🏘 Because, “It is unfair that some humans have to abandon everything they love and flee their home.” Child at Little Forest

👣 We are inviting home educated children and their families, self directed learning communities and Friends from the local Quaker network, to join us and journey in solidarity with all displaced people past and present.

💸 We will be raising money for Horsham Refugee Support Group, Trace of the Tide Community, a storytelling and art project made by Palestinian writers, artists, and families, and Diana Al Hosary, an artist and educator who works therapeutically with traumatised children in Gaza. 

🌍 We propose a collective challenge to see whether we can journey a total of 7,500km together, which the children worked out is a typical distance that a refugee would need to travel to reach the UK. Our fundraising target is at least £1,500 for which we are hoping to secure match funding.


🗓 SAVE THE DATE

Come and find out more about this collaborative, community project and how to take part at our launch event.

Saturday 31st January, from 10 - 3, at the Friends Meeting House, Worthing Road, Horsham, RH12 1SL.


🏊‍♀️👣🚴‍♂️ ABOUT THE PROJECT

The project has been co-created by some of the children at Little Forest Learning Community. They have been learning about refugees and displaced people and they want to raise money to support them. They have decided to walk, swim and cycle in solidarity with displaced people and collect sponsorship money. We are inviting the whole of the home education and free learning community to take part.


👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 WHO WE ARE GOING TO GIVE THE MONEY TO

We have decided to direct the money towards projects where we have direct and ongoing relationships with the groups that we want to support.

The children met Joanna Eames, Chair of Horsham Refugee Support Group and have decided to give 1/3 of the money raised to Horsham Refugee Support Group. 

We are collaborating with our friend, Saleh Abu Shamala, author of Trace of the Tide and member of the Freedom to Learn network. Saleh is a Palestinian cultivator, curator and writer. Saleh explains, "Trace of the Tide is a storytelling and art project made by Palestinian writers, artists, and families. It helps people share stories about home, memory, and life when your home is taken away or damaged by genocide. Many Palestinian stories are at risk of being forgotten, especially stories told by children, families, and artists living through very hard times. This project makes space for these stories to be written, drawn, recorded, and shared with the world. It is necessary because stories help people stay human, remember who they are, and feel less alone." We have decided to give 1/3 of the money raised to Trace of the Tide. 

The children want to give 1/3 of the money raised to benefit children and families in Gaza. We looked at lots of options and it was difficult to decide because the need is so great and the money transfer and tech barriers are so high. After much deliberation, we finally settled on giving to The Sameer Project for their campaign to empower the people of Gaza to return to their lands and rebuild their homes. *This was the children's first choice and the one that we returned to once we had considered other options too. 

* Some of our project publicity states that we will give the money to therapeutic play and art for children in Gaza. After much searching, we could not find a mutual aid project specifically for therapeutic play and art. Whilst we found some incredible work by individuals, we did not find a way to fund their work directly. Therefore, we decided to return to our first instincts and fund The Sameer Project. We want to empower Palestinians to return to their lands and rebuild their own homes. 

⏳️ TIMELINE

Saturday 31st January 2026 - in person launch event

February 2026 - online launch event (date to be decided) to enable participation for people who prefer online access or who live further afield     

February 2026 - complete sponsorship forms

March to June 2026 - sponsored journeys take place, including walking, swimming, cycling, or any other form of human scale travel which enables connection to place, for example, pushchairs, wheel chairs, mobility scooters, sailing, rowing and running. Large machines are excluded because they separate the traveller from the place.

Saturday 20th June (World Refugee Day) - closing event. A journey story sharing circle for anyone who wants to share their story of journeying and learn from the stories of others. We hope this will be an inclusive event for displaced people and those who have journeyed in solidarity with them.   


🌄 THE LAUNCH EVENT

The launch event is the start of the journey. It is a place for the home education and free learning community to emerge and journey in solidarity with all displaced people past and present. We will share stories that humanise, our longing for peace, and the hope that comes from collective action. 

The launch event will be a self-directed, open space, which is suitable for people of all ages, religions or beliefs. 

So far, we have some incredibly generous offers, from the most amazing partners, including: 

🫴 A presentation from the children at Little Forest about why we decided to journey and how to take part in the project

🫴 A story about what being a refugee means to Saleh Abu Shamala, Son of the Tide and curator of Trace of the Tide

🫴 A gathering of stories, shared by Rowan Salim, about refugee friends she’s met along the way from Yemen to Eritrea, Libya to Syria via the Negev desert and Sri Lanka, and across the Mediterranean Sea.

🫴 Jo's story about partnering with others on their journey, with Joanna Eames, Chair of Horsham Refugee Support Group

🫴 A sound bath, exploring how sounds accompany our journeys, and what hopes, dreams, feelings, or questions they may bring, with Ratna Shah from the Freedom to Learn Network

🫴 The Craft Table: Printing solidarity symbols onto patches and pendants to share and wear as a touchstone to remind you of your intentions while you journey, with MaryAnne Nguyen, Vietnamese American British artist, mother and home educator, based in West Sussex

🫴 The Curiosity Table: Co-create symbols, meanings, and questions to journey with - with Jen Nuin Smith, Founder of Little Forest

🫴 A bring and share lunch; bring what you need to eat with a little extra to share. Please feel free but not obliged to contribute to a shared banquet any finger food that means something to you.

🫴 Our first journey together will be a River Walk to Chesworth Farm. This ~3 km walk will be along pavements, bridleways and gravel footpaths.  We will return to the Friends Meeting House to collect belongings for a 3pm close.


🎨 CULTURAL INTENT

We strive to create a space together, with collective responsibility, that is suitable for people of all ages, neurotypes, genders, people of any race, religion or belief to step into with openness and curiosity to learn from each other about how to create a more loving and peaceful world.

Our basic cultural agreements for the project (and all our work at Little Forest) are:

👍 Kindness to all things, including self care, mutual care and Earth care)

👍 Freedom to be our authentic selves in consent based relationships

👍 Navigating conflict with empathy for needs and feelings.


🧡 THE INVITATION

Join us at the launch event on Saturday 31st January At the Friends Meeting House Horsham to find out more about the project and how to get involved.

️✔️ Save the date
✔️ Book your ticket above

In love, peace and solidarity,

Jen and the Little Forest team
https://www.littleforest.education/


With gratitude to the Quakers from the Horsham Friends Meeting House who are supporting this project with the use of their building.