Practical tools when support is missing.
When life expects you to have help and you don’t.
Practical books, guides and resources for people navigating life without enough support.
No Village is a practical support project for people navigating life without enough safe, reliable or accessible support.It begins with When You Don’t Have a Village, a practical guide to surviving, organising and keeping going when life expects you to have support and you don’t.
Kindle, paperback & hardback available
Who this is for
No Village is for people who are navigating life without enough support, including parents, carers, disabled and chronically ill people, people facing financial pressure, and anyone managing housing, healthcare or other complex systems largely on their own.It is not about becoming endlessly independent. It is about building practical scaffolding when the village is missing.
Why "No Village"?
Many people are told that "it takes a village" or encouraged to "ask your village" when life becomes difficult.But not everyone has one.For some people, support is limited, unreliable, unsafe or simply unavailable. Illness, disability, financial pressure, parenting, housing, work and everyday life do not pause while people wait for the support they need.No Village exists to acknowledge that reality. Through practical books, plain-English guides and downloadable resources, it helps reduce the mental load and make life a little easier while support is missing. Because people deserve practical help, not assumptions that everyone has a village.Not ready for the book? Start somewhere practical. The free No Village Support Map helps you see what support you actually have, where the gaps are, and where practical scaffolding could help.Delivered by email. You’ll also receive The No Village Note, a monthly email with practical tools, useful system updates and carefully selected resources. Unsubscribe at any time.
Books from No Village explore what happens when life expects support to exist and provide practical ways to reduce the mental load when it doesn't.
The Foundation book
When You Don’t Have a Village is for people who are tired of being told to “just ask for help” when the help is not simple, safe or there.Inside, you’ll find practical tools for naming the support gap, organising daily life, asking for specific help, using formal and community support without shame, keeping records, navigating systems and building routines that reduce decision fatigue.It is not a lecture about positive thinking. It is not a parenting manual, although parents will find much here. It is a guide to building scaffolding when the village is missing.Kindle, Paperback & Hardcover copies now available on Amazon.This is the first in a growing collection of No Village books, practical guides and downloadable resources designed to make life easier when support is missing.Check out further books in our shop!
Want to keep up with No Village?
The No Village Note
A monthly email with practical tools, useful system updates and carefully selected resources for navigating life without assumed support.
You’ll also hear occasionally when something new is available from No Village.
Useful first. No constant selling. Unsubscribe at any time.
By signing up, you agree to receive The No Village Note and occasional No Village emails about practical resources and updates. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Inside the book
• Name the support gap without blaming yourself
• Build a minimum viable life
• Ask for specific, bounded help
• Identify safe people and refuse wrong help
• Navigate services, records and escalation
• Build routines that reduce avoidable collapse
What readers are saying
“It’s already been really helpful… especially recognising some of us feel compelled to ‘be the village’ but should avoid doing so unboundaried… and the scripts. Appreciate the guidance it’s giving, it’s making a lot of sense.”
Victoria
Reader of When You Don’t Have a Village
“The book helped me work out what is important to me, what to keep, what to leave behind without regret and take the lead with my own decisions confidently.”
Racheal
Reader of When You Don’t Have a Village
Practical resources when support is missing
When You Don’t Have a Village explains why life can feel so overwhelming when support is missing.No Village resources help you move from recognition to practical action through books, workbooks, guides and everyday tools designed to reduce the mental load.Choose the resource that best matches the pressure you are carrying now.This is practical scaffolding: simple structures that reduce the mental load when everything depends on you.
The No Village SEN Support Library
Practical, plain-English guidance for families navigating SEND and the systems around it.The library includes support with assessment waits, school support, EHCPs, choosing a school or placement, attendance difficulties, DLA and financial support, accessing wider help, and practical scaffolding for managing the SEND journey.The library is available now and will continue to grow as new resources are published.
SEND-SPECIFIC SCAFFOLDING
The No Village SEN Parent Scaffolding Kit
An 84-page printable workbook designed to help parents and carers organise concerns, prepare for SENCO meetings and appointments, track referrals, gather evidence and use practical scripts when too much is relying on memory, energy and capacity.
Buying a SEN guidance guide?
Add The No Village SEN Parent Scaffolding Kit for 30% off when you add an eligible SEN guidance book to your cart.Usually £9.99 • Add it for £6.99The guide helps you understand the system.
The Scaffolding Kit helps you organise the evidence, appointments, communication, scripts and next steps around it.The offer appears when you add an eligible SEN guidance guide to your cart.
