What started as a dream — a single poem, a fragile sketch of a memory, a boy and his dear Granddad / Barbar — has become something truly astounding. Over the past Four weeks, children from Challock, Blean, St Peter’s, and Bridge schools have visited the Enchanted Gardens. What they brought with them was more than curiosity — they brought heart, imagination, and a willingness to believe in beauty.
These were not just school trips. They were examples of human becoming.
Each child coloured wings with words like love, happy, kindness, and amazing. Each footstep through the forest and meadow whispered the truth of the poem back to me:
He falls back resting against the assurance of the talking tree, Knowing it is done, Lungs full and heart happy, This is what he always wanted — A place of safety for his fragile, beautiful butterflies.
And now… we have over 80 postcards and works of art, written to the Butterfly Farmer himself. A treasure trove of emotional insight. With the support of Jonathan Barnes and the Sidney De Haan Research Centre, I’ll be thematically reviewing these pieces to build a body of evidence — a tender, powerful case for why this project deserves to take root across the county and I hope UK.
see these are the whispers;
The goal?
To establish The Butterfly Farmer as part of a national curriculum shift, where art, care, and emotional literacy are recognised not as “extra,” but as essential.
🌳 To the Places That Made This Possible
The Enchanted Gardens
https://www.enchantedgardenskent.co.uk/ If you haven’t been, go. Walk the land, listen to the butterflies, and tell them the hobopoet sent you. The gardens have become a home for this project — and more importantly, a sanctuary for the children who visit.
The Rare Breeds Centre
https://www.rarebreeds.org.uk/events/detail/words-in-colour-storytime-and-crafts-with-tom-delahunt You’ve made me feel seen, valued, and wanted. That is no small thing for someone who’s spent much of their professional life feeling like a poetic misfit. You created a platform where sensitivity isn’t just accepted — it’s celebrated.
Roland Brown & Hearts’ Delight Farm
https://heartsdelightfarm.co.uk/ Your friendship, generosity, and belief in the project — especially with organising school visits and supporting the development of butterfly sanctuaries — have made what was once impossible, tangible.
✨ This Is Just the Start
We have more schools lined up for the next academic year, and I’m feeling the momentum carry us toward something wild and necessary. The children are leading us. Their words, their wings, their knowing.
So — before I flutter away for a short break in Greece — I just want to say:
Thank you.
For every person who believed, donated, hosted, drew, printed, booked, or simply smiled and said “this matters” — I see you. This work is now alive because of you.
Help Us Keep Flying
I believe in this project with all I have. Not as a product, but as a message. Not for profit, but for possibility.
is on its way, along with a magazine feature in Inside Kent this September. A couple of podcast appearances are bubbling up too — and we’re planning more events, more poetry, and more butterfly whispers across the UK. A funding partnership for ‘the seeds of hope’ and so much more
Please hold this space with me. Keep in touch. This is a wonderful little adventure, and it’s only just begun.
Out of the Shire and over the hills we go… The butterflies are leading us on that Red Thread……………………………………………………..
