Trees & Peace is a handmade zine created in response to a poem and photographic series by Fiona, a member of the Building Bridges group of sanctuary seekers.

Fiona’s work began with a simple observation in her own garden: a tree whose branching form echoed the shape of a heart. From this image she crafted a poem linking the structure of the tree to themes of connection and solidarity—a reminder that strength often grows through intertwined lives.

Drawing on Fiona’s poem, T rees & Peace extends this meditation on solidarity into a wider social landscape. The zine interlaces Fiona’s images with personal reflection, collage, and drawing, creating a layered visual narrative. It also revisits historical moments of collective struggle and hope, including Paul Robeson’s visits to the Northeast and his multilingual approach to building bridges across communities.

A dialogue with contemporary labour movements runs through the work as well. By engaging with University College Union strike activity and its challenge to dominant capitalist models, the zine frames solidarity not only as a feeling but as an activepractice. In doing so, Trees & Peace becomes more than a record of imagery and ideas—it functions as a small, hand-crafted pedagogy of hope.

Printed with a letterpress cover and assembled through tactile, analogue methods, the zine celebrates the slow, intentional work of making. Like the heart-shaped tree that inspired it, T rees & Peace invites readers to notice the connections that sustain us and to imagine forms of solidarity that continue to grow.