company.

• It feels through these get-togethers that we are plugging into something ancient, elemental, primordial. A group of women gathering around the fire to sit hip-to-hip with each other and share tears, laughter and stories of their life. A chance to be seen and heard. It's hard to put into words what makes these get-togethers so special. It's something about having a space to show up exactly as we are that day and to be seen and heard by a community of warm, interested, generous and insightful women.

• There's no obligation to come every week - just join us whenever the mood takes you. And although I encourage you to be there from the start if you possibly can, you certainly don't have to stay until the end.

Please convert the UK timings below into your own timezone.

• Weekly ‘Cuppas’ ie. our womens’ circles: We alternate between Mondays and Tuesdays and meet at 8pm BST/GMT

• Weekly Co-working mornings: We meet on Mondays from 8am - 12pm BST/GMT

• Fortnightly Book Group: We meet on alternate Tuesdays at 7pm BST/GMT

• Monthly Live Workshops: Start times are 5pm, 7pm or  8pm BST/GMT

There is no such thing as falling behind and there’s no obligation to watch or participate in anything that doesn’t interest you or you don’t have time for. My invitation is that you pick and choose what is helpful and nourishing for you and leave the rest. Everything offered as part of your Membership is there for you to dip in and out of whenever and however you wish. And Membership is priced at the level it is with the intention of removing pressure from you to make it count’

Yes! We have such a broad range of Guest Experts leading workshops for us. And when you become a Member you get access to our rich library of over 100 recordings of previous workshops.

This archive has the potential to change your life. A new Member expressed this perfectly when she told me that she’d gained more from watching just one replay in our library than she had from many, many, many hours of personal therapy. And as well as plenty of deep and meaningful workshops, we also have lighter, more playful and creative sessions too.

Here’s a small selection of the workshop recordings that await you, included here to give you a sense of the breadth and depth of our workshops:

• Choosing Choices - If your life was a job would you apply? with Dr Grace Alexander | Clinical Psychologist

• Body Image: in conversation with Professor Philippa Diedrichs | Body Image Expert

• Therapeutic Writing on Joy: with Ruth Coates | Psychotherapist + Writing Guide

• How to create your own Found Poetry card deck: with Conny Weyrich | arts based + trauma-informed Coach

• The To-Do List Makeover: with Mara Glatzel | Author, Teacher + Podcast Host

• Co-dependency: in conversation with Beatriz Victoria Albina | Nurse Practitioner, Author + Somatic Master Coach

• Making Brave Changes: with Suzy Darke | ICF certified + trauma-informed Coach

• Decluttering - the Why, When & How: with Hannah Bullivant | Interior Designer, Stylist, Decluttering Expert

• A World Beyond Blame: with Julia Colwell PhD | Psychologist

• ’Eight Wishes’ Book Art - an experiential workshop: with Rachel Hazell | Book Artist, Teacher + Author

• Thinking for Ourselves: with Sophie Stephenson | Coach, Facilitator, Teacher + Consultant

• Healthy Relationships - a series of 3 in-depth workshops: with Donna Lancaster | Author, Trainer & Life Transitions Coach

You SO don’t have to be a literary person to take part in and enjoy our book group.

Our lovely book/podcast group brings some of the most warm, tender, thought-provoking and soulful conversations I have the honour of being a part of. It is truly special to have the opportunity of connecting with each other through these rich and deep conversations about our lives and perspectives that these book discussions organically prompt.

At the time of writing this, we are about to spend a bit of time ringing the changes by discussing podcasts rather than books. But generally we read non-fiction or poetry written by women and non-binary folk and we take things slowly and manageably, generally discussing just one new chapter or poem each time we meet.

Some of the books we have read and discussed are Women Who Run with the Wolves, Atlas of the Heart, If Women Rose Rooted, The Body Is Not An Apology, Platonic, Rage Becomes Her, Braiding Sweetgrass, Rest Is Resistance, What It Takes to Heal, The Serviceberry, You’d Better Be Lightning and Six Conversations We’re Scared to Have.

My previous experience of book groups is limited so I don't have much to compare ours book group. But the feedback I receive from Members is that it's the best they've ever been to!

One of the things that makes it special is the way we take it at such a wonderfully slow pace. This means that reading the book never feels pressured or stressful, we have the chance to enjoy a deep dive into our experience of each chapter or poem (and for the next little while, podcast episode) - and this relaxed exploration brings with it a really lovely opportunity to get to know and trust each other.

This is not a 'literary' book group - and by that I mean that we spend very little time analysing the writing style of the author. Our discussions revolve instead around what each chapter or poem (or podcast episode) illuminates for each of us; about ourselves and our lives.

We are usually a small group of around 6 (or sometimes less), and these sessions usually last for around 90 minutes.

Whenever you become a MYM Member you will be very welcome to join this group, regardless of how far through a book we may be at that time - and I look forward to welcoming you into this lovely experience.

First of all, I SO understand where you are coming from and have often felt the same.

