Relationships Matter 

My name is Penny Vine, and I live in Leeds, a large multicultural city in the north of the United Kingdom. Within me is a deep and passionate commitment to bring alive the principles of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) to support people in creating relationships that work for everyone. 

I have delivered training in approximately 250 schools and educational settings across the U.K., working with educators and parents of children ages zero to eighteen. I have offered trainings across the U.K., and in Germany, Romania, Ireland, and India. In Romania and the U.K., a large part of my work was with parents and educators, supporting conflict transformation. 

A Life-Changing Event, a New Model

In April 2020, I experienced a severe stroke. This transformative event challenged me to rethink my twenty-year experience as an NVC trainer. Despite experiencing many losses these last three years, with the support of my trusted NVC friends and the warmth of my family, I have transformed my NVC offerings into a model that I can offer from home for parents, educators, or anyone requesting support, including:

1. One-to-one support for parents, educators, and anyone requesting support.
2. Mediation for anyone experiencing conflict at work, in families, or with partners. 
3. Foundation in NVC for parents and educators. Offered in my home over the course of six weeks in once-weekly face-to-face sessions, we cover the ethos, principles, and practice of Nonviolent Communication. Designed for six to eight participants, the sessions provide a small, intimate, and cozy learning environment in which to learn and get to know one another. 
4. An active and vibrant practice group for people who have attended the six-week Foundation in NVC workshop. (Currently this group in Leeds is filled to capacity. I have a waiting list, and if you would like to join a practice group do contact me and I can add you to it.) 

Connect

NVC offers a powerful process for attaining clarity, transforming conflict, and carrying compassion into ALL our relationships, including the relationships we have with ourselves and others. My intention is to bring love, warmth, integrity, and kindness to everything I do and to create safe spaces for everyone to explore the relationships that matter to them and to have fun as we go!

TESTIMONIALS

Carrying the Dream in Romania

“It’s been eleven years since we met at the NVC conference in Timisoara [Romania] in 2012 — eleven years that never were the same for me, for the families here in Timisoara who joined our dream, for the teachers, for many, many people. You supported me all this time with your love and energy, the channel that always stayed open and welcoming for my whole being. Thank you for our connection, I hold you dear in my heart, and I wish you were here with us in the Lee Lab. You are here, anyway because I carry our dream every day. The dream to see the dream in everyone’s heart. Thank you, Penny.” – Moni, March 14, 2023

A Business Coach Inspired - Ireland

“Sharing NVC sessions with Penny has provided a great source of inspiration to me over the two years I have known her. I feel confident that I have learned NVC further by watching and hearing Penny share her courses using the richness of her experience as well as the bottom of her heart. Penny’s authenticity and integrity with NVC are a tribute to the founders of NVC. In working with her on organising trainings in Ireland, I have also valued the professionalism of her approach, from preparation all the way to follow-up.” – Laure Fau, Business Coach  

Celebrating Our “Penny Days”-Manchester North of England

“I have had the privilege to participate in a long-term group, learning NVC skills and concepts with Penny Vine for a few years now. We met 6 times annually in Manchester for one full day. Penny is an exemplary trainer. Her care and attention to detail are incredible and so valued by us all. Penny lives and breathes NVC. She has a wealth of experience using NVC in diverse and sometimes challenging situations, and is always ready to illustrate her teaching with real-life examples, even when she herself has struggled. Penny has integrity and is so very ‘herself.’ We have grown very fond of her. 

