Little Forest

🌼 Spring turning into summer at The Hornbeam Circle ☀️

We are an intentional community for young people. Our co-created culture plays with and practices the values of kindness to all things, freedom in relationship, consent, and empathy.

You will most likely find us...

🌿Foraging
🫕Wild cooking on the fire (cheese toasties are a favourite for many)
💞Spinning and swinging in the sensory swings
🥰Chilling with friends in the hammocks
🍃Endless emergent woodland play
🔥Sharing stories, poetry, singing, and conversations around the fire
🔪Whittling spatulas, spoons, wooden phones, Bowtruckles, and new inventions for our woodland shops
🎨paddling in the stream looking for earth pigments, making plant dyes and inks for natural arts
🧵Processing fleece, spinning yarn, needle felting, knitting, and crafting of all kinds
🐦Listening to the birds
💚Falling in love with nature
📝Reading and writing poetry
🦋Observing, naming, and recording woodland species
🪱Conducting soil science experiments
🌱Coppicing
🌳Tree planting
🧩Offering child led sessions, anything from Ancient Greek misunderstood monsters to making Brian the Snail (our very own mascot)
🤑Deconstructing capitalism and all the 'powerarchies' with absurd parody
☀️Participating in (and chairing) morning and afternoon community meetings
🌈Creating regenerative culture mutually held with agreements

Tuesdays, 10 - 3, for 36 weeks of the year

Suitable for ages 7 - 16 (with flexibility depending on individual needs)

Neuro affirming and gender affirming (beyond the binary) culture

Diverse representation is important to us. Please reach out if you are facing financial or other barriers to access. We may be able to help.

The commitment is £150 per month (£50 per session)

A three week trial period is £150 with no commitment and a refund for any sessions you don't use.

The Hornbeam Circle is part of Little Forest, made in collaboration with Red Fox Forest School and Clive Cobie Plants Trees.

✅️Insured, DBS, Forest School Leader, paediatric first aid, food hygiene

Email [email protected] to book

🌱 Home educating families, this Imbolc, we invite you to emerge from hibernation and really explore the land, deepen your connection with friends and be a part of this collective act of humanity and compassion to counteract the fear and hatred we so often see in the news.

You are invited to join us tomorrow, Saturday 31st January, for the launch of our Journeying project - created as an act of solidarity with all displaced people past and present.

Please follow the link below for more information and to book your place. Tickets are free although there is an option to make a small donation if you are able.
https://buytickets.at/littleforest/2045649

100% of all money raised (minus transaction fees) will be given as a gift of solidarity to:

🧡 Horsham Refugee Support Group, a voluntary organisation that has been welcoming refugees and asylum seekers to the local area for the past 10 years.

🌊 Trace of the Tide, a storytelling and art project made by Palestinian writers, artists and families. It is necessary because stories help people stay human, remember who they are and feel less alone.

⛺️ The Sameer Project, a Palestinian led mutual aid initiative providing direct humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza in a way which is enabling and responsive to need.

We have an amazing collective of beautiful humans who have already booked their place. They will be travelling from near and far to be there. We hope you can be there too.

To book: https://buytickets.at/littleforest/2045649

In solidarity,

Jen and the Little Forest Team

(Photos of our work on the project to date)

If you are coming to our Journeying Launch Event this weekend, please book here so we know how many people to expect: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/littleforest/2045649

All the information and programme are also here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/littleforest/2045649

Tickets to the Launch are free. If you are able, please consider making a donation. The project is entirely voluntary, all facilitators are gifting their time and resources and Horsham Quakers are gifting the use of their building. This means that 100% of the money raised (except transaction fees) will be gifted to support local refugees and asylum seekers as well as displaced children and families in Gaza.

Although we have a whole day of offers, you are welcome, but not expected to stay for the whole day. The first talk, from 10:00 - 10:30, will be some of the children at Little Forest explaining why we are journeying and how you can get involved. If you can only stay for part of the day, this would be a great session to attend. After that, please stay as long as you are able, come and go if you need to, and feel free to meet the needs of you and your family. We just ask you to please be considerate of session holders and participants and minimise disruption during sessions. In particular, the sound journey session will have an opening and a closing and we want to protect the sound journey experience. If you want to come to the morning sessions but not the walk, that is also fine.

Hope to see you there.

"All of us—across our ages, bodies, senses, and ways of knowing—are Trace of The Tide: a living fabric formed by diversity, blossoming through difference, and thriving when we are together—with all our fragility and strength, with all we generate through proximity, and all the wellness we hold when we gather." Trace of the Tide, Saleh Abu Shamala

Home educating families and free learning communities, you are invited to join us, between now and June, and journey in solidarity with all displaced people past and present. 100% of the money raised will be shared between Horsham Refugee Support Group, Trace of the Tide, a storytelling and art project made by Palestinian writers, artists and families and Diana Al Hosary, an artist and art educator who works therapeutically with traumatised children in Gaza.

Join us for the launch event, this Saturday 31st January, 10 - 3 (doors open from 09:30), at Horsham Friends Meeting House, Worthing Road, Horsham, RH12 1SL.

The programme looks amazing and we are so grateful for all the incredible offers. They include:

🫴 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

🫴 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 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.

This is going to be a very special day and we'd love you and your family to come and be a part of it. Please also share with home ed friends who you would like to share the day with.

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, just and peaceful world.

Check out the screenshots of the programme and visit our project page on Open Collective to find out more, including session descriptions and facilitator bios.

Please bear with us while we wait for our application for a fiscal host to be approved. As soon as it is, you will be able to book tickets for the launch day. We'll share the link again to let you all know when booking is open. Until then,please save the date and have a browse of the programme. Which sessions would you like to attend?

https://opencollective.com/journeying-collective

It would be super helpful if you could please react to this post if you are planning to come 👍🧡

And tag / share with others who might like to do the same.

Thank you 🙌🏼

☀️ Save the Date

🏘 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 as well as other self directed learning communities to join us and journey in solidarity with displaced people past and present.

🧡 *Solidarity comes from the root word ‘sol' meaning whole. Solidarity means together in unity. The orange heart is a refugee solidarity symbol. The colours are a reference to the Refugee flag designed by artist Yara Said, displaced in Syria, who herself was inspired by the life jackets she saw on her journey from Syria.

💸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 a therapeutic play project specifically for 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 support story telling through the Trace of the Tide community.

We are developing our links with Palestinians who are working directly with displaced children and families in Gaza. Montaser is a friend of Saleh's. Montaser works with small circles of children and young people in Gaza, he offers therapeutic play, group conversation and practical thinking. We have decided to give 1/3 of the money raised to Montaser's project working directly with displaced children in Gaza.

⏳️ 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 about why we decided to journey and how to take part in the project

🫴 An interactive workshop about Trace of the Tide with Saleh Abu Shamala

🫴 Jo's story and Q&A with Joanna Eames, Chair of Horsham Refugee Support Group

🫴 A sound bath with Ratna Shah from the Freedom to Learn Network

🫴 Printing arts and crafts with MaryAnne Nguyen, artist and local home ed parent

🫴 Co-creation of solidarity 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.

🫴 Our first journey together will be an accessible local walk after lunch. We will return to the Friends Meeting House 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
✔️Keep an eye out for the booking link which will follow in the next few days.

In love, peace and solidarity,

Jen and the Little Forest team