Charlotte Church transforms from partying popstar to an 'activist sound healer' as she makes rare

Charlotte Church transforms from partying popstar to an 'activist sound healer' as she makes rare
Charlotte Church transforms from partying popstar to an 'activist sound healer' as she makes rare appearance to promote her green retreat
Charlotte Church has created a new life for herself, working as a sound healer on the retreat she owns in rural Wales.
Far away from her Crazy Chick days as a popstar, the former singer, 38, has worked hard to convert a mansion once owned by Laura Ashley into a green retreat, open to all.
The star made a rare social media appearance on Tuesday to promote a new initiative for The Dreaming.
The self-proclaimed activist looked worlds away from her polished popstar days as she spoke on camera about her retreat's 'open invitation to all Activists' and the Pay What You Can ethos for a September retreat.
The former Voice of an Angel singer bought Rhydoldog House with her husband Jonathan Powell, whom she shares a four-year-old daughter with, in 2021 and turned it into a retreat for paying guests to 'reconnect with themselves and the natural world
The home, which she has renamed The Dreaming, is just outside the rural market town of Rhayader.
Charlotte finally opened her green retreat last year after overcoming building problems and winning a series of planning battles to transform the property.
The seven-bedroom mansion has three storeys, a helicopter landing and a 200-year-old barn on its 47 acres.
It is wellness retreat with cycling, archery, foraging, hiking and strength and conditioning lessons available - with a hot tub, plunge pool and outdoor cinema.
Charlotte has explained how the retreat sources power from a hydro mill and has a water source heat pump to provide hot water.
Speaking last year Charlotte explained she has been an activist for years and wanted to channel her 'values' into her work projects.
She said: 'I really care about the future and the future of the planet, you know, I really think that we can turn things around and so I wanted to be involved in projects and I wanted to start projects, which was living my values really, and living my activism.
'We've got a water source heat pump and we've got the hydro mill, and we're gonna have a huge food growing project.
'So this year we'll have about an acre, an acre and a half of land in which to grow food, and then, In the next two or three years, that's gonna grow to like three or four acres.'
Breaks start from £450 for three days, but 'to allow access for people of all means, The Dreaming offers a 'pay what you can' space on every three-day retreat'.
To open the lavish retreat, Charlotte overcame a series of planning battles and building problems.
Environmental and planning bigwigs expressed particular concerns about her plans for treating and disposing of waste from four proposed log cabins, with the ecology department of the local council warning of the deficiencies of many 'private sewage treatment systems'.
In addition the retreat plans were also opposed by her local council - who feared it could cause 'unacceptable risk' to drivers.
Alongside her life at The Dreaming, Charlotte has also launched her first podcast, Kicking Back with the Cardiffians on BBC Sounds, with new episodes available weekly. On the podcast she discusses her Welsh heritage, family bonds, her working class identity and growing up in Cardiff.
She rose to fame in childhood as a classical singer before she branched into pop music in 2005, by 2007 the singer sold more than ten million records worldwide.
Her musical career kicked off when she was just 11-years-old after she sang Andrew Lloyd Webber's Pie Jesu song on This Morning in 1997.
The singer was previously engaged to rugby ace Gavin Henson, with whom she lived a lavish lifestyle which even led them to be dubbed the Welsh Posh and Becks
Charlotte has two children with her ex, daughter Ruby, 17, and son Dexter, 15.
Gavin and Charlotte split in 2010. She went onto marry Jonathan and together they welcomed their daughter Freya in 2020.
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