HEALTH SYSTEMS
Practical support for navigating healthcare
No Village Health Systems resources are for people navigating healthcare when access, waiting, hospital care or the practical work around treatment becomes another problem to manage.The guides are designed to make difficult systems easier to understand, prepare for and move through, especially when reliable practical or advocacy support is limited.
The No Village Health Systems Bundle
Three practical guides. One healthcare journey.From GP access, through waiting for tests or treatment, to hospital care and discharge.Includes:When Your GP Is the Barrier
Waiting for Tests, Diagnosis or Treatment
Hospital Care When You Have No BackupAll three guides £19.99
Save £3.98 compared with buying separately.
Only need one guide?
GENERAL SCAFFOLDING
The No Village Scaffolding Kit
The general companion workbook to When You Don’t Have a Village, for anyone living without enough reliable support.An 80-page printable workbook with practical prompts, planning pages, scripts, checklists and everyday tools for people living without enough reliable support.It helps you move important information out of your head and build simple systems around emergencies, household pressure, money, health, appointments and difficult conversations.The book names the reality.The Scaffolding Kit helps you build structure around it.
What scaffolding can look like in practice
“I’ve started handing it back to them, asking things like: what number is the threshold, what am I watching for, and who do I contact?”
Victoria
No Village reader
Clearer questions can reduce the amount of interpretation a patient or carer is left to carry alone.
Start with the free Support Map
Not sure which resource you need first?Start with the free Support Map.The No Village Support Map is a simple one-page tool to help you identify:- what support you already have
- what support is missing
- who is safe for what
- what practical scaffolding might help nextFrom there, you can build your toolkit with the No Village workbooks, guides and resources that fit your needs.Start with the free Support Map.Join No Village emails and I’ll send the Support Map straight to your inbox. You’ll also receive The No Village Note, a monthly email with practical tools, useful system updates and carefully selected resources, plus occasional No Village news. You can unsubscribe at any time.
FOR ORGANISATIONS
Practical resources for the people your service supports
No Village creates practical, plain-English resources for people navigating life and complex systems without enough reliable support.
Organisations can enquire about using selected No Village resources with staff, families, customers, patients or service users.
Resources designed to be used
No Village resources do more than explain difficult systems. They provide practical scaffolding such as guides, scripts, prompts, checklists and planning tools that can help people work out what to do next.Organisational licensing allows services to use selected No Village resources appropriately with the people they support, without relying on personal-use permissions.
Ways to use No Village in your organisation
BULK BOOKS & LEARNING
When You Don’t Have a Village
For staff learning, professional development, team discussion, events or bulk distribution.
ORGANISATIONAL LICENSING
No Village SEN Support Library
Licence individual resources or the current published collection for agreed staff use, family distribution or service delivery.
BESPOKE ORGANISATIONAL USE
Something different in mind?
We can also discuss adaptations, commissioned resources, training and other bespoke organisational support.
Who organisational licensing is for
No Village resources may be useful for organisations supporting people navigating life without reliable practical support, including:
Housing providers, charities, local authorities, schools and SEND services, family-support teams, advice and welfare services, health and social-care services, social prescribers, community organisations, employers and other customer-facing services
How organisational licensing works
Individual purchases are intended for personal use.
If you would like to use a No Village resource with clients, families, customers, patients, staff or a wider team, tell us what you would like to use and how.
We will look at the resource, intended use and approximate reach and suggest an appropriate arrangement.
You do not need to know which type of licence you need before contacting us.
Ready to talk about organisational use?
Tell us a little about your organisation, what you are interested in and how you would like to use No Village resources.
You do not need to know which type of licence you need before contacting us.
About No Village
Our Mission
No Village exists to challenge the assumption that everyone has a village.Much of modern life is designed around the belief that everyone has someone to call, someone to help, someone to step in and someone to carry part of the load.Millions of people do not.Yet services, workplaces and systems often continue to behave as though that support exists. When it does not, people can be judged as disorganised, difficult, non-compliant or failing, when the reality is that they are carrying a life designed for more than one person.No Village exists to change that.We create practical scaffolding for people living without enough safe, reliable or accessible support, and we encourage organisations to build better systems that do not rely on an invisible village being there.
What we do
Challenge assumptionsWe raise awareness of the hidden load carried by unsupported households and ask a better question:What assumptions are we making about the support this person has?Build practical scaffoldingWe create books, workbooks, scripts, templates and tools that help people organise information, navigate systems and reduce the amount of life that depends entirely on memory, energy and luck.Support better systemsWe work towards services, workplaces and organisations that recognise the difference between someone’s ability and the support actually available to them.
