Three friends are walking from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean to raise much needed funds for Art Refuge UK's ongoing work in the refugee camps of northern France. 

Myself and Seth Wolpin are hiking across the Pyrenees this summer from the Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean. Both avid hikers, we will be following the Haute Randonnée Pyrénéenne  - a route that follows some of the highest ridges and valleys across the mountain range, measuring approximately 500 miles. 

This walk in the high mountains is for replenishing spirits,whistling to marmots, reflection on this last year of work, and also for fund raising for Art Refuge UK. Throughout the course of our route we hope to also raise awareness of the much more difficult and dangerous journeys and crossings undertaken by many of the people the charity works with - not out of choice but having fled contexts of war, persecution and extreme poverty. 

I am an art therapist working with Art Refuge UK and have been working for the charity for the last two years in both Kathmandu and in Calais. Seth is a research professor at the University of Washington and also volunteers with Art Refuge UK and the Refugee Data Rights Project in Calais. We will also be joined for part of our traverse by our friend Dan Price, an artist and Chair of the sculpture department at Chicago Art Institute. 

Our journey begins on July 12th and we expect to finish by August 25th. We are all paying for this walk out of our personal savings and 100% of any donations will go directly to supporting Art Refuge UK's services.

We will periodically post updates on our social media sites and you can also follow our progress on this live map: 

https://share.delorme.com/SethWolpin

www.facebook.com/Art-Refuge-UK

www.artrefugeuk.org