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This project successfully funded on 6th April 2025, you can still support them with a donation.
From Source to Sea: River Medway Pilgrimage
Forest Row, East Sussex, United Kingdom
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Aim
To restore the River Medway back to good health; to connect as a community; and to activate a new network of River Guardians.
From Source to Sea - A Journey Along the River Medway
This summer, we are planning a 9-day journey along the River Medway - from source to sea - where we will have a unique opportunity to deepen our friendship with the River by learning to listen, honour, and care for her in a new way. The journey will start on 19th July at Turners Hill and end on 27th July at the Isle of Grain.
Uniting our three streams of active work, the Practical, Legal, and Sacred, we seek to co-create a special experience that will help bring forward meaningful and long-lasting change; not only for the River Medway, but for us all as River Guardians and as a community.
Pilgrimage Activities
The main activity will be to walk, together, beside and with (as much as possible) the River and her surrounding tributaries. We will also be running a diverse programme that weaves our Practical, Legal, and Sacred action together.
This includes: citizen science to monitor the River’s quality; litter picks and invasive species removal; environmental workshops to inspire river-friendly practices; advocating for the Rights of Rivers; art and creativity workshops; history and folklore; nature connection exercises; honouring the River by offering water ceremonies; and connecting with her in unique ways through guided meditations.
Donations
While the pilgrimage will be largely powered by volunteers, there are a few essential roles and items that require funding. These include
- Pilgrimage coordinator: To plan and produce the pilgrimage.
- Marketing and communications coordinator: To create a vibrant social media presence and encourage people to join.
- Outreach materials.
- Photographer and videographer: To help promote the event and to capture the pilgrimage, we would like to hire a photographer and videographer.
- Workshop facilitators: To ensure that we have a diverse programme, we would like to offer a (humble) wage to any workshop facilitators that are unable to volunteer their time.
- Transportation vehicle: To carry the pilgrims’ items and as an emergency for pick-ups.
- Food and beverages: We will be asking pilgrims to organise their own meals but we would like to create community dinners every evening in partnership with local groups.
- Supplies and equipment: First-aid kits; art materials; river testing kits.
- Insurance and first aiders: To make sure that this is a safe event, we will need to ensure that we have trained first aiders and insurance
Our estimated costs come to a total of under £11,500.
If you would like to see a breakdown of our estimated costs, you can do so here. If we manage to fundraise more than our estimated total, we will hold a community meeting to discuss how best to allocate the resources to further build and deepen our reach before, during, and after the pilgrimage.
We are deeply grateful for your support. Thank you for being a contributory and for paving the way to healing the River, and our relationship to her.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made