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Running on Joy
FareWays Chapter 2: Dr. Guy Hayward
Joy is...Your Heart Bursting.
This is the second episode of a series following the FareWays project, a collaboration between the Big Hoof, Running on Joy and The British Pilgrimage Trust, which aims to connect people to the outdoors through long distance journeys on foot and horse along the old pilgrims' routes of the UK, for the benefits of their mental and physical health. This July, our core team are setting out on our first 200-mile adventure along St Columba’s Way in Scotland, raising money for the incredible work of the Venture Trust and specifically their new Outdoor Therapy Programme for 16- to 25-year-old sand ex service personnel. We are inviting others to join us on our journey for however long and in whatever way they can in the hope of breaking down assumptions of what a runner, rider or hiker should look like and to open conversations around the benefits of our relationship to Nature and mindful slow travel. Details of how to financially support the project or join the journey and contribute to fundraising efforts can be found below. Every little that you can give really does count towards changing the lives of vulnerable young people, some of whom will also be joining us for two days on this first journey, thanks to your support.
Running on Joy will be following the adventure and there will be some incredible conversations and in-the-field storytelling emerging over the coming months, as well as interviews with patrons and collaborators connected to the project, each of whom have amazing stories and adventures of their own.
Dr. Guy Hayward is our first patron interview. He started off as a chorister at Cambridge University, where he took a PhD in music. However, eschewing an academic career, he decided to tread a more intersectional pathway, exploring the rich melting pot of spirituality, psychology, the arts, nature and religion. From this melting pot has emerged The British Pilgrimage Trust, of which Guy is the founder, a charity that works to open ancient pilgrimage routes around the UK and initiate conversations around how we engage with our Christian heritage, even if we are not traditional Christians. The BPT is about helping people to re-connect to and re-enchant the land in an accessible and multi-faceted manner. Guy has also worked on the revival of evensong in the UK, launching a website where people can find local evensong services near them, and go along and listen to the beautiful music, free of charge.
Guy is someone who makes your mind crackle and we dug around in the weeds philosophically for this one, but this is ultimately a conversation about bringing light to people's eyes, about what heart-led intentional living truly means and about how we might learn to unthink, rewild, spend time, take breaths and fall into rhythm with each other and the magic of the landscape around us.
With thanks to sponsors and partners of the FareWays project: The Jeremy Willson Charitable Trust, Gravis Advisory, Fera GB, Firepot Food, and The British Pilgrimage Trust.
Donate to FareWays here.
Join the journey and fundraise here.
Find out more about Guy here and the British Pilgrimage Trust here.
Also mentioned: Bounder and Cad and Choral Evensong
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