The British Pilgrimage Trust (Registered Charity 1176045) aims to advance British pilgrimage as a form of cultural heritage that promotes holistic wellbeing. By championing a time-honoured form of access to Britain’s holy places – from churches to standing stones, cathedrals to ancient trees, river sources to holy wells – the Trust seeks to improve awareness of that heritage, while also providing improved physical and mental health, community engagement, and connection with nature.
In this way, pilgrimage is a practice that can be of significant benefit to the general public, and many different faith and non-faith groups in Britain, as well as those who want to connect more consciously with nature, themselves, and others, walking their own path.
90% of your donation goes towards our charitable works, helping us to…
Gather pilgrimage routes around Britain on our website’s directory, both older and newly formed routes..
Make digital maps that can be accessed via smartphones, which, using GPS, tell you where you are.
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Produce reference works, such as our book Britain’s Pilgrim Places, that introduce the depth and breadth of the British pilgrimage tradition.
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Provide templates that facilitate anyone to create their own route and host their own guided pilgrimage event.
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Deliver our Sanctuary Project – helping local communities to provide, and pilgrims find, sleeping sanctuary at a reasonable price, benefitting both pilgrims and local communities.
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Grow our flagship route, the Old Way Pilgrimage from Southampton to Canterbury; a 250-mile pilgrimage route discovered on a 14th-century map.
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Open up pilgrimage in Britain by reaching out to as many different communities as we can to make pilgrimage more accessible and Open to All.
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Maintain an active digital presence for our online community via our website and social media channels @pilgrimtrust.
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Partner with organisations like Ordnance Survey, English Heritage, Association of English Cathedrals and other nature-based organisations.
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Develop our plans to introduce pilgrimage to schoolchildren – especially those who may never have walked in the countryside before, or those who are going through a difficult time – given that pilgrimage is an ancient rite of passage that fulfils modern needs.