YOURS Artist joins Great Big Walk event

AMELIA THOMAS, from Tongwynlais, will be joining the Eden Project’s Great Big Walk, when it reaches Mid Wales on June 10, and will walk home to Cardiff for June 18, the date of this year’s Big Lunch.

The Great Big Walk started in Batley on May 29 at the constituency of social campaigner Jo Cox MP, who was murdered last year.

The aim of the walk and The Big Lunch is to highlight the importance of community cohesion, tolerance and connection in order to combat the growing problem of social isolation and loneliness.

Amelia, who works as a mural artist, signs her name “unity” – her hope for herself and the world around her.

Passionate about her community, she set up the “Tongwynlais, Our Neighbourhood” group which runs a fortnightly “Pins’n’Needles” knitting and sewing group, regular litter-picks, a walking school bus, fundraisers and other community events.

A surfer in her free time, Amelia loves the connection that it brings her with the sea and she can’t wait to set off on The Great Big Walk and experience the power of our fantastic landscape and communities by foot.

Amelia said: “The idea behind The Great Big Walk is my passion – bringing people together, strengthening our connections and appreciating our communities.

“By travelling on foot I hope to make a deep connection with the people who live along the way – experiencing their surroundings in ‘real time.’

“Mentally, I hope to strengthen my understanding of people, their diversity and the individuals who make up our beautiful country. Physically, I expect this to be difficult but I think by pushing myself I will strengthen my own connection between body, mind and soul – my personal ‘unity.’

“I did the British Heart Foundation London to Brighton bike ride many years ago and I think it made me realise that if I put my mind to it, I can achieve anything.”

The South Wales walk schedule: is June 12-15, South Wales Valleys (Rhondda, Pontypridd, Merthyr, Bargoed, Caerphilly, and Newbridge) and June 15-18, South-East Wales (Newport, Cardiff – St Mellons, Canton, Adamsdown – and Penarth).

Lowri Jenkins, from Eden Communities Wales, added: “Bringing people together is crucial. There is far more that connects people than divides them, and events like The Great Big Walk and The Big Lunch encourage people to come together, forge new relationships and build stronger and happier communities.”

The Big Lunch, an idea from the Eden Project and funded by The National Lottery, takes place on June 18.

More information is on the The Big Lunch website at www.thebiglunch. com