About

Meet Hazel Acland: A Grass-Roots Leader for Social Change

Hazel Acland is a passionate advocate for social change, who strives to create a better world for all. Her work focuses on advancing gender equality, opposing racism, and promoting nature connection.

Hazel co-directs The Nest Southwest Community Interest Company, a social enterprise that collaborates with the Exeter community to enhance the lives of women, girls, and menstruating people. The organization prioritizes the transitional periods of menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause.

Hazel’s expertise extends to various healing modalities, including Reiki, Emotional Freedom Technique, massage, and Touch for Health Kinesiology. She has also served as a birth doula for 16 years and represented the UK in the European Doula Network for six of those years.

Her education and experiences have taken her around the world, where she has lived, learned languages, and immersed herself in diverse cultures. Her love of anthropology led her back to her native land of England, where she rediscovered her love of nature and the traditional change of seasons.

Hazel is the author of two books: A Doula’s Journey, a novel about the path of childbirth support, and A Birth Path – Stages & States of Consciousness, a favourite among doulas and childbirth educators used in preparation for birth.

Hazel resides in Devon, near Exeter, where she lives on a smallholding farm with her family. Together, they grow organic food and spend their time processing, fermenting, preserving, baking sourdough bread, and foraging for wild food. They also keep bees, which is an integral part of Hazel’s life.

After holding spaces for grief work for the last three year this winter Hazel is taking further training become an end of life doula. Watch this space.

Hazel profile

Hazel Acland Tree

  • women’s circle facilitator of sacred space
  • director of The Nest Southwest CIC a social enterprise supporting through menstruation, pregnancy, birth and menopause (2019 – present)
  • trainer and supervising peer support volunteer networks for menstruation, perinatal and menopause (2021-present)
  • an independent celebrant
  • a peer breastfeeding supporter
  • teaches workshops and offers one-to-one support
  • author of A Doula’s Journey (a novel)
  • author of A Birth Path – stages and states of consciousness
  • Representative of UK Doula community in European Doula Network (2016-2022)
  • a Reiki master (2001)
  • EFT practitioner (2006)
  • Touch for Health kinesiology practitioner (2005)
  • massage therapist (2002)
  • bilingual in English & Spanish
  • a mother and step-grandmother