Free Movement: Walking for wellbeing with asylum seekers and refugees

What’s on offer?

This event uses two curated walks to explore how people seeking asylum are often denied access to nature and outdoor space, to the detriment of their wellbeing.

The first walk is an invite only walk, curated specifically for women seeking asylum, creating space for movement and exploration as well as for sharing experiences with others within the asylum system. It will allow participants to explore embodiment as a form of wellbeing and resistance to precarity and legal uncertainty.

The second walk is open to the public. With the input of women seeking asylum, we have curated a ‘legal walk’ around Manchester that focuses on its history of migration and its potential to better offer support, safety, and wellbeing to those who are vulnerable and displaced.

What’s it about?

Walking and experiencing outdoor space is strongly associated with wellbeing. However, access to nature, to the outdoors, and to wild places is not equal: those who are marginalised, vulnerable and powerless are often denied access to positive outdoor experiences.

Drawing upon the concept of ‘free movement’ our two walks explore how the inability to move within and across space can have a detrimental impact on women seeking asylum. The first walk approaches free movement from an interpersonal and individual perspective, offering a curated walk specifically for women seeking asylum, run by a specialist guide, that focuses upon embodiment and exploration of nature as a form of wellbeing and resistance to precarity and legal uncertainty.

The second walk addresses the legal and political aspects of free movement and wellbeing. It offers the public an opportunity to explore the history of migration in Manchester, and the long fight for the recognition and wellbeing of those rendered ‘out of place’ by immigration law, through movement in the physical spaces of the city.

Who’s leading the event?

Dr Jenny Kanellopoulou and Dr Kay Lalor, Manchester Metropolitan University. Jenny has undertaken extensive research in law and place in cities, including exploring urban squats in Ljubljana.

Kay researches and writes on women’s and LGBT rights. She is a member of GM4 Women’s Safety Group, working to draw attention to improving women’s safety in Greater Manchester.

Open to

The first walk is invite-only and will be organised in partnership with asylum and migration charities in Manchester.

The second walk is open to anyone over the age of 16. It will take about 1.5 hours and be outside so please plan for the Manchester weather. We want this walk to be as open and interactive as possible and will be encouraging questions as we go. We will be walking in Manchester’s City Centre on pavements and through plazas, please contact the organisers to discuss specific accessibility requirements. 

The event is covered by the university insurance.

Of particular interest to

Anyone with an interest in asylum and refugee issues in the UK, to those with an interest in legal histories and in the local histories of Manchester.

Event Booking details

Booking details tbc