A mum has turned to naturism to boost her self-esteem after separating from her husband of 40 years. Gill Allbutt has felt self-conscious about her body since puberty but decided that enough is enough.
In the past few months, she has visited nudist campsites, tried naked swimming and life drawing and has even played the ukulele to an audience while in the buff. All in an effort to overcome her body issues.
The mum made the difficult decision to split from her partner in May this year, as she felt the relationship had “run its course”. “We’d been together all of my life but we just ran out of road,” said Gill, from Birmingham.
“My ex is a good and lovely man who is very supportive of me so this wasn’t about anything he did. My journey did begin before I separated from my husband but it branched outwards afterwards.
“I wanted to live my best life and be independent in my own body. This is the bravest decision I’ve ever made but when you split from someone you spent 40 years with, there is a hole in your life. Your safety net is gone. I didn’t have my own identity.
“To me, getting naked in front of people epitomises total freedom in your body. It feels amazing but it’s the weirdest thing in the world for someone who has always been insecure about their body. I have gone to a naturist campsite, swum in the nude and played ukulele to an audience naked.
“I hug people in the nude. I’m a free spirit and a woman who doesn’t want to feel ashamed about her body. How I feel about my body is still a work in progress but this is helping massively.”
Gill married and had her first child, Julia, 40, when she was just 20 years old. She had her second and final child, Tom, 37, three years later. The retired learning and development coordinator struggled with her post-pregnancy body.
She said: “I have a big bust which brings attention to me and I have bits on my belly from having children. I’ve got a scar from having a tumour removed and I’m overweight. My body isn’t what a European society deems beautiful.
“Body image affects everything – being ashamed of your body can kill you. It can stop you from going to medical appointments and getting mammograms. I didn’t want my own feelings about my body to hold me back.”
Aside from exploring nudity, Gill is also travelling the world. She is on a quest to learn about spirituality and is currently at an Ashram in Bali. The mum-of-two is also trying to raise £1,000 on GoFundMe to fund writing a book aimed at inspiring other women to feel confident in the buff.
She said: “It’s so not like me to do anything like this. I want to raise money for me to have experiences and then write a book about them. I want to inspire other women. My friends said I’ve helped them with their own body image and I met a woman at a waterfall in Portugal who had a mastectomy and had never taken her top off.
“She saw me naked and got naked as well. It was beautiful. I’m trying to learn about spirituality. I’m in Bali at an Ashram where I have to dress modestly and wear a sarong. I’m exploring how spirituality helps women to feel happy in their own skin.”
Gill and her husband have remained friends and their children are supportive. She added: “We’ve stayed friends – we’ve even been on holiday together with the kids since we split up. My children are so supportive. When I set up the fundraiser, my husband said ‘You go girl, keep being you’ and I thought it was lovely.
“They’re proud of me – but they were proud of me before. I am loving my new life.”