I'm walking from London all the way to the UN Climate Conference COP26 in Glasgow and I need your help to stay dry & fed!
The Pilgrimage Project
I am thrilled to be part of a Pilgrimage Project called Listening to the Land, organised by Jolie Booth of Kriya Arts and Anna Lehmann of No Planet B Initiative, which I applied for via Arts Council England website having seen an open call. It was one of those moments where there’s no question, this thing had to happen.
Together with 30 members of general public, as 'pilgrims' we plan to walk 500-miles from London to Glasgow along the ancient ‘Spine of Albion’ pilgrimage route this Autumn, finishing at the UN Climate Conference COP 26. During this epic endeavour, we will be speaking to and creating meaningful connections with communities along the way, talking about their relationship to the land and gathering their demands for climate justice. We will weave these voices into a performance and a charter of demands for the global ruling elite, which we will deliver as a scheduled part of the COP26 programme, directly to delegates. The performance aims to hit the delegates in their heart strings, using art to make the political personal, and priming them to listen to the charter of demands in a deeper way.
Along the way we will be meeting with 'pollinators' who are experts in the fields of biodiversity, performance, medicinal herbalism, the arts, land workers, and health experts, who will share their expertise, inspire conversations with with the communities we meet and contribute to collective solutions.
Accompanying this is a nationwide and worldwide call to action for people to join us in walking too, either physically or logging their own walks online as part of the project. For further details of the walk and how to get involved please see www.pilgrimagefornature.com / @pilgrimage4nature
Reasons for personal involvement
My background is in dance and community engagement, fields I’ve been working in for well over a decade. In recent years I’ve become increasingly interested in how dancing outdoors and taking inspiration from the natural world can change the ways we see the world and move within it - helping to build a sense of belonging in the places that we live, both the natural life that surrounds us and our own bodies. I have a keen interest in native wildflowers and trees and the social history, folklore, folk dance, and ritual that surround them.
Back in the 00s I was a climate activist with the south east arm of a national network of activists working together to affect change and deliver coordinated direct actions across the country. I stopped doing things that might get me arrested when I started working with vulnerable communities.
This pilgrimage connects with all of the things I feel passionately about and I knew that I wanted to offer my skills to serve its purpose. I love to think of the performance part of the project like we’re weaving a new form of folk story and play, one that’s relevant to us now, and that’s come from the voices and feelings of the land and her people. And I truly believe that the arts can offer a route into feeling the immensity, grief, sorrow and urgency of the climate crisis.
And at the hard end of the stick, the world is literally burning and drowning simultaneously. I deeply feel that we have to take action now or we’re done for. Now is the time to get in front of world leaders, hit them in the heart strings and fire their sense of urgency with committing to dramatic change.
What will your money support?
The basics of our trip is being covered by Arts Council, (including places to sleep / basic home cooked food) I am crowdfunding to raise money to cover the tonne of specialist equipment for the walk (not a metric tonne of course cos I have to carry it along the way!), costs in my absence of living in Brighton (mainly the dog and storage costs for any worldly belongings that dont come on pilgrimage with me) and for unexpected costs on the way (like my old bag falling to bits and needing a new one!).
50% of your dosh will go towards covering the costs of 30 people putting their jobs and daily lives on hold and doing nothing but this for 9 weeks. Making sure our invited guest experts are paid for their expertise and time. Then the provision of camping fields and toilets, and maybe the odd shower, the charging of phones and other equipment, the maintenance of communal spaces and support vehicles, the first-aid and the first thing of all: food! And what about the things that we cannot scavenge or forage for to make costumes and props for the performance and presentation at the conference?
And 50% of your dosh will go towards supporting me, Elise!
I’m trying as much as possible to use gear that I already own, sadly most of it gave up the ghost when I put it into active service! (thats what you get for owning things that are 10-15 years old.) So that means the following is on the needed list: new boots, proper walking socks, waterproof jacket, waterproof trousers, sleeping bag, and sleeping mat, all capable of handling winter in Scotland. Only my 15-year old backpack survived the test of training! (Oh and I have a mini garden trowel for… poops... so that’s a win!) On top of these replacements, I also need to get: a tiny tent to live in, some technical clothing (for sweaty people who need to stay cool in the day and warm at night) and useful things like a compass, phone battery charge pack and blister plasters. And lots of snacks and hearty warm meals whenever possible.
If we get more than the target, then that’s more help for the project and more help keeping me dry and warm and fuelled up to go kick some world leader butt! Sorry, I mean deliver a heartfelt message from the land and her people. Sorry, I mean both.
Thank you for coming with me this far, now let’s go the rest…
This project successfully funded on 17th September 2021