Meet the campaign behind our next Giant!

We’re really excited to finally share the news: we’ve chosen the campaign that will inspire our next big processional Giant.

Following a brilliant response to our call-out (Giant thank you to all that took the time to apply), we’ve chosen No Trees, No Seas (NTNS), a grassroots environmental campaign led by Plant One, as the inspiration for a new processional giant.

No Trees, No Seas is working to restore native woodland across Cornwall’s river catchments. The idea is that healthier, more connected woodland can help hold water in the landscape, clean rivers and reduce run-off – with benefits that ultimately reach Cornwall’s coastal waters too.

It’s part of a bigger idea called a ‘Flowscape’: looking at our landscapes as interconnected systems, and restoring the relationships between woods, streams, rivers, soil and sea.

Over the next year, we’ll be working with the No Trees, No Seas community, gathering stories, folklore, plants and natural materials, running workshops and, eventually, getting stuck into the giant-making itself.

As Ruth says:

‘We are very excited to work with the No Trees No Seas Campaign. The flowscape, with its combined ecologies and the active community around it create the perfect conditions to grow a giant! And there is certainly a rich seam of folklore and natural materials for us all to play with.

The people involved in the campaign will be a big part of making the Giant – from gathering the plants and materials that will give it its character, to joining workshops and getting hands-on with the building.

Once it’s made, the Giant will become part of the No Trees, No Seas community – popping up at events in Cornwall and further afield, helping to tell the story of the campaign and the connections between the land, rivers and sea.

Carl Rowlinson, founder of PlantOne, says:

No Trees No Seas is aiming to create 500 Hectares of high priority woodlands, forming a vital part of restored Flowscapes and
helping to restore the health of our oceans. It’s also about reconnecting communities to the nature around them and making people realise what they see and do on land has a direct impact on the streams, rivers and oceans that surround our island nation. We’re excited to have our very own giant to help bring the folklore, myth and stories alive that show us our connection with the woods is centuries old and we need to restore it!

Giant-making is an old tradition, but processional giants have always been creatures of their moment – reflecting the stories, places and concerns of the people who make them.

This project gives us the chance to bring that tradition into a new community and landscape, alongside people who are already doing brilliant, ambitious and practical things to restore and care for it.

This project is supported by the Ffern Folk Foundation, whose support is helping us celebrate and revive the tradition of giant-making across the UK — bringing this brilliant folk practice into new communities and new contexts.

As Emily Cameron, Creative Director of the Ffern, puts it:

“We are delighted to support the Lost Giants as they bring the tradition of processional giant-making back into the public imagination. Their exciting new project, created in collaboration with No Trees, No Seas, is a powerful example of the multifaceted appeal of folk, as it sits at the intersection of craft, tradition and contemporary activism.”

We’re so looking forward to working with NTNS to bring this giant to life – and sharing the giant making process along the way.

If you’d like to get involved, find out more about the No Trees, No Seas campaign and how you can join their community and support their work. Visit www.plantone.co.uk/no-trees-no-seas/