Our Programmes

You are invited to join us for a day’s co-working hosted by the RSA. Hawkwood is an ideal location for some quality thinking, strategic planning, or in-depth reflection. Arrive from 10am for morning coffee, lunch and afternoon tea before heading home around 4pm. Lunch with other Fellows will be provided in our dining room. You will also have access to the Sitting Room as well as freedom to wander our extensive, peaceful grounds, gardens and woodland. Kate Monkhouse, Fellowship Area & Engagement Manager will be around all day if you want to book in for a chat.

Recover from the strains of Christmas, and surrender to the need for deep rest on this winter’s retreat day. The day will include nourishing and gentle yoga techniques including restorative yoga and yoga nidra, as well as time to contemplate the rhythm of winter, and connect with a quieter, intuitive heart-felt part of ourselves. All are welcome.

This one-day course will introduce you to using an axe and carving knife to have a gentle and creative conversation with a piece of wood, turning it into a beautiful and functional spoon for cooking, serving or eating food. Maintenance and care of your tools, safety, selecting your wood, and how to bring your creation to life will all be covered throughout the day.

In this course you will create the first chapter of your book, guided by award-nominated novelist Ally Wilkes and Cat Camacho, an editor with over 10 years’ industry experience. You will learn specific writing techniques to craft the perfect opening, including in-depth guidance on plotting, point of view, and voice amongst others. You will benefit from exclusive one-to-one sessions with the course tutors, along with targeted writing exercises on which you will receive feedback from your fellow course writers. Our mid-week guest speaker is novelist, Emilia Hart.

How might we work with climate memory and imagination to restore and restory our narratives of place and belonging in our bioregions to address climate loss and damage? Join us in an interactive workshop and ritual in remembering our story of place and ways to apply them in addressing resilience and regeneration in climate vulnerable ecosystems.

An uplifting and inspiring journey into positive psychology and what it takes to feel good and function well. The retreat will equip you with a range of practical tools to grow your wellbeing. You will come away with your own toolbox of happiness boosters, which open the gateway to a flourishing life.

This contemporary embroidery course spans three days and consists of supported tutor time and guidance by Leeds based Embroidery Artist and Educator, Elnaz Yazdani. Elnaz will guide you through a variety of hand embroidery techniques, applications and creative methods to get you started on your own creative path for embroidery design and making. Who is this course for? The course is suitable for complete beginners as well as those with some embroidery experience. All levels are welcome. The course would be perfect for anyone looking to study art/textiles, gain a new hobby, find wellbeing through craft or just try something completely different.

If you’re looking to join a networking group with fellow business people then we’d love to welcome you to join us for a monthly Hawkwood Huddle. Join us for this monthly networking group held at Hawkwood. Connect, share ideas and develop business and community links. Sessions will be held every third Monday of the month, please see below the remaining 2025 dates.

Finding Quiet Strength is a course designed to restore our daily lives to an ideal balance of work, rest and play. We shall be working on finding our emotional intelligence and embodied awareness by revisiting old strengths of mind and body and discovering new strengths we didn’t know we had. The course will reset our choices for the New Year ahead. Finding health, happiness and ease, through enjoyable, achievable routines

Forest Bathing (Shinrin Yoku) is a gentle, nature-based therapeutic practice developed in Japan during the 1980's to help reduce stress and improve mental and physical wellbeing. Although Shinrin Yoku is translated as “forest bathing”, there is no water involved, the term rather describing a state of becoming fully immersed in the forest atmosphere through awareness, observation and meditation.

Be inspired to draw, and harness this skill to reflect creatively and capture your life and the world around you. Kickstart or boost your creative habit with Jo’s Adventures in Art Journaling weekend retreat. The focus will be on drawing, enjoying drawing, and using drawing to gain new skills, having fun along the way!

Understanding human consciousness as a component of the ecological process, we will seek to inspire a creative response to the seasonal cycle. Participants will explore the connection between nature, human nature, and the quest for authenticity. Integrating ecological principles, ritual, and myth participants will develop a deeper awareness of the significance of time and place. We will engage with the land as an integral part of the ecosystem as we experience, through our physiological and psychological responses, the unfolding season.

Life drawing remains the best training an artist can undertake to improve their drawing. This session is perfect for beginners or as a refresher, but is also suitable for advanced students who can set their own goals for the day while enjoying the beauty and hospitality at Hawkwood.

