Misty Hannah, MA, RSME/T is the founder and director of Compassionate Accompaniment CIC. She is a Sensory Awareness practitioner and an End of Life Companion with a focus on grief support. Misty is a fully qualified, registered and insured Somatic Movement Educator/Therapist and Qi Gong/Taiji practitioner. She holds an MA in Dance and Somatic Well Being from UCLan and is a registered professional member of ISMETA (International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association).
Qualifications:
- MA with Distinction: Dance and Somatic Well Being (University of Central Lancashire, UK)
- Professional Member of the International Somatic Movement Education & Therapy Association ISMETA - for ISMETA Code of Ethics click here
- Sensory Awareness Leader and member of Sensory Awareness Leaders' Guild
- Taiji and Qi Gong Instructor certificates, registered with Tai Chi Healthways
- Certificate, End of Life Doula, from Red Tent End of Life Doulas
Past & Current projects:
- 2002 - 2019: Founded Envoy: explorations in movement. A movement, dance and research company with a focus on an inquiry into tracing migratory patterns of dance around the world. From 2010 Butoh dance influenced much of her artistic approach.
- 2016 - present: Leaders Groups for Sensory Awareness Foundation. Explorations in bringing awareness to bodily sensing to bring support to daily life.
- 2016 - 2019: Misty volunteered with the British Red Cross as a caseworker for the Mum's Project. Helping to bring support to women who are refugees/asylum seekers who are pregnant when they arrive in Scotland.
- 2017- present: She continues to offer well being workshops to women and children refugees who need ongoing support.
- 2019 - present: Founded Compassionate Accompaniment CIC, not for profit social enterprise and was awarded funding from Firstport
- 2022 - Awarded Build It fund from Firstport to assist with expanding and continuing Compassionate Accompaniment CIC's services.
Staff: Jess Greig works as our part-time Social Media Marketing Assistant. Jess brings her creativity and heart wisdom to all that she does. She is intrumental in helping us to connect with more people who need our services. She's also helping us to connect with like minded organisations across Scotland which contributes to our potential to collaborate with others on various projects.
Jess has a love of animals and her passion for this really shines when we're working on ideas for our future projects with EFL (Equine Facilitated Learning) groups and Share Our Table Gatherings for events held on animal sanctuaries or farms. So excited to explore this with her!
We love her ability to communicate, organise and think outside the box whether she's writing a blog post or juggling scheduling on multiple media platforms. Jess is an amazing addition to CA and we're so grateful to have her on board.
Board member, Aileen Murphy and her lovely pet dog, Vance. Now retired from working in IT for Aberdeen University, Aileen brings her skills in research and networking to Compassionate Accompaniment CIC helping us set up events, connect with local advertising, and continued research in our field of grief and end of life care, especially in relation to animals as partners for well being with humans.
She volunteers for Guide Dogs Scotland and has been a Puppy Raiser with them for 18 years, raising 9 puppies from the age of 8 weeks! Vance is a pale cream coloured 3/4 Golden Retriever cross Labrador and is four and a half years old. She wanted to share him with others and has registered him as a Therapet® with Canine Concern Scotland Trust’s (CCST) Therapet® Visiting Service.
Together, Aileen and Vance are helping CA with our animal companionship as an addition to the services we currently offer.
Board member, Liz Pearson (seen here with her dear Lizzie) brings to Compassionate Accompaniment her 40 years of nursing experience and several years as an NHS Cancer Manager. She helps us to network with key individuals and organisations that would like to collaborate with our grief, caregiver and end of life services. She is connecting us with staff in hospitals that will work with us to receive referrals to reach as many people as possible in need of our compassionate care services.
We are currently looking at ways to bring Share Our Table Gatherings for groups wanting emotional and mental health support for patients, caregivers, and hospital staff with a focus on self care/compassion and also grief and loss support.
A message from Liz..."Wee Lizzie my miniature Schnauzer. She’s been a life saver for me after losing my husband in March 2020. I can certainly testify to the healing that Wee Lizzie has brought. Animals are so special and love unconditionally."
Volunteer, Georgia Ellis, helps us with our social media research. She's great at finding inspiring articles that relate to CA's work through bridging both the scientific and spiritual worlds. She also helps us with building our photo and article library. She brings a her creative energy and new perspectives to CA. We're so happy that she's available to help us.
Georgia loves reading, dancing and playing volleyball. She also has a great passion for film and writing. A few words from Georgia: "My job is to give a little insight into all things social media and today's trends as CA's Gen Z expert."
Volunteer, Helen Ellis (seen here with handsome Micky) brings to Compassionate Accompaniment her years of experience as a carer for people with learning disabilities. She currently volunteers with Guide Dogs Scotland and in cancer care settings including hospice and oncology unit in FVH. Her role with CA involves introducing new people to our work via welcome and hospitality for events and workshops.
She also offers her emotional support to people grieving and will be volunteering with CA as an end of life companion. Micky brings joy wherever he goes. They are a fantastic duo and we are so grateful for the time and compassion they bring to all they do with us.