I would go so far as to say that Penny is now a fundamental support in my world, and she has patiently and steadily helped me to change my relationships for the better, with others and also with myself. I feel great joy, support, comfort, and security in our NVC group, as a mutual trust and understanding has developed, and Penny has the skill to know how best to guide and encourage every one of us. I have never missed a ‘Penny Day,’ and I look forward to many more.” – Debbie Jones, Teacher 

Reflections from Parents – Leeds North of England

“Penny came along when I was at a very low ebb, doubting myself as a parent and feeling lost, confused, and at times quite desperate. Working with Penny using the process of Nonviolent Communication helped me so, so much to trust myself. I became less reliant on the external world to get through life’s difficulties. Working with Penny, using the process of Nonviolent Communication, helped me stand back at times and allow my son to develop on his own terms and at his own pace. At the same time, Penny helped me discover how I could support him and understand his feelings and needs — and understand mine too — as he gradually began to move toward independence. Penny’s skills as a communicator were key to all of this.” – Single-parent mum of James, a fifteen-year-old diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder 

“When I first met Penny, I was losing my temper frequently, shouting at my children, and I didn’t know why, and didn’t know how to make the changes I wanted to. I felt guilt and shame about how I was behaving. Although I had read about Nonviolent Communication, I needed the supportive and compassionate guidance of Penny to help me begin to recognise my feelings and needs and then express and begin to care for them. Penny listens in a nonjudgmental and kind way. The use of practical processes that can be practised any time at home have been excellent for me to make the changes I was so keen to make. I now have a regular mindfulness and gratitude practice. I shout less and seek to understand myself and others’ needs more. I have a much greater awareness in connecting with and understanding my children’s needs (and how they reflect in their behaviour). If I do get angry or shout, I have a more compassionate approach to myself and accept more that it’s okay NOT to be okay sometimes! I am so grateful to Penny for her patience and time, and for her commitment to connect with me and understand my needs. Thank you, Penny. I am so glad I moved to Leeds and met you!! You have helped me and my family in so many ways. – Amy Dunmall, Parent 

Reflections from CNVC Trainers Cath Burke - London

“When I think of you and your presence, the first word that comes to me is healing. Healing in whatever way one could interpret it. Healing of the mind, the body, and the soul — although it is said that the soul does not need healing; it is apparently doing very fine :-). So, my experience with you in England was healing to me. I really enjoyed everything that we experienced, the open training, the day at you house, the visits to the schools, your interventions, your care for being on time, the dance performance, our Indian dinner, our tea/ coffee at Hebden Bridge, your take on NVC, your take on life, on taking a break, taking care of your family. I very much enjoyed taking the pauses every now and then for self-connection; I still do it now :-). I also enjoyed your alertness on picking up signals of needs not being met, stopping and asking the person, ‘So would you like to do it differently; are you sure you want to be here, or you’d prefer rest?’ And so on. So dearest Penny, in a nutshell I just LOVED being with you that week and I feel uplifted when I think of it. Deep gratitude from the bottom of my heart for YOU being YOU!” – Manuela, CNVC trainer following a February 2022 visit to the U.K.

“Penny embodies empathy, and generously offers her hand and heart as a skilful compassionate companion to those who are open to exploring their inner space. She has accompanied me through times of confusion, sadness, fear, anxiety, and shame, with gentleness and humour, and each time I have emerged with greater self-acceptance, clarity, and understanding. I would love everyone to have the gift of Penny’s empathic companionship and wise counsel.” – Sura Hart, CNVC trainer, author, and co-creator of the No-Fault Zone Game 

“I have known Penny as an NVC trainer colleague for about ten years and we’ve become ‘empathy buddies’ as well as friends. Penny has always met me with warmth, tremendous care, and tenderness. She is absolutely down-to-earth and great fun in the way she lives NVC. Having experienced physical pain, long stretches in hospital, and reduced mobility, she’s practised NVC in the most trying of circumstances, and is a huge inspiration to me. 

As colleagues, we often plan NVC practice sessions together, and there is something so wisely discerning in her contributions that settles my doubts and makes the process a joyfully creative one. She not only embodies NVC — she’s a really safe and skilful trainer, with many years of experience in education. For example, she always provides engaging examples and simplifies ideas so they are easy to absorb. When we plan together, I know we’ll cook up something good. Mastery is the word that comes to mind when I think of Penny; if you get the chance to work with her, I’d take it!” – Cath Burke, CNVC trainer