Come and learn the ancient craft of basket weaving! During this one-day workshop you'll learn to weave your own small round basket suitable as a fruit bowl/ bread basket with locally grown willow in a range of colours. If there's time you will be able to add a simple handle to your basket. You will leave with a basket and the skills to know how to make another one at home. This course is suitable for complete beginners.

If you’re looking to join a networking group with fellow business people then we’d love to welcome you to join us for a monthly Hawkwood Huddle. Join us for this monthly networking group held at Hawkwood. Connect, share ideas and develop business and community links. Sessions will be held every third Monday of the month.

Hawkwood's Climate Action Lab is a vibrant hub dedicated to driving sustainable change through food, farming, and nature. It empowers communities to reimagine food systems, connecting regenerative agriculture with climate resilience. The overnight conference will include talks from food producers, wildlife experts and policy makers. Rooted in nature, it encourages ecological stewardship and will provide helpful advice on action that you can take.

This course is facilitated by renowned Gong Master Trainers Aidan McIntyre and Tim Byford. It is their firm intention to share their wealth of experience gained over the years playing for themselves, for individuals and playing for groups. Participants will gain the foundational Knowledge and experience to begin their gong journey with confidence.

On this course we will be working with English rush, (Schoenoplectus lacustris) a beautifully soft material to weave with. We will learn some ancient techniques of cordage, plaiting and how to make a small rush foraging bag/ handbag with a strap. You will learn how to prepare and weave with rush and other foraged fibers such as carex and dandelion. You will leave with a finished pouch and the skills to make another. 

A panpsychic view starts from the understanding that all things, including the Earth itself, are integral to the fabric of the living cosmos, all of the same sentient cloth. Mind is a fundamental aspect of matter just as matter is a fundamental aspect of mind: we are part of a world that has depth as well as structure, meaning as well as form. In Thomas Berry’s words, this is a community of subjects, not a collection of objects. During this 8 week online course, we will explore this perspective through a co-operative inquiry with Rivers in the vicinity of participants: if we invoke their living presence, address them as subjective persons, what manner of response might we receive? Rivers may include everything from mountain torrents through mature watercourses to tidal reaches; underground flows, wild streams or industrialised waterways. Please scroll down for a more in depth course description.

A weekend of consorts, chamber music and ensemble playing for recorder players. International award-winning quartet Palisander curates a weekend of ensemble playing that celebrates the diversity of the recorder: with consort settings ranging from optional one-to-a-part chamber groups, to massed playing sessions focusing on large ensemble repertoire, with everything in between. The selected repertoire will span from the medieval to the present day, including repertoire unique to Palisander, tailored to this playing weekend. Members of the quartet blend their extensive performance experience with varied teaching practice, from adult playing courses to conservatoire, to create bespoke masterclasses, recorder orchestra, and coaching sessions.

Learn from expert mushroom growers, Slad Valley Mushrooms, on how to grow your own fungi at home. Full of practical advice, insights into health benefits, and other marvels of mycelium. Register your interest now, bookings for this course will open soon.

If you’re looking to join a networking group with fellow business people then we’d love to welcome you to join us for a monthly Hawkwood Huddle. Join us for this new, monthly networking group held at Hawkwood. Connect, share ideas and develop business and community links. Sessions will be held every third Monday of the month, please see below the remaining 2025 dates.

Forest Bathing (Shinrin Yoku) is a gentle, nature-based therapeutic practice developed in Japan during the 1980's to help reduce stress and improve mental and physical wellbeing. Although Shinrin Yoku is translated as “forest bathing”, there is no water involved, the term rather describing a state of becoming fully immersed in the forest atmosphere through awareness, observation and meditation.

Finding the Words for the Journey: How Travel and Nature can be turned into Prose. On this five-day residential course, tutors Nick Hunt and Joanna Pocock will introduce you to travel and nature writing. You will learn how to develop your experiences and observations of journeying in the world into engaging pieces of prose. The tutors will use practical exercises, focused writing assignments and workshopping as they help you develop and structure your writing. Our mid-week guest speaker is the 2024 Wainwright Prize Winner, Michael Malay.

Join us for a transformative and restorative experience weekend, focused on wellbeing, at Hawkwood Centre for Future Thinking in Stroud, where you’ll immerse yourself in mindfulness, nature, and creativity.

During this three day workshop participants will be working towards developing simple three-dimensional vessel forms and woven structures. Participants will be encouraged to consider ‘drawing’ with different materials, and to explore linear and spatial relationships by introducing content and detail with fibre and yarns. We will also work with collage, layering and weaving processes in relation to two- and three- dimensional compositions.