Our belief
Support should not depend on whether someone has family nearby, a partner, healthy parents, reliable friends or people they can call in a crisis.Until systems fully recognise that reality, No Village will keep naming the gap, reducing the mental load and building practical scaffolding.We challenge the assumption.
We build the scaffolding.
We help create better systems.
About Abigail
No Village was founded by Abigail Daniels, author of When You Don’t Have a Village.For more than twenty years, Abigail has worked alongside people navigating poverty, housing insecurity, disability, long-term illness, financial hardship, homelessness and complex public services.Throughout her career, one pattern kept appearing: people were often expected to cope with lives designed around support they simply did not have.No Village brings together Abigail’s professional experience, lived experience and practical approach to reducing the mental load when safe, reliable or accessible support is missing.
Our Approach
We challenge the assumption that everyone has a village.
Much of modern life is designed around the belief that everyone has someone to help, step in, explain, collect, drive, advocate or carry part of the load.Millions of people do not.No Village exists to challenge that assumption, create practical scaffolding for people living without enough safe, reliable or accessible support, and encourage better systems that recognise the reality of unsupported life.
We challenge assumptions. We build practical scaffolding. We help create better systems.
1. Challenge
We raise awareness of the hidden load carried by people without reliable support.We question the assumptions built into services, workplaces and everyday systems.We ask:What support is this person being assumed to have?
2. Scaffolding
We create books, workbooks, scripts, trackers, guides and practical tools that reduce the number of things relying entirely on someone’s memory, energy and capacity.These tools do not replace people.They help hold things up where there are not enough hands available.
3. Better systems
We encourage organisations to design services around real life rather than an ideal person with time, money, transport, confidence, internet access, family support and spare capacity.We believe good systems recognise the difference between someone’s ability and the support actually available to them.
We don't tell people to "just ask for help."
Many people can't.
Some don't have safe family.
Some have lost their support network.
Some have caring responsibilities themselves.
Some have disabilities or chronic illness.
Some have experienced trauma or controlling relationships.
Others simply live in systems where practical support is difficult to access.
The advice people are often given assumes support already exists.
Our work starts where that assumption ends.
We believe in practical scaffolding.
A village cannot always be built.
But life can often be made a little easier through structure.
Sometimes that means checklists, scripts, planners, trackers, reminders, evidence logs and decision tools.These aren't replacements for people.They're scaffolding.Temporary structures that help hold things up when there aren't enough hands available.
We believe systems should work for real life.
Many public services, workplaces and organisations are designed around an "ideal" person.
Someone with:
• time
• energy
• confidence
• transport
• internet access
• family support
• spare capacity
Many people don't have those things.
No Village creates resources that recognise real life rather than ideal circumstances.
We believe small changes matter.
Sometimes the next step isn't solving everything.
It's remembering one appointment.
Writing one email.
Preparing one conversation.
Understanding one benefit.
Finding one organisation.
Making one decision.
Small pieces of practical support reduce mental load.
Reduced mental load creates capacity.
Capacity creates options.
We believe lived experience and professional experience belong together.
No Village is built on more than twenty years of professional work across financial inclusion, housing, homelessness, welfare rights, community support and public services.
It is also shaped by lived experience of navigating life without enough reliable support.
Neither perspective is enough on its own.
Together they create resources that are practical, compassionate and grounded in real life.
We are building a practical library.
The book is only the beginning.
Over time, No Village will become a growing collection of books, guides, workbooks, planners and practical tools covering topics including:
• health
• SEN
• benefits
• housing
• parenting
• work
• difficult systems
• everyday life
Everything is designed with one aim:Everything we create has one purpose: to make life more manageable when support is missing.We do that by challenging assumptions, building practical scaffolding and helping create better systems.
Legal Information
Disclaimer
No Village provides general information, practical tools, educational content and reflective resources. It is not legal, financial, medical, safeguarding, therapeutic or crisis advice.
Copyright & Licensing
Unless otherwise stated, all content on this website, including text, graphics, branding, downloadable resources, worksheets, workbooks, guides and other materials, is the copyright of Abigail Daniels trading as No Village.All rights reserved.No content may be reproduced, redistributed, shared, republished or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission, except where expressly permitted under the applicable licence.Digital resources purchased from No Village are licensed, not sold. Unless otherwise stated at the point of purchase, they are provided for personal use only. Personal use includes downloading, printing and completing the resource for your own individual use.You may not:• Share digital files with others.• Upload resources to websites, cloud storage or shared drives.• Sell, reproduce or redistribute any No Village resource.• Remove copyright notices or branding.
