What's it all about?

  • Manifest East is a men's gathering in beautiful ancient woodland and meadow setting.

  • A time to relax and to engage in activity. We will travel together using nature, Council, story and ceremony as our guides.

  • Deepen your connection with your soul, your brothers and with nature.

  • We offer a daily programme of workshops and activities to choose from.  Each morning we will hold Council; a chance for the whole Camp to meet together to connect and shape the day.

  • Throughout the camp there will be opportunity to create a group artefact; something that we will leave behind that will enhance the land.

  • We camp in circles around an open hearth.  We encourage and support the circles to be your ‘home base’ for the duration; the place to relax, enjoy informal company and to talk in your smaller group.

Creating a new culture of positive masculinity, together...

In a world which pushes men to conform to certain modes of behaviour, Manifest has been created to offer men a safe space to find new ways of being: ways that value community, and respect for ourselves, women and the Earth. This is an opportunity to participate in creating a strong and safe space to for men to play, create, share, discuss, and heal together.

The Programme

Story Telling

Yoga

Meditation

Talks & Discussions

Games and Activities

Music & Movement

Green wood carving

Council

Arts & Crafts

Sauna & Sweat Lodge

  • At the morning meeting we discuss the day's programme. If you have an activity you’d like to offer this is your chance to invite participants and get it scheduled into the programme.

  • We welcome all offerings: spiritual, practical, sporting, intellectual, creative, musical. Come prepared if you have a talent or idea you’d like to offer.

  • Before each camp we decide on a project that will enhance the land.

  • After the morning meeting we gather for Council (see 'What is Council?' below). The rest of the day you are free to choose from all the activities on offer or involve yourself in the camp project.

  • We will ensure you always have a choice including the option of doing nothing at all - the circle fires may call you simply to be in the company of your fellow men.

So what is 'Council' then?

'Council' is an ancient form and a modern practice rooted in nature and the land. Sitting in Council offers a way of communicating that encourages both attentive listening and honest compassionate expression.

This practice recognises that we all share a piece of the truth, that we all have a voice that needs to be heard and a gift to give in the telling of the story of our own life. This practice helps to build community and trust by listening to the whole circle.

By embracing differences and divisions we find unity in diversity. We find new insights and fresh understandings. We learn about our own healing and our part in the healing of our world.

In Council, we sit for an hour in a circle, in silence, until someone feels moved to speak.  And when you feel moved to speak, you pick up the talking stick and the floor is yours until you put it down again.  There are three basic guidelines for Council: listen from your heart, speak from your heart, and use words sparingly.

Meet the Team

Andy Wood

Andy

Andy is co-founder of MensCraft, the Norfolk based men’s wellbeing organisation. Having trained as a dramatherapist, he has been running men’s groups for twenty years. His specialism is to use theatre techniques and story to explore male themes. Andy leads a men’s theatre group, is a percussionist and loves playing games.

“I enjoy creating opportunities for myself and other men to be playful, creative and self-reflective. I want to help forge a more positive, compassionate form of masculinity: one in which men can feel good about being the type of man they are, and can embrace and support greater equality for women.”
Jonathan Lambert

Jonathan

Jonathan is a composer, musician and oral storyteller. He creates soundtracks for film and theatre, performs music for functions and improvised dance and tells stories to a variety of audiences. He has held, and helped to hold, numerous small camps in East Anglia.

"I am interested in story as both metaphor and compass for the way we interact with others and with our shared environment. My practice includes music-making with musicians and 'non-musicians' alike as a means of establishing deep connection. But then I believe we are all musicians, just as we are all storytellers."

Ned

Ned is a body psychotherapist and trainer, a regular meditator and keen photographer. He facilitates personal development, gentle exercise and movement for individuals and small groups and on occasion plays guitar and sings at folk clubs. He has held and supported a variety of dance, music and personal growth camps in Norfolk over the past twenty years.

“My work is about helping others to explore, and to become, who they really are. Anxiety and past experience may hold us back but every day offers us opportunities to live more fully. We are all capable of taking small steps into the unknown when we feel safe and supported.”

Gareth

Gareth runs a woodland project in the wild West of Cambridgeshire, a place where people are able to gather and connect in nature.  He taught Anthropology at Cambridge University, and had two years of fieldwork living with an indigenous Amazonian community.

"I enjoy welcoming groups to the land and I have a keen interest in meaningfulness and mindfulness.

CONNECT WITH US

Testimonials

“.. being around the camp fire, just hanging out, not being judged ... the communal spirit in nature"

"I enjoyed everything about the camp. The council was incredible it genuinely felt very special."

“Thanks for organising a fantastic event…. I had no direct expectations of what I was going to get out of the camp however each of the workshops were valuable. I also really enjoyed the daily Council….  I thought the food was excellent and worked very well.   I think the cost of the camp was very well placed and I expect to book again next year.”

"Enjoyed the company, the lack of pressure to take part in activity, the chance to be heard, the storytelling, the fires, the food, the conversations, the music, the woodland, the dojo, sauna showers, good weather"

"I loved being part of a group where I could just be myself. The group of guys were just such lovely people."

"I particularly enjoyed the sense of connection I made with everyone… There is something relaxing to me about being in a group of people that is all men"