Walk with Amal

One little girl. One BIG hope.

In 2021, from the Syria-Turkey border all the way to the UK, The Walk is bringing together celebrated artists, major cultural institutions, community groups and humanitarian organisations, creating one of the most innovative and adventurous public artworks ever attempted.

At the heart of The Walk is ‘Little Amal’, a 3.5 metre-tall puppet of a young refugee girl, created by the acclaimed Handspring Puppet Company. Representing all displaced children, many separated from their families, Little Amal is travelling over 8,000km embodying the urgent message “Don’t forget about us”.

At this time of unprecedented global change, The Walk is an extraordinary artistic response: a cultural odyssey transcending borders, politics and language to tell a new story of shared humanity – and to ensure the world doesn’t forget the millions of displaced children, each with their own story, who are more vulnerable than ever during the global pandemic.

Little Amal is a 9 year old refugee who has fled her war-torn country and is in search of her mother. There are tens of thousands of Amals, boys as well as girls, who need to find their way into education and to rebuild their lives.

Children here at The Beacon have been learning about Little Amal and creating artwork to welcome her.

Little Amal came to Folkestone on 19th October and a large scale welcome event took place on the Harbour Arm.  Some of our 6th formers were invited to meet Amal and present her with the wonderful necklaces created by our students.