When organisers of a nature walk aimed specifically at Jersey’s LGBTQ+ community hosted their first event, they thought it would bring together just a handful of people.

But on the day, more than 25 people turned up.

Queer Nature Walks organiser Harry Davey said: “We were looking at people coming around the corners, saying ‘oh my God, they just keep coming’.”

He said he was positively surprised by the “varied” age range of attendees.

“When you go to Divine Creatures events and the drag shows, you get to know all the younger queer folk on-island – but a lot of the older ones don’t come out too much,” explained Harry. “So seeing them there was wonderful.”

The group gathered at Noirmont to spend time in nature while getting to know others in the queer community in a non-nightlife setting.

The idea for Queer Nature Walks came from Mira Muresan, who moved to Jersey from Romania in her early teens and found herself missing the forests.

“It’s so pretty there!” she said. “I started to talk about wanting to find people who would like to go on walks, because I really enjoy going on hikes, but I don’t know that many people who do that. And even if there are people, then how would I get in contact with them?”

Alongside Divine Creatures organiser Roisin Shaw, Mira decided to bring people together.

It took “less than a month” between that conversation and the first walk,” she said.

The walks are part of what the organisers describe as an LGBTQ+ community in Jersey that has become far more united in recent years.

“It was a really fragmented community. I remember when I was a teenager, I didn’t know any other queer people,” explained Harry.

“It was really just fragmented, and in recent years, it’s gotten almost sturdy. It’s really nice to see.”

I remember when I was a teenager, I didn’t know any other queer people

Harry Davey

He credited Roisin with some of the shift.

“She’s just trying to gather this cadre of fanatics – she nails it!” he said. “I don’t know how she does it. She just gravitates towards people.”

Roisin is one of the driving forces behind queer nightlife events Divine Creatures and “always knows what’s going on”, he added.

“That whole [Divine Creatures] group have done so much for queer people in Jersey over the last few years,” said Harry.

The group’s second walk was held at Queen’s Valley – a destination they picked for its accessibility.

Harry said: “I would love to go up northern cliff paths, but most of those are a bit craggy.

“They’re very up and down, so it’s about finding ones that are not as intensive, just relaxed walks, as opposed to hour-long hikes.”