Date: Saturday 21 March 2026, 10am-5pm (arrive from 9.30am)

Venue: Hill House Retreat, near Stroud, Gloucestershire

We have one whole day. A great venue near Stroud. A bunch of people who want to make the world a better place. Enthusiasm. Writing prompts. Creativity. Delicious food. And a plan to write words, sentences, and eventually, stories. Who wants to come and join us?

Why do we want to write stories?

It’s simple. For us, stories are a powerful way of communicating that have the potential to be more compelling than other forms of writing. We love stories. True stories about people and places. Fantasy stories about an imagined future. Fairy tales and folk tales that reach deep into the psyche and show new ways of thinking and living. Stories that speak from the heart of the writer and shoot straight into the soul of the reader. Come on, who can resist a good story?

Who are we hoping will join us?

We want to gather a group of changemakers and spend a day writing stories. Eeeek. What is a changemaker? Do you have to describe yourself as a writer? Please don’t be put off. We are trying to describe people who are living and working for more social inclusion, climate justice, children’s rights, earth protection, community resilience, that sort of thing. It doesn’t matter how much of an ‘activist’ you are, it is the longing for a world that works for all of us that brings us together.

We are inviting people who would benefit from a nourishing environment where you can spend time with other people who are doing similar things. We want to gather people who want to write and who are keen to explore this way of communicating. You don’t have to be experienced or know what you want to say. You just have to want to be there.

What will happen during the day?

Our intention is to create a nurturing and nourishing day for everyone. We know that the world is a mess right now, and that many changemakers are exhausted and depleted. We want to make a replenishing space for you to feel cared for and able to focus on what matters most to you. We will provide delicious food, a well-paced set of activities and writing prompts, and a supportive environment.

This is the draft schedule:

  • Arrivals and refreshments
  • Opening circle
  • First writing session with warm-ups and prompts (what’s your story and what change are you working for?)
  • Second writing session (using fiction to visualise new futures)
  • Lunch break
  • Third writing session (using fairy tales and folk tales for creative changemaking)
  • Group discussion time and other optional sessions (developing our writing practices at home and/or nourishment and self-care as changemakers)
  • Final sharing circle

We will support you to navigate your way through the day in a consent-based and self-directed way. This means that you choose what you want to take part in and how you want to participate. There is no pressure to join in with anything that doesn’t feel like a good use of your time. We hope you will go away feeling restored and energised with more confidence and pleasure in your writing, and more ideas for your ongoing practice.

How much does it cost and how do I book a place?

Places are £95 (standard rate) / £115 (supporter rate)

Please email hello@maxhope.co.uk to book a place, and we will send you a Booking Form and payment details.

If you do not have the financial freedom to manage the cost, please get in touch because we are committed to supporting some attendees on a ‘pay what you can’ basis (supported by those who have paid the ‘supporter rate’).

Who is facilitating the workshop?

Jo McAndrews (she/her) is a group facilitator, coach, singing leader, activist, mother and writer. She trained as an arts psychotherapist with a particular interest in storytelling as a creative process. She is a fierce advocate for the rights and needs of children and young people with a deep longing to stop the practice of punishments and rewards in schools. She is deeply engaged in studying, practicing and teaching radical collective resilience in the face of climate and social disruption. She sees clearly that an understanding of the many aspects of trauma and recovery is essential for community action and change.  She works for belonging and welcome for those who are marginalised by our culture’s horrible attitudes to difference. A realisation of her own ADHD several years ago has led to a beautiful unfolding of everything starting to make sense including her struggle to write consistently. She has been inspired and encouraged in her writing work by Max and is delighted to be collaborating with them on this retreat day. Jo is also a song leader and finds community singing an amazing way to bring people together in care, protest and belonging. Her website is www.jomcandrews.com.

Max Hope (they/them) is a facilitator, educator, researcher, activist, and writer. Max’s own identity as an activist and changemaker is rooted in their commitment to social and environmental justice. They have spent many years as a grassroots activist, primarily focusing on challenging queer and gender-based inequalities and providing innovative alternative spaces for marginalized young people and adults. They are angry about poverty, about sexual violence, about the abuse of power, about patriarchy, and about the state of the wild world. They are a firm believer in the power of the collective and strives to find ways of joining forces with other activists to push for simultaneous changes across multiple fronts. Max is a keen writer and has authored or co-authored two books, twenty academic articles and book chapters, as well as pamphlets, booklets, and blog posts. They have also run writing retreats and supported dozens of students in their writing of essays, dissertations, and PhD theses. Max is the creator of Write On Changemakers, a writing space for changemakers and activists. They also co-lead The Lodge and co-facilitate Call of The Wild. For more info on Max, including a full list of publications, go to https://maxhope.co.uk/

Image: We are grateful to Sarah Turpin for giving us permission to use her original artwork.