Merryn Tenalach

06/04/2026

Exhibition of Holding Vessels – Sofia Sullivan
Soulton Long Barrow
Sunday 5th July 10am-4pm

Set within the sacred landscape of Soulton Long Barrow, this exhibition invites you into an intimate encounter with the work of ceramic artist Sofia Sullivan, whose collection of Holding Vessels reimagines the urn as both art form and ritual object.

Each vessel is a one-of-a-kind piece, hand-formed and deeply considered, carrying a quiet gravitas that speaks to memory, presence, and the enduring relationship between body and earth. These are not simply objects of function, but sculptural works that hold space for grief, love, and continuation, vessels in the truest sense.

Sofia’s practice draws on elemental textures and rich, earthen tones, creating forms that feel both ancient and immediate, as though shaped in conversation with the land itself. The result is a collection that is at once breathtaking and profoundly grounding.

This exhibition welcomes funeral directors, celebrants, artists, and those seeking a meaningful resting vessel for a loved one, as well as anyone drawn to the intersection of art, death, and material beauty. Visitors will have the opportunity to view and purchase existing works, as well as discuss bespoke commissions.

You are warmly invited to step into this space, to witness, to reflect, and to encounter the quiet power of vessels made to hold what matters most.

15/03/2026

Life has been looking different just recently.

Making way for the only thing that is certain…change!

I have to have surgery. It’s big. Life altering.

We’re moving house.

I started a new job in December.

I’m writing creatively less than ever.

Assignments roll around faster than I could have imagined.

I’m needing more sleep than ever.

I’ve not been all that happy. In fact, panic is rising through my body which; in this intensity, is a first for me.

I have been forced to stop by my body in the most inconvenient ways.

My days are being hollowed. I’m being hollowed. I’m being realigned, once more, to the thrum of the earths pulse.

Tomorrow I vow to you, therefore holding myself accountable, to get my bare feet into the earth. My hands into the soil.

What do I come back to over and over? The story of the Chinese Farmer.

‘Maybe yes, maybe no’, has become my affirmation.

There’s glimmers of ease but mostly there’s fear. There’s a thread of the joys of the next chapter but mostly there’s pain and grief and sadness. There’s moments of the purest connection but the fight to stay is hard.

Please pray with me for love to remain, to expand and for the flourishing to be oh, so beautiful, in its own time.

🍃

27/02/2026

I am recruiting volunteers for Shropshire Grief Tending CIC. We are presently looking for 2 volunteers to run our Telford (Leegomery) Grief Cafe and 1 volunteer to support in the running of Ludlow Grief Cafe.

Full training is given but skills in deep listening is essential. We ask for 1.5 hours per month commitment to run the grief cafe itself which are both on a Monday and additional time as and when needed to debrief and for social gatherings to maintain moral within the team.

If you think this may be for you, please email merryn@merryntenalach.com and we can book in a Zoom call or a coffee

24/02/2026

I’m shouting from the rooftops!!

So far we’ve raised £6105, that means we have £3406 left to raise in just 7 days!!

Why?!

Because this funding means I can take a step away from personally funding Shropshire Grief Tending CIC. It means that we take the leap into running this CIC with the intention of growth. Expansion into YOUR local community!

We’ve welcomed a board of directors and we are all about getting this work out into communities because the time for this work is NOW!!

These funds will allow us to run for 1 year with our present offerings. If we don’t meet the target, the council withdraw their £4600 fund which is the backbone to this fund raiser!

Help me spread the work, spread the word! If you work in marketing, if your social media presence is loud, if you are someone or you have friends who are able to give, please please help 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

https://www.spacehive.com/holdinggriefgrowinghope

19/02/2026

Our fundraiser has crossed the £6000 mark. That leaves a little over £3000 to raise in just under 2 weeks! This has been a mission, a mission I am totally willing to take on because our community deserves to have this support.

Shropshire Grief Tending CIC offers grief cafes and subsidised 1:1 support in the form of listening sessions, companionship and grief tending. It's valuable work. It's work I am passionate about. It's work that the collective needs right now!

If you can spare anything, please do contribute. Share it with you work places. We are nearing the end of the financial year and often businesses are able to make charitable contributions.

We long to deepen our grief tending, training open-hearted volunteers and offering gentle, subsidised 1:1 support for those walking with sorrow.

17/02/2026

🌿 Holding Grief, Growing Hope – We Need Your Help! 🌿

Here in Shropshire, more and more people are navigating loss and bereavement, yet many have nowhere safe to turn. Our community grief service provides gentle, non-clinical support, including grief circles and specialist sessions, for anyone who needs a space to be held, listened to, and supported.

We have an incredible opportunity to expand our services across the county. Shropshire Council has pledged funding, but there’s a catch: we must reach our full crowdfunding target on Spacehive to unlock it. If we fall short, their contribution disappears.

This is where you can make a real difference. Every donation, big or small, brings us closer to reaching our goal and ensuring more people can access the support they need when grief arrives.

💛 Support us today: https://www.spacehive.com/holdinggriefgrowinghope

Please share this with friends, family, and colleagues—help us make sure no one has to face grief alone. Together, we can grow hope in our community.

We long to deepen our grief tending, training open-hearted volunteers and offering gentle, subsidised 1:1 support for those walking with sorrow.

16/02/2026

So it’s not completely truth. It hasn’t happened yet. But it will. It may not come from the lottery but I am determined to welcome all of those things for us. I will not be defeated. I will not let the things my mind has told me in the past write scripture into the threads of my being. I will continue to open myself to God, to the thrum of the earth, to the pulse of life itself. Just you watch me 🥰

12/02/2026

Maybe it sounds silly but we chatted for hours about how we, as a nation, have lost the ability to truly connect with those going through challenging times. Whether it’s bereavement, emotional turmoil, ill health and heck, just a bad day, nobody knows what to say anymore.

So we made a promise to one another. No more perfect. No more waiting for everything to be just so before the door is opened. Let’s be the people who show others how to respond in times of trouble by opening our doors no matter what. We’re here for the seemingly silly comments because ‘at least you’re having a go’, we’re open to the possibility that you’ll get things right, let’s learn how to ‘be’ together!

It’s a challenge! Would you join us?

09/02/2026

Let’s spread love today ❤️

31/01/2026

Today I’m based in Shrewsbury Library for the day in ‘The Pod’ which is sound proof, calm, gentle in atmosphere and protects confidentiality with frosted glass. It feels incredibly private and wholesome which, given we’re right in the middle of a central community space in town, is such a gift.

Grief Tending Sessions are fully booked today! These sessions are funded by the ‘Warmer Winters’ programme which is amazing.

If you’d like to make the most of this offering, you can book a grief tending session by contacting the library directly. I’ll be here a few more times over the coming months and there’s still a small handful of sessions available.

With love,

Merryn

30/01/2026

✨ G I V E A W A Y ✨

To celebrate Guided finding its way into the world, I’m offering a chance to win a copy of the book.

This book was written for thresholds.
For beginnings and endings.
For those walking beside birth, death, grief, devotion, and becoming.

How to enter
🌿 Like this page
🌿 Share this post to your stories
🌿 Tag friends in the comments

Each tag counts as an entry, so feel free to tag more than one soul who might love this book.

The competition will run for 10 days, closing on 9th February.
The winner will be chosen at random and announced here.

Thank you for walking alongside this work, for sharing it, and for helping it find the people it is meant for 🤍