Professional & Organisation Use
If you are using No Village resources as part of your professional role, additional licences are available.These include licences for:• Individual practitioners• Charities• Housing providers• NHS services• Local authorities• Educational settings• Community organisations• Employers and wellbeing teamsAvailable licences• Personal Licence - For individual purchasers.• Professional Licence - For a single practitioner using No Village resources in their professional work.• Organisation Licence - For charities, public services, employers and organisations wishing to use No Village resources across multiple staff members or teams.Some licences also permit the printing of resources for service users or clients.
Organisation licences allow resources to be used legally across teams or with service users, depending on the licence purchased.For information about organisation licensing, bulk book orders or bespoke resource packages, please contact:[email protected]Bulk Book Orders
When You Don't Have a Village is available through Amazon.If your organisation would like to purchase multiple copies for staff, volunteers, clients or events, we are happy to discuss bulk orders alongside accompanying resources or support materials.Permissions
If you are unsure whether your intended use is covered by your licence, please contact us before copying or distributing any material.We are happy to discuss permissions for:• Conferences• Training• Staff development• Workshops• Client resources• Academic use• Community projects
Terms of Use
By using this website, you agree to these terms.
The information provided by No Village is intended for general information, education and practical support only. It should not be relied upon as legal, financial, medical, safeguarding, therapeutic or crisis advice.
While every effort is made to keep information accurate and up to date, No Village cannot guarantee that all information will remain current or apply to every individual circumstance.
You are responsible for deciding whether any information or resource is suitable for your own situation.
External websites linked from No Village are provided for convenience only. No Village is not responsible for the content or privacy practices of third-party websites.
No Village reserves the right to update these terms and website content without notice.
Accessibility
No Village exists because support is not equally accessible for everyone.Accessibility is central to No Village. We know that practical support is only useful if people can actually access it.Where practical, our resources are designed using:
• clear language
• accessible layouts
• readable typography
• printable formats
• high colour contrast where appropriateAccessibility is an ongoing process rather than a finished project.If you experience any accessibility barriers or require information in another format, please contact us and we will do our best to help.
Cookie Policy
No Village uses cookies to help improve the website and understand how visitors use it.
These may include:
• essential cookies required for the website to function
• analytics cookies that help us understand website usage through Google Analytics
Analytics information is collected in an aggregated and anonymised form wherever possible and is used solely to improve the website and its resources.
You can manage or disable cookies through your browser settings at any time.
If additional analytics or advertising technologies are introduced in the future, this policy will be updated accordingly.
We believe practical support should be easier to find, easier to understand and easier to use. These policies exist to protect both the people who use No Village and the integrity of the resources we create.
Privacy Notice
Last updated: 12 July 2026
Who we are
No Village is operated by Abigail Daniels. No Village creates books, printable tools and practical resources for people navigating life without enough safe, reliable or accessible support.For data-protection enquiries, contact:Email: [email protected]
Website: www.novillage.co.uk
Information we collect
We may collect personal information that you choose to provide, including:• your name and email address when you join the No Village mailing list;
• information you provide when you contact No Village;
• order and transaction information relating to purchases made through Payhip;
• basic website usage information where analytics are enabled.
How we use your information
We may use your information to:• send emails you have requested or consented to receive;
• provide updates about books, resources and No Village;
• respond to enquiries;
• fulfil or support purchases;
• maintain appropriate business and financial records;
• understand how the website and resources are being used.
Mailing list
The No Village mailing list is managed using MailerLite.When you subscribe, your name and email address may be processed by MailerLite on behalf of No Village. You can unsubscribe at any time using the unsubscribe link included in emails.
Purchases
Digital products are sold through Payhip.Payhip and the relevant payment provider, such as Stripe or PayPal, process payment and transaction information. No Village does not directly receive or store your full payment-card details.
Cookies and analytics
This website may use essential cookies required for the site to function. Where analytics or other non-essential tracking tools are used, information may be collected about how visitors use the website.
Sharing your information
Your personal information is not sold.It may be shared only where reasonably necessary with service providers used to operate No Village, such as Carrd, MailerLite, Payhip, Stripe or PayPal, or where disclosure is required by law.
How long information is kept
Personal information is kept only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including any legal, tax, accounting and business-record requirements.
Your rights
Under UK data-protection law, you may have rights relating to your personal information, including the right to:• ask for access to your information;
• ask for inaccurate information to be corrected;
• ask for information to be deleted in some circumstances;
• object to or restrict some uses of your information;
• withdraw consent where processing relies on consent.To exercise any of these rights, contact No Village using the email address above.
Complaints
You may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you are concerned about how your personal information has been handled.
Changes to this notice
This Privacy Notice may be updated from time to time. The latest version will be published on this website.