A living tribute to the people who have helped RiEN take root, grow and connect the reflexology community across Europe.
RiEN has grown through the dedication, knowledge and generosity of its people. Behind our organisation are the individuals who brought us together, shared their experience and gave their time to help the reflexology community connect across Europe.
During the AGM in 2026, it was decided to create the RiEN Grove – Our Roots: a symbolic grove to honour people whose contributions have helped shape RiEN and to keep their stories part of our shared future.
Each tribute brings together a personal photograph and a meaningful image from nature — a tree, or another symbol of our shared roots. Together, these images remind us of the roots we share, the connections we nurture and the growth that becomes possible when people care for a community.
Our grove begins with Anneke van ’t Wout, one of RiEN’s founders, whom we warmly thanked at the AGM for her many years of commitment. Mo Usher now joins her here, honouring the early connections they helped create together. Over time, more people and their stories will become part of our grove.
By celebrating those who helped us grow, we connect our beginnings with the people carrying RiEN forward today. This is a place for gratitude, for preserving our heritage and for remembering that every new chapter grows from the roots laid before it.
One of RiEN’s founders. A lasting part of our roots.
Anneke helped lay the foundations of RiEN and has given many years of dedication to our organisation and the reflexology community. At the AGM, we warmly thanked her for that enduring contribution.
Her portrait and her meaningful tree are the first addition to our grove: a personal connection between RiEN’s beginnings and the community we continue to grow together.
Thank you, Anneke, for your commitment, your generosity and the roots you have helped us build.
At the AGM, RiEN took a special moment to thank Anneke for her many years of commitment to our organisation and the reflexology community. Ingrid highlighted her role in RiEN’s history and the dedication she has brought to its development.
As one of our founders, Anneke helped lay the foundations on which RiEN continues to build. Her contribution connects our beginnings with the community we are today.
In our symbolic grove, each honoured member is represented by a portrait and a tree with personal meaning. Anneke’s tree accompanies this first tribute, connecting her contribution with our shared story of growth and continuity.
A pioneer of European connection. Part of RiEN’s earliest roots.
Mo Usher helped bring reflexologists together across borders. In Anneke’s recollections, their meeting in Amsterdam and the journeys that followed were among the first seeds of the network that became RiEN.
The photograph of Mo and Anneke, their suitcases ready for a conference, captures the friendship and shared purpose behind that journey. Beside it, a leaf resting on the Hippocratic oath symbolically represents Mo’s place in our grove.
Thank you, Mo, for helping those first connections take root and grow.
Early connections, remembered by Anneke
Anneke van ’t Wout recalls that her meeting with Mo Usher in Amsterdam helped lay the foundations for what would become RiEN. Their story reminds us that an organisation can begin with something very personal: a conversation, a shared idea and the willingness to take the next step together.
Anneke remembers travelling with Mo to the United States and serving together on the board of the International Council of Reflexologists alongside Bill Flocco and Christine Issel. She also recalls a later conference in Australia, where plans for European cooperation developed with Cecily Mills and helped prepare the way for a gathering in Brussels.
RiEN’s published history names Mo, Anneke and Cecily among the reflexologists who came together in Brussels to exchange ideas. In 1994, the first European Conference on Reflexology took place in Newcastle, UK, an important milestone in the development of RiEN.
A friendship behind the journeys
Anneke chose the photograph of the two of them with their luggage, ready to leave for a conference. It brings warmth to this history: beyond the meetings and organisational work were people travelling together, building friendships and making connections that reached far beyond their own countries.
A leaf in our grove
The accompanying photograph shows a leaf resting on the Hippocratic oath. Selected for this tribute, it serves as a symbol of shared roots, care and commitment. Together, these images honour Mo’s contribution to the beginnings of European reflexology cooperation.
Personal recollections shared by Anneke van ’t Wout, alongside RiEN’s published history.
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