The WILDE Foundation
Helping women to write their way to better mental wellbeing
[Trigger warning: This article includes references to serious sexual assault and other events that may be triggering.]
Traumatic life events can lead to significant mental health challenges, including depression, anxiety and low self-esteem. The WILDE Foundation gives women the chance to write about their life experiences and share their stories in a safe, supportive environment. By doing so, the women can be helped to process and heal from their trauma, improve their mental health and regain a sense of control over their lives.
As one participant, Jen, shares, “As an Author, Writer, and Poet, it is such a blessing to be with like-minded ladies from all walks of life. Sharing our memories and life experiences by writing stories or in poetry form … We learn so much about each other and the workshop gives us the skills and confidence to write our stories to the world.”
Some of the women have survived horrendous experiences. One woman was imprisoned and repeatedly raped by her neighbour as a teenager. She escaped to the UK, where she experienced years of abuse from her partner – a police officer. Through the WILDE Foundation, she’s been able to rebuild her trust in people and escape from her abuser.
Sharing Human Stories
As well as the online writing workshops, the women meet on the second Sunday of the month to share Human Stories at the Nubian Centre. WILDE founder Rasheda Malcolm explains, “A woman will volunteer to be the ‘book’. She might say, ‘Okay, I want to talk about my childhood.’ She will talk about her childhood, and then the rest of the group will ask her questions about it. We have a Caribbean lunch afterwards so everyone can sit together and eat.
“Women have bonded through sharing stories and experiences of domestic and childhood sexual abuse, loss, bereavement and ill-health; for some, these stories have been shared for the very first time.”
Tackling isolation
Many of the women are lonely due to social isolation, disability, poor mental health or other challenges. The WILDE Foundation provides a “nurturing and safe social platform, where loneliness and isolation are lessened for a few hours.” While most of the writing sessions are held online, the women meet in person for Human Stories, and sometimes go on outings to the seaside, a local spa or another place of interest.
The women have also formed friendships that continue outside the group. Rasheda shares an example of an older group member who is almost housebound due to severe arthritis. The WILDE in-person meetings are often the only time she’ll leave her home. Rasheda says, “One of the other ladies, who’s got arthritis in her shoulders, invited her to come swimming. So now they meet up to exercise in the water.”
Empowering through education
People often think of domestic abuse and rape as being solely about physical assault. To address this, Rasheda delivered a 12-week CPD-accredited course called Free Me as part of the Sunday workshops. She says, “One woman said that that it had taken her all this time to realise that she’s been financially abused throughout her entire marriage. She didn’t know that was abuse until Free Me.”
Black History Month
For Black History month, the women meet for an epistolary workshop, where they write letters to their younger self, older self or to a woman from their culture who they admire. The focus of the workshop is on healing. Rasheda says, “The letters bring out so much and we also talk about Black history – they didn’t take slaves; they took mothers and fathers and doctors and nurses and enslaved them. That can then lead to us starting to find out about other events in history. One Irish lady shared what the British did to the Irish in the Cromwellian war.
“It’s a good sharing experience and, as always, we end with food. Everybody brings a dish from their country to share. You can dress in whatever you’d wear in your country and come along and party!
“We’ve got quite a little melting pot here where people can bond and make friends. We call it our tribe. One lady is 83 years old and White British. She says that she feels at home with us and that ‘I’m learning to understand more than I ever did before because when we grew up, we weren’t allowed to mix.’”
Encouraging writers though an annual festival
The WILDE H&F Writers’ Festival is an annual event to “uplift and spotlight emerging and minoritised voices from across the UK.” It’s open to everyone and many of the women from the writing workshops take part.
This year, the festival was held on 19th July at the Bush Theatre. Rasheda says, “It poured with rain, but 230 people turned up with their umbrellas and raincoats. We had an open mic, so people had the opportunity to share their writing. One spoke about her experiences of domestic abuse; another about the menopause and how at times she felt suicidal.
“It was brilliant to have the grant from Hammersmith United Charities to put towards the festival, because it gave people that opportunity to stand on a platform and be applauded, which gave them such confidence.”
Find out more
You can read examples of the women’s writing by clicking on the links on the right-hand side of this page.
Join the WILDE Foundation
- Writing workshops are held online on Fridays and Saturdays at 10:30am-12:30pm.
- Human Stories is held on the second Sunday of the month, 12-3pm, at the Nubian Life Resource Centre, 50 Elleslie road, W12 7BW
- The letter writing workshop for Black History month is on 12th October 2025, 12-3pm, at the Nubian Life Resource Centre.
All sessions are free to attend. If you’d like to find out more or join in, email Rasheda at wilde2000@btopenworld.com.
Enter the WILDE H&F Writers’ Festival
The next WILDE H&F Writers’ Festival is on June 27th. Submissions open at the end of October. There are classes for adults and under-18s and prizes include a place on a Curtis Brown Creative Masterclass. For more details, including this year’s themes, visit www.handfwritersfestival.co.uk.
Volunteer for the WILDE Foundation
Rasheda says, “If anyone’s interested in talking to women who have had it hard and are re-emerging and gaining their confidence, they’ll be very welcome.” People have volunteered to talk about books, dementia prevention and other topics, as well as to help support the Foundation’s members on outings. Contact Rasheda at wilde2000@btopenworld.com.
Under-fives
Tackling negative perceptions