Join Satish Kumar for a transformative weekend journey, exploring the essence of love in all areas of life. Discover how love, like gravity, holds together our relationships and grounds our actions. Through guided discussions, meditations, and Qi Gong with June Mitchell, this course invites you to cultivate self-love, compassion for others, and a deep connection to nature. Together, we’ll ask: How can love inspire our politics, business, science and all the other activities in life? Guided by Satish’s philosophy of Radical Love and June’s mindfulness practices, you’ll leave with insights and tools to live with purpose and presence. On this weekend participants will also spend time in the tranquil surroundings of Hawkwood and discover how radical love can bring joy in life.

Take a break from the treadmill of modern day life, and give yourself the gift of rest and relaxation on this retreat day with experienced yoga teacher Mel Skinner. Expect deeply restful restorative yoga and yoga nidra, inspiring and heart-warming poetry, and time connecting with nature. By releasing stress and tension, we can access a place within us that is already whole and at peace – all are welcome regardless of experience.

In this course you will concentrate on the overall plot and driving force of your novel, guided by award-nominated novelist Ally Wilkes and Cat Camacho, an editor with over 10 years’ industry experience. You will learn specific plotting and writing techniques to craft an engaging and exciting mid-section, including in-depth guidance on how to effectively use your characters to move the plot forward, tips and tricks to solve knotty plot problems such as the mid-point, and other professional skills. You will benefit from exclusive one-to-one sessions with the course tutors, along with targeted writing exercises on which you will receive feedback from your fellow course writers.

Understanding human consciousness as a component of the ecological process, we will seek to inspire a creative response to the seasonal cycle. Participants will explore the connection between nature, human nature, and the quest for authenticity. Integrating ecological principles, ritual, and myth participants will develop a deeper awareness of the significance of time and place. We will engage with the land as an integral part of the ecosystem as we experience, through our physiological and psychological responses, the unfolding season.

If you’re looking to join a networking group with fellow business people then we’d love to welcome you to join us for a monthly Hawkwood Huddle. Join us for this new, monthly networking group held at Hawkwood. Connect, share ideas and develop business and community links. Sessions will be held every third Monday of the month, please see below the remaining 2025 dates.

Learn how to dye, finish and hand stitch leather using the traditional two needle saddle stitch to make a coin purse and a belt on this Introduction to Leatherwork. Ruth will guide the group through the techniques needed to produce professionally finished leather goods as well as repair and restore leather items. We will also discuss the role of livestock in nature friendly farming and how by working with leather from pasture based farms in the UK we can support farms who are positively contributing to the environment and capturing carbon in their systems.

The act of making art is therapeutic, it can quiet the mind and allow you to focus on the present. When this happens and you are truly immersed in the moment of creating you can relax and allow the flow and freedom of painting to begin. This workshop is suitable for all abilities even those who have not picked up a paintbrush before. We will use the beautiful surroundings of Hawkwood to inspire us and have an enjoyable day of painting abstracts

Come and join Dee Aebischer, a qualified guide with the UK Forest Bathing Institute, who holds a Masters & PhD in Forest Science, as she leads you on a journey of discovery through the art of Forest Bathing (also known as Shinrin Yoku). This gentle, nature-based therapeutic practice was developed in Japan during the 1980s, with the purpose of reducing stress and enhancing mental and physical wellbeing. Although Shinrin Yoku is translated as “forest bathing”, there is no water involved, the term rather describes a state of becoming fully immersed in the forest atmosphere through awareness, observation and meditation.

If you’re looking to join a networking group with fellow business people then we’d love to welcome you to join us for a monthly Hawkwood Huddle. Join us for this new, monthly networking group held at Hawkwood. Connect, share ideas and develop business and community links. Sessions will be held every third Monday of the month, please see below the remaining 2024 dates.

A day dedicated to the art of looking, you’ll take in the beautiful grounds at Hawkwood and spend the day painting. Students will start off sketching under birdsong, in the kitchen-gardens, before some detailed experiments in mixing colours in watercolour and a spectacular two course lunch. One-one guidance will take away fear of the blank page; this class is the perfect launch to start a regular journal or sketchbook practice.

Your authentic voice is the muscle and messenger of your soul, your most intimate friend. In this in-depth residential retreat you will learn to listen and to express yourself effortlessly, naturally and spontaneously in ways you never imagined possible. Register your interest now, bookings for this course will open soon.

