The Little Bird Fund
Subsidised Therapy for Young Women in Cambridgeshire
Every copy of Little Bird sold funds subsidised therapy for young people and students who cannot afford full rates. Because clipped wings deserve the chance to fly.
“The problem isn’t that these young people don’t need support. It’s that the system was never built to reach them where they are.”
Why the fund exists
Clipped wings and hidden potential
For years I have subsidised therapy sessions for people on low incomes out of my own pocket. Not because it is sustainable, but because the need is so stark and so visible that I can’t do otherwise.
The Little Bird Fund exists to do more of what I am already doing, and to do it transparently. Every copy of Little Bird sold generates a contribution to the fund. That contribution directly pays for subsidised therapy sessions for young people and students in Cambridgeshire who cannot afford full rates.
It is a small model. It will grow slowly. But every single session it funds is a young person who would otherwise have gone without, now sitting in a room where someone is truly listening. That is enough to begin.
The fund is named for the novel that started it, a story about a neurodivergent girl whose wings were never broken, just misunderstood. And about what becomes possible when someone finally sees her clearly.
The Process
How The Fund Works
01
Books are sold
A percentage of every Little Bird sale, print and ebook, is ring-fenced directly into The Little Bird Fund.
03
Sessions are offered
Successful applicants receive six subsidised one-to-one sessions with Claire either online or in person in St Ives, Cambs.
02
Applications reviewed
Young people and students who meet the eligibility criteria apply for a funded place. Places are limited by what the fund holds.
04
The fund grows
More books sold means more sessions funded. Every reader who shares the book, reviews it, or buys it as a gift extends the fund's reach.
Who Can Apply
Eligibility
Students in Full- or Part-Time Education
Currently studying at sixth form, college, or university. This includes students at Cambridge University and colleges across Cambridgeshire. Student ID required.
Young Adults
Women aged 18–30 in Cambridgeshire who are on Universal Credit or a low household income, and are currently on an NHS waiting list for mental health support.
Based in Cambridgeshire
Sessions take place in person in St Ives, Cambridgeshire or online. Applicants must have an address based in Cambridgeshire or be a student in Cambridgeshire.
Genuine Financial Need
The fund is for those who genuinely cannot afford full therapy rates. A short self-declaration of financial circumstances is required as part of the application.
Places are limited each quarter by the level of funding available. When places are full, applicants are held on a waiting list for the following quarter. Transparency about availability is something I take seriously. I will never promise what the fund or my capacity cannot deliver.
The Novella Behind the Fund
Every copy of Little Bird funds a session
Little Bird is a novel about a family navigating a medical system that doesn't listen. It’s about a neurodivergent girl misunderstood by the very people meant to help her, and her brother, the invisible sibling, watching it all unfold.
It is also, quietly, my story. As a neurodivergent woman and mother, I have lived versions of what this book describes. The Little Bird Fund is the real-world response to everything the novel is about.
Buy the book. Fund a session. Help a young person be truly heard.
Get In Touch
Apply for a Funded Place
The fund opens when the book does its work. Email me at claire@harmonyhealingservices.co.uk to be notified when applications open.
“This fund is for the clipped wings and hidden potential of women and young people facing long struggles with the medical model and NHS wait times”
Claire Buttrum
Meet Your Author
Claire Buttrum
Author, Coach, and Therapist
For much of my life, I’ve existed in fragments. As a neurodivergent, hypermobile woman, my journey has been peppered with the specific, heavy shame that comes when your way of being doesn't align with the world's expectations.
I’ve been a dancer, yoga teacher, holistic therapist, project manager and coach. I’m now a therapist, mother, and creative, yet these facets felt disjointed until I found the courage to let myself be truly me.
Today, I write from a place of integrated wholeness. My work is rooted in the secret, divergent experiences of women and their families; the noise, fear, and trauma often held silently in the body. I believe creativity is the ultimate release for these unspoken truths. Through my stories and therapeutic practice, I aim to help other women and their families give themselves permission to occupy their bodies and minds without apology.
My approach is unapologetically bottom-up. I take my work directly to the people with whom it resonates, bypassing the diagnoses and pathology of the medical model. These stories are for the forgotten, the lost, and the resilient. By sharing the raw reality of ND life, I hope to turn the noise of our struggles into a chorus of recognition and peace.