Rooted in Struggle:
A Three Month Programme of Collective Care
Herbal Solidarity for Organisers Experiencing Burnout
A programme for grassroots organisers, anarchists and people involved in community care who are carrying the long term stress, exhaustion and heartbreak of ongoing struggle.
Whether you are depleted from constant organising, stretched thin by care responsibilities, recovering from crisis, or feeling the creeping numbness of burnout, this space is for you.
Across three months, we will build a steady and grounded container of herbal support, mutual aid and nervous system tending designed specifically for people organising from below.
You will receive plant medicines crafted for you by the Solidarity Apothecary, alongside live group calls, pre-recorded content and a small community of people who understand what it means to show up for our struggles while trying to hold ourselves together.
Why Rooted in Struggle?
Organising is life giving and also relentless. The pressure to keep going, hold it all and never let anyone down can leave us depleted, anxious, overwhelmed or emotionally detached. Many organisers I support are deeply burnt out yet still carrying enormous responsibilities.
This programme exists because our struggles are only as resilient as the people who sustain them. When we nurture our bodies, hearts and nervous systems, we deepen our capacity to resist, build and care for one another.
Herbal support can offer real nourishment by easing stress patterns, softening emotional overload, supporting sleep, digestion and immunity, and helping reawaken connection and joy.
Why this Programme?
This offering has grown out of years of supporting organisers on the edge of collapse and also from my own experiences of burnout through anarchist organising, prisoner solidarity and building community infrastructure with far too few resources.
I have created the programme I wish more of us had access to. A political home for healing where we do not have to pretend we are fine or hold everything alone. A place to reconnect with our bodies, our work, our values and receive strength from our non-human kin.
Programme Details
When
January 2026 for three months
Format
Mix of live group calls and pre-recorded content
Herbal medicines
Bespoke herbal medicines posted to you throughout the programme
Who This Is For
This offering is designed for:
- Grassroots organisers
- Anarchists
- People involved in mutual aid or community care
- Folks holding things together in their communities
- Anyone managing long term responsibilities in struggle
People taking part may be experiencing:
- Burnout, overwhelm or chronic stress
- Emotional exhaustion or numbness
- Grief, loss or political heartbreak
- Disconnection from purpose or joy
- Pressure to keep going despite being depleted
You do not need to prove you are burnt out. If you feel called to this programme, you are welcome here.
We will be a small group of six to nine people.
What is Included
Herbal Support for Your Nervous System & Whole Body
Custom teas, tinctures and remedies sent to you throughout the programme to support stress resilience, sleep, digestion, immunity and emotional steadiness. Medicines will be crafted specifically for your needs.
Live Group Calls, Community and Solidarity
Fortnightly group calls offering connection, herbal guidance and gentle check-ins about what you are carrying in your organising and in your body.
These are non medical spaces focused on care, solidarity and collective learning. Between calls, we will connect via a small Signal group.
Pre-recorded Content
Access short, accessible lessons about herbs, nervous system care, and other tools to work through in your own time.
Contribution
Suggested contribution: £150 from group or organisational funds where possible.
This helps sustain the labour, medicines and solidarity work of the Solidarity Apothecary.
If £150 is accessible to you or your collective, it genuinely supports the continuation of this offering.
However, no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Please still apply if this space is what you need.
About Nicole & the Solidarity Apothecary
About the Solidarity Apothecary
The mission of the Solidarity Apothecary is to materially support revolutionary struggles and communities with plant medicines to strengthen collective autonomy, self-defence and resilience to climate change, capitalism and state violence.
This includes distributing herbal medicines to people experiencing state violence and repression, such as prisoners, ex-prisoners, refugees, and organisers. The project also offers one-to-one herbal support, runs courses and workshops, and collaborates on mobile clinics at sites of resistance and border violence.
About Nicole Rose
I am Nicole Rose (she/her), an anarchist organiser and herbalist based in the West Country. I have spent more than sixteen years studying herbal medicine, including a four year clinical training with The Plant Medicine School in Ireland.
My work is shaped by years of frontline organising, prisoner solidarity and living through prolonged state repression, including a three and a half year prison sentence. These experiences have fuelled my commitment to collective care, abolitionist practice and building community infrastructure that centres our wellbeing.
I founded the Solidarity Apothecary to focus on supporting people experiencing state violence with herbalism.
Programme Accessibility
Pre-recorded content: Videos include closed captions. There are downloadable audio files and slides, as well as transcripts.
Group calls: These will be hosted on Jitsi (similar to zoom). The group will decide if they will be recorded or not based on everyone's needs and desires. For example, if several people will struggle to participate live due to chronic illness, we may need to enable a recorded option - we will make decisions together as a group at the beginning of the programme.
Signal group: We will set guidelines together based on people's needs in order to prevent information overwhelm while enabling collective care (and memes!).
Medicines: Blends will be bespoke to your needs taking into consideration existing health challenges, medications, living environment and ease of taking.
Next Steps
Please join the waiting list here to be emailed when applications are open.
You are very welcome to email any questions. Feel free to reach out via email to info@solidarityapothecary.org
Commonly Asked Questions
Where can people apply from?
Rooted in Struggle is aimed to support people in England, Wales, Scotland and the north of Ireland.What kind of herbal support will I receive?
These will be prepared based on your needs, but the goal of the programme is to support your nervous system health, sleep quality and digestion while contending with the chronic stress that repression can generate.I’ll prepare unique medicines for you, likely in the form of tinctures, glycerites and teas. What I can’t make myself, will be purchased from trusted suppliers depending on the needs of the group.
I'm nervous of being in a group of strangers especially due to security culture
After going through a decade of repression, I really understand. You are welcome to participate using a pseudonym.At the beginning of the programme, we will create some group guidelines together to help ensure it's as nourishing a space as possible. All participants will be asked to respect one another’s confidentiality and boundaries.
When does the programme start?
Join the waiting list to be the first to hear when applications open. I'm aiming to begin the application process in late December with a plan to start at the beginning of February 2026.How will the group communicate?
We will have a group chat on the Signal app between calls.What time will the calls be?
The calls will be organised during daytime windows.I'm currently co-sleeping with my baby so I'm not available in the evenings. We will try to schedule calls based on the needs and availability of the group at the beginning of the programme.
What if I can’t attend the live calls?
If everyone in the group agrees to, we may record calls.The pre-recorded content is available for you to watch whenever you want.
How much does the programme cost?
Suggested contribution: £150 from group or organisational funds where possible. This helps sustain the labour, medicines and solidarity work of the Solidarity Apothecary.
If £150 is accessible to you or your collective, it genuinely supports the continuation of this offering.
However, no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Please still apply if this space is what you need.
I have a lot of complex and chronic health issues. Is this programme appropriate for me?
Yes and no! Chronic illness can be incredibly isolating and a group environment will hopefully be nourishing and strengthening.However, we may need to organise additional calls to explore your health history in more depth to ensure safety and appropriateness of herbal medicines. This will be dependent on my availability which is unfortunately quite limited as I am focused on caring for my little one.
I have other questions. How can I get in touch?
If you have any further questions, feel free to reach out via email to info@solidarityapothecary.org