Eight light aeroplanes will leave Britain on March 25 on an international peace initiative called Flight Towards Hope and our garden writer, Carolle Doyle, is swapping gardening and donkey driving for navigating to take part.

Flight Towards Hope will fly from Britain to Israel and Jordan as part of an extraordinary peace initiative until April 9.

Carolle who writes a weekly column for our paper, will be joining the two man crew of a Piper Dakota owned by Polly Vacher MBE who Carolle followed round the world in 2001 when Polly became the first woman to fly solo via the Pacific in such a small aircraft.

Carolle was then writing for the national press and magazines.

On April 2 sculptor and pilot, Mark Coreth will lead a flight of 10 light aeroplanes in two formations forming the shapes of swifts as they circle Jerusalem high above the 'Tree of Hope', Mark's olive tree sculpture with its swirling bronze swifts.

This symbolic flight, with representatives of the three Abrahamic Faiths including Professor Yossi Leshem, who has striven for peace through conservation, General Spiegel and Jordanian General Rashid who were both architects of the 1994 Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty, and also astronaut Ricky Arnold who has recently returned after his second flight to the International Space Station, will follow the route of the swifts over Jordan and Israel.

The participants are united in bringing a message of hope for peace and mutual respect which the swift, that knows no boundaries, embodies.

Birds as instruments of peace may seem improbable but in practice the coming together of all the People of the Holy Land to protect birds has built mutual trust without raising sensitive issues and has resulted in friendship.

The swift project, erecting nests for the birds in Jerusalem and in Bethlehem, is a small, but very real step towards peace.

Swifts now fly out from the nesting boxes around Mark's 'Tree of Hope' as Mark forges more bronze swifts, in groups of three, and places them in troubled places around the world to act as 'prayer flags' that the three Abrahamic Faiths might travel and exist together in mutual respect.

Eight light aeroplanes will leave Britain on March 25 and will be joined by two Israeli aeroplanes, together with the Royal Jordanian Falcons display team, on April 2. The British aeroplanes will return on April 6 arriving home on April 9th.

As a Franciscan, Carolle says she "jumped at the chance" of joining the flight on the 800th anniversary of St Francis meeting Sultan Malik al-Kamil.

Carolle said: "I believe fervently in the message of hope that is being borne on the slender wings of the swifts.

"Yossi Leshem's work has demonstrated that friendship between different races and faiths endures through helping nature. This really is a symbolic flight with two Israeli aeroplanes, together with the Royal Jordanian Falcons display team."

"Polly and I have remained firm friends since her solo flight and she had hoped to be on this trip but for family reasons has had to drop out.

"I am so happy to be taking part in this wonderful peace initiative."