There are a few thoughts I want to share with you about this community, what it offers and the ways we each may sometimes find ourselves standing in the way of magic.

Some of us have a push-pull relationship when it comes to human connection. Human beings are social animals so no matter how introverted we may be, being part of a community is something we naturally desire. But we may have all sorts of stories about ourselves in terms of our inadequacies and shortcomings when it comes to this.

It may simply be that we are someone who needs to take their time standing at the edges of the figurative room before stepping into the centre, and that is perfectly OK. You are so welcome here whether you are someone who gets stuck right in at the beginning or prefers to soak up the goodness quietly. 

But sometimes there can be trickier reasons that hold us back from connecting.

Perhaps we feel that we have a tendency to take up too much space and cannot be trusted to hand the metaphorical 'talking piece' on to someone else. So we stay away for fear of embarrassing ourselves or being thought of as too loud or pushy.

Maybe we have a narrative about not belonging and this leads to some self-fulfilling behaviour (such as keeping our distance, not responding to gestures of warmth, being highly attuned to the things that separate us from our fellow human beings rather than recognising that which we have in common) which results in us becoming an 'outsider' and gives us the proof we're looking for that we don't fit in anywhere.

Perhaps we fall short when we compare ourselves to others, telling ourselves that we are boring, unintelligent, inarticulate by comparison. So we stay quietly on the sidelines for fear of being found out or judged. Or maybe we even have a tendency to experience feelings of superiority, leading us to diminish in our minds the benefits of gathering with others.

We may be scared of rejection and so rather than share something of ourselves for fear that we will be ignored or disliked, we keep ourselves safe by being an observer rather than a participant.

Or perhaps we know that our reserves are currently low and so we hold back from connecting because we are scared that if we start then we will be expected to be consistent and to keep showing up - and we know that we can't do that and so we tell ourselves that it's best to stay away rather than risk letting people down.

I speak of these possibilities because they are all behaviours that at one time or another have been mine (and sometimes still are). So there is no judgement here.

What I do want to lovingly invite you to consider though is the possibility that this community of women could perhaps be a place to try out something different. To tentatively trust that you are more than good enough and that your company will be welcomed whenever you feel like joining us, just the way you are, with all of your perfectly imperfect humanity - this is my warm invitation to you. 

Nothing would make me happier than this community playing a part in helping you to re-write some of the unkind and redundant narratives about yourself you may have inherited or created. 

Middle Years Monday is not intended to be an ever-growing vast space. My personal preference is definitely for a smaller circle of women which feels familiar and intimate - and so this is what we are and will always be. At the moment we are less than 50 women - and should our numbers reach 75 women then I will close our doors to new Members.

The approximate number of women who come along to each of our live events varies from four to a dozen or so.

The minimum Membership commitment is 6 months, after which your Membership can be cancelled at any time.

Experience has taught me that giving yourself time to settle in to this new experience reaps rewards for new Members. This commitment also means that the experience of being a part of the community is calm and settled for existing Members too, without too much flux.

Middle Years Monday is just me (Pip) and the overheads are fairly substantial (paying our monthly Guest Experts, MailChimp, Squarespace, Memberspace, Canva, Zoom, Vimeo, SoundCloud etc all adds up). This 6-month minimum commitment provides Middle Years Monday with a degree of financial sustainability and predictability, which enables me to confidently book brilliant guest speakers (safe in the knowledge that I will be able to pay them!).

I am certain that Middle Years Membership offers excellent value for money. Despite lots of encouragement over the years to push the fees up significantly higher it is important to me that this community is as financially accessible as I can make it.

To enable you to pay an amount that best fits with your financial situation, there are two tiers of Membership fees for you to select from.

I trust you to accurately self-assess your financial need and I don’t ask you to jump through any hoops to access the concessionary rate. I am equally grateful for all Members, regardless of what they pay.

My Requests:

So that I can meet my financial needs and together we can help Middle Years Monday to be economically sustainable, please use the discounted rate only if you truly need it - rather than because of a preference for paying a lower cost, getting a bargain, or because of fear about the possibility of future scarcity. If your financial situation does change in the future you will always be absolutely welcome to move down or up the fee scale without any notice.

STANDARD RATE MONTHLY FEE

• £35 per month + £30 one-off joining fee

STANDARD RATE ANNUAL FEE

• £350 + £30 one-off joining fee

• My way of thanking you for paying for a year of Membership upfront is to offer you 12 months of Membership for the price of 10

CONCESSIONARY RATE MONTHLY FEE

• £15 per month + £10 one-off joining fee

• This rate is for those facing financial hardship, and if this is still not affordable to you then please get in touch

A note about Joining Fees:

I’m passionate about helping new MYM Members feel welcome and as part of this I invite you to have a 1:1 welcome with me. The joining fee is a contribution towards the costs of this and the various admin that goes into setting you up as a new Member. It is a lifetime joining fee - in other words no matter how many times you leave and rejoin MYM you will not have to pay this fee again.

[Thank you to Bear Herbert for their pricing guidance and wisdom - some of the above wording is theirs.]