Hosted by Gather and Porty Pride
A queer space to connect with each other and the ecosystems around us, as part of Porty Pride. We’ll be thinking about the headiness of midsummer - and creating restful space within the lush green.
We'll play nature-based games and do some crafts, tune into the world around us, do some meditative activities, have some ritual moments, and drink tea.
Expect silliness, grounding, community, and cosiness…and you can join in with as much or as little as you feel. Hopefully you’ll leave with some extra joy, feeling a bit more grounded, and with a sense of connection to other queers and our non-human kin.
This is the first Edinburgh Queers in the Woods event (we hold them in Brighton and London quarterly). We would love to hold them here regularly (now one of us lives here) and we hope to create a community around them (some of our southern queers in the woods have become pals and even housemates).
Check out the other Porty Pride events too!
Getting there
We will meet at Donkeyfield Community Orchard (close to to Brunstane train station, with various bus stops nearby), and go along Brunstane Burn, stopping along the way, to finish at Brunstane Mill Park (about a mile). If this isn't accessible for anyone who would like to come, please let us know and we'll come up with a more static plan.
Tickets
We want to offer this session on a sliding scale basis, so that as many people as possible can join in. We need to pay for materials, travel, ongoing costs like insurance, and to pay ourselves a modest wage. We want to be transparent and honest about navigating capitalism as an anti-capitalist business made up of people who need to pay their bills.
With that in mind, we have some different ticket prices - please be honest with your situation. We will not turn anyone away for lack of funds - please get in touch with us. If you can afford to pay more, please do so, so that we can welcome those who could not otherwise afford to come. A significant amount of our Queers in the Woods need a cost-price ticket, and it's deeply appreciated if you're able to chip in.
£2 per person just covers costs and wouldn't include a fee for us - there is a very limited number of these - please buy one of the other tickets if you have the means
£ 8 per person would pay us a low fee - please only buy this if you're on a low income
£ 16 per person would pay us a standard fee
£ 24 is a solidarity ticket - this helps pay for someone else to come who otherwise wouldn't be able to
We also have reserved tickets at £6 for People of Colour, working class, and disabled queers - acknowledging the extra barriers you face, and intending to extend a particular welcome to you.
The listed ticket prices are a little bit more because they also include the Outsavvy booking fee.
What to bring
Please bring waterproofs, sun cream, blankets to sit on / snuggle up in, warm clothes, sturdy shoes. Bring snacks to sustain yourself over a three hour workshop! We'll be outside for the whole session, so make sure you bring what you need to be comfy.
Bring a story, poem, or song to share if you would like to.
Access information
The session is mostly aimed at adults, but you’re welcome to bring little ones if they are babes in arms or able to participate in the activities – let us know so we can make sure we can include them.
Please bring your own snacks and plenty of water.
There are no toilets availble on the route - wild wees will be possible though.
We'll be going around a mile at a very leisurely pace, with several stops. We'll always go at the speed of the slowest person.
The path is almost all tarmac, at least 1m wide. There are some ups and downs. There will be a short detour into a crushed stone and earth path, around 2m wide and well compacted - let us know if a photo of this would be helpful. There are no steps or styles, and just one gate which is a standard gate (not a kissing gate).
We’ll sometimes be sitting on blankets on the ground. You're also welcome to bring a camping chair to sit on if this is easier for you - please get in touch if you don't have access to one and this would be a barrier, and we'll see what we can do.
Neurodiverse friends, we really welcome you telling us your needs! We are both neurodiverse in different ways, and we would love to make sure you feel as safe and comfortable as possible. In the past this has included giving details of what will happen in the session and offering alternative activities. Everyone is always welcome to have a break away from the group whenever you like - we just ask that you let us know if you can, so we know whether to wait for you.
We want to make this session as accessible as possible. If there's anything we've missed, please let us know your access needs and we’ll do everything we can to adapt the session. Activities will be chosen based on the access needs of the group. Please let us know if it would be useful to know any more details.
We want this to be a Brave Space - acknowledging that we can’t make a completely safe space, but we can make it as safe and supportive a space as possible. In this spirit, we welcome you, and we especially welcome folks from marginalised communities. We will challenge any racism, sexism, classism, queerphobia, transphobia, ableism, or any other discrimination against marginalised people.
About us
The session will be facilitated by Linden McMahon and an assistant.
Linden (they/them) is a nature connection and participatory arts facilitator, and a writer; they run projects that bring together creativity, ecology, and solidarity. They are one half of facilitation collective Gather.
Linden specialises in creating spaces for people to think imaginatively about their relationships to each other and the ecosystems they are part of, experiencing connection through creativity - contributing to community building, nature connection and ecological healing, and increasing access to the arts. You might find them co-producing ecological arts projects with young people, teaching creative writing, or facilitating workshops in the woods.
Linden loves collaborative projects, and they have worked with Kew, the RHS, Bethnal Green Nature Reserve and Back from the Brink to develop creative programmes which connect people with their local ecosystems.
Linden has a Masters in Creative Writing & Education, and they trained with Change in Nature in 2019 and Active Hope London in 2019-20. They are currently working on a qualification in Forest and Outdoor Learning, at SCQF Level 8. They also love gardening, baking unnecessarily elaborate desserts, and making pots. You can find out more about their work on their website.
You can contact us through this page, or on linden@gatherwithus.co.uk