This course introduces you to both the intriguing symbolism of Renaissance alchemical imagery and how to make paintings or drawings in response to what the pictures, motifs and colours trigger in us as individuals. It invites the participants to actively engage with these ancient pictures and develop their own contemporary visuals. Register your interest now, bookings for this course will open soon.

Inspire and unleash your radical imagination. Rob Hopkins, founder of the Transition movement and author of ‘From What If to What Next’, will lead you on a deep dive into the radical imagination, guiding you on how to harness its power to transform your work and meet the challenges of today.

This unique art form originated in Buddhist temples and is used for the elaborate decoration of Kimonos. This rarely taught skill has been based at Hawkwood for over twenty years. Using traditional methods and techniques you will produce truly stunning works of art and learn about Japanese culture. This course is open to people with some experience of Japanese Embroidery with Jackie Hall.

If you’re looking to join a networking group with fellow business people then we’d love to welcome you to join us for a monthly Hawkwood Huddle. Join us for this new, monthly networking group held at Hawkwood. Connect, share ideas and develop business and community links. Sessions will be held every third Monday of the month, please see below the remaining 2024 dates.

Ageing gets a bad press, portrayed as being downhill all the way. However, contrary to expectations, happiness goes up after fifty rather than down and there are other gains of age like wisdom, emotional mastery and multiple forms of intelligence. This retreat shows you how to use positive psychology to make the most of the third act and sow the seeds of a happy and meaningful later life.

The summer solstice is a pausing place in the turning of the wheel of time, and this retreat invites you into a contemplative and peaceful state of mind. Bringing mind, body and soul together through deeply restful yoga practices and philosophy, as well as journaling techniques and nature-based meditations, we will take time to enjoy the longest day, and find gratitude for the abundance of light and beauty all around us at this time of year.

How can we bring people together to engage with the challenges facing our communities? How can we ask questions creatively to encourage meaningful dialogue? What skills, resources and capacities do people already have that can be built upon? The Art of Invitation training offers new creative tools for change to equip artists, groups, communities and organisations to engage in the ecological, cultural and social challenges of our time. Register your interest now, bookings for this course will open soon.

Creating and maintaining a spiritual practice. In times of deep change, a personal spiritual practice can provide solace and a strong foundation. Based upon the simple practices and wisdom of Ireland and Britain, this course offers pathways that enable us to maintain in loving awareness and to strengthen our ethical approach to life. This course is for all people of spirit, regardless of their background. We will discover the natural and ancestral path that has always been under our feet.

This experience weekend invites participants to deepen their connection with the earth through hands-on, nature-based activities and ecological learning. Set in the scenic landscape of Hawkwood's estate, the immersive retreat explores sustainable land practices, regenerative agriculture, and environmental stewardship. Through guided workshops, nature walks, and practical sessions, participants gain insights into nurturing both the land and their relationship with it, leaving them inspired to take meaningful steps towards ecological care and sustainability. Register your interest now, bookings for this course will open soon.

Come and join Dee Aebischer, a qualified guide with the UK Forest Bathing Institute, who holds a Masters & PhD in Forest Science, as she leads you on a journey of discovery through the art of Forest Bathing (also known as Shinrin Yoku). This gentle, nature-based therapeutic practice was developed in Japan during the 1980s, with the purpose of reducing stress and enhancing mental and physical wellbeing. Although Shinrin Yoku is translated as “forest bathing”, there is no water involved, the term rather describes a state of becoming fully immersed in the forest atmosphere through awareness, observation and meditation.

If you’re looking to join a networking group with fellow business people then we’d love to welcome you to join us for a monthly Hawkwood Huddle. Join us for this new, monthly networking group held at Hawkwood. Connect, share ideas and develop business and community links. Sessions will be held every third Monday of the month, please see below the remaining 2024 dates.

You will be guided on a road to Mastery in the use of Sacred Sound as a transformational tool and in the service to Humanity. Each day we will be working with different sacred instruments; to learn how to use them in performance and in therapeutic ways for ourselves and others. 2025 marks 30 years of this world-renowned training, originally as devised by Gong Masters Don Conreaux and Aidan McIntyre. Please see Practical Information section for payment methods.

Using experiential practices, ritual, and myth Jennifer and Mark will show how the principles of deep ecology can be aligned to our personal journey of growth and self-discovery. Understanding human consciousness as a component of the ecological process, we will seek to inspire a creative response to the energy of the seasonal cycle. Participants will have an opportunity to explore the connection between nature, human nature, and the quest for authenticity and meaning in their lives.