Soul to Sole: Katherine Walks in Solidarity with Refugees
Facing trauma with compassion, collaboration and courage
Between March and October, Dr Katherine Cox, Trauma Foundation South West’s Director of Services, will be walking from Land’s End to John O’Groats – approximately 1,280 miles. As she walks, she will be encouraging donations, aiming to raise £5,000 to support our work with refugees and people seeking asylum, providing them with proactive trauma therapy.
Katherine joined TFSW just over three years ago and is described by colleagues as “one of the loveliest people you’ll ever meet”. As an integrative psychotherapist, supervisor and trainer, she works to support the therapeutic work of TFSW as well as providing and co-ordinating supervision and training for teams working in the asylum sector more widely. In her spare time, Katherine loves reading, running, hanging out with her three cats and, of course, walking.
The challenge
Splitting the journey into six legs, she will be walking approximately 20 miles a day, putting the soul of our work into the soles of her shoes.
Seeking safety from war, displacement and persecution is not just a physical journey - it takes an emotional and spiritual toll too. Katherine will be sharing the stories from those she meets along the way, looking to find inspiration, hope and tales of healing.
Watch the video below to hear all about it, it in her own words.
Stories from the walk
Katherine will be meeting many remarkable people and the organisations doing great work with them. We will be sharing stories here and on our social media pages. Check back in for those as they arrive.
Together we can reach £5,000!
Katherine is aiming to raise £5,000 to support TFSW through her Soul to Sole journey. Stage one of six is now complete, and Katherine is already 45% of the way towards her target, thanks to the generous support of a match funder who pledged to double the first £1,000 raised from the public.
Every donation brings us closer to the full £5,000 target and helps provide specialist trauma therapy and training for refugees and people seeking asylum.
If you’d like to support Katherine’s walk, please visit the Soul to Sole fundraising page. Every gift helps ease mental suffering and build strong, connected communities.
Progress
Katherine’s full route takes her through Barnstaple, Knighton (Wales), Hebden Bridge, Jedburgh and Inverness. She has already completed stage one and will set off again from Barnstaple on 3rd April March. This route will see her walking 200 miles across the north coasts of Devon, Somerset, through Bristol and into the Wye Valley, ending in Knighton on Sunday 12th March.
You can follow her journey day-by-day via the progress tracker below:
How you can help
To ensure every possible pound goes directly to the charity, Katherine is keeping her own costs to an absolute minimum. That means sleeping in a tent and relying on the kindness of strangers along the way. Katherine is keen to hear from:
People who can help with logistics (luggage transfers, a support driver, van loan or rental)
Anyone who wishes to walk a section alongside Katherine
Individuals or organisations who want to be featured as we share stories and visit communities along the way
Messages of support and encouragement
Feeling inspired?
If you are inspired by Katherine and would like to organise your own Soul to Sole fundraising effort – maybe a half-marathon, a coffee morning or a community event – please get in touch. We would love to have you join us in helping to support refugees’ futures in this country.
TFSW provides specialist trauma therapy to people who have fled war, persecution and unimaginable hardship. Many of those they support have survived experiences most of us can barely comprehend and we rely heavily on donations to continue its work. Find out more about how we make a difference via our latest Impact Report.
