For most of us, the stories of the many thousands of refugees fleeing their own homes, in order to find safety and security in foreign countries, are beyond our personal experience. It is heartbreaking to read about the dangers that they face. As many as twenty people per minute are being displaced and it is often the world’s poorest countries that are on the receiving line. Meantime, both sides struggle for even the most basic of necessities.

As part of its commitment to persuading world leaders to negotiate urgent global agreements, the Catholic Church has launched a new world-wide campaign, ‘Share the Journey’, where Catholic communities all over the world are being encouraged to show their support for people on the move by collectively walking the 24,800 miles that would encircle the globe and by petitioning Governments to deliver real change.

Always ready to take on a challenge, and undeterred by the heat, a group of parishioners from St Joseph’s Catholic Church at Peasedown St John, recently completed the walk from Beacon Hill Woods to St Aldhelm’s Well in Doulting, as part of this project.

The Well is one of a number of holy wells throughout the country and is sited at the source of the River Sheppey. The medieval stonework with its arches and foot bath are still clearly visible and weary pilgrims could sit on the stone benches to rest and bathe their aching feet. It is said that the source has never failed, even in times of drought, and it was certainly very welcome to those pilgrims from St Joseph’s who braved its coolness.

The journey was an opportunity to reflect on the personal stories of refugees, such as Khodesa from Myanmar; Mohammed, whose family fled from Damascus and David, from Sudan. The walk was

researched and led by Peter and Anne Barrett and, as a result of the day’s activity, St Joseph’s parishioners contributed 1/400th of the total target.