Emma Thompson appeals for support for Foundation

Actress Emma Thompson, Patron of the Foundation, has given her time freely to film a promotional DVD to raise funds for the Foundation. See the DVD at Foundation4Peace on YouTube or click here. click here.

Tribute to Tim on 15th Anniversary

On the 20th March, the 15th anniversary of the IRA bombing of Warrington which killed both 12 year old Tim Parry and 3 year old Johnathan Ball, Colin Parry paid tribute to his son Tim. To view Colin`s comments and to add a tribute yourself visit click here.

A Trustee`s Tale

After joining the Board of Trustees in July 2007. I wanted to help in a practical way and needed to keep abreast of what was happening within in the charity. The more board meetings I went to, the more I began to feel as though I didn’t really know what happened on a day to day basis, what things were taught and how the team members brought the best out of people.

With this in mind, I decided to take a week off from my business and do a “residential” workshop with a group of young people who were staying at the Peace Centre to do a variety of activities aimed at increasing their awareness of conflict resolution, stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination.

The first day (Monday) we were in Leeds, where we met the kids for the first time and gave them a number of tasks while we decided who would be in what group. The team that I was attached to consisted of Kelly (the leader), Shane and Dominic. We met the previous day and apart from an incident involving a takeaway and some insanely spicy curry we got along great! They were friendly, professional and fun to be around and very understanding that this would be my first experience in this field so talked me through the whole process and what would be going on.

I’m a businessman; I didn’t know anything about being a team leader for a group of year 8 students who needed to be taught about leadership skills. Ill be honest, sitting in that room on the Monday I was very nervous about what I was doing. My first impression of the group was that I must have been crazy to agree to do this. They seemed to be boisterous, to say the least.

We went home on the Monday and I returned to Warrington for 9 o clock on Tuesday, dreading what the week had in store. The students arrived and for the first few hours, they were given a chance to settle down and get to know the Centre better. The first lesson took place and we talked briefly about racism and conflict, and their experiences.

I felt very uncomfortable throughout most of the lesson as I knew that the things these students were saying would have been bad enough from an adult, but I also knew that the students were not fully aware of the full implications of what they were saying, or what the words meant.

This was further exposed in the first activity, where the students were given a list of words, like “Muslim”, “refugee”, “asylum seeker” and so on, and they had to write down the first words that came to their heads. I took part in this exercise too and found with some horror that I myself was guilty of harbouring prejudices that I didn’t even know I had, especially since it has always been a source of pride with me that I did not bear prejudices towards anyone. This week was going to be an eye opener both for me and for the team I was leading.

The lessons throughout the week could be split into several broad categories - how to deal with conflict, stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination. They started in the morning and lasted fully until around 10 at night most nights. I saw first hand on Tuesday how difficult it was to stay focused and alert myself, and then keep my group of 6 year 8 students motivated and excited even though they were tired, bored and usually more interested in playing football or pool. My respect for Kelly, Shane and Dominic increased exponentially when I saw how they managed to achieve all of this seemingly effortlessly, and how their energy and drive somehow infected all those around them, including myself, to push themselves more than they usually would.

Wednesday’s lessons and activities started as planned; however, there was (I felt) a definite undercurrent amongst the students, sudden conflicts arose every now and again, and even though they were resolved instantly, I began to notice the students forming groups within the main group and acting aggressively towards each other. I began to worry that maybe a week would not be enough for the students, and maybe the charity had bitten off more than it could chew with this group.

During the day there were several occasions where I needed to talk with the members in my group individually. I had privately been dreading this because I didn’t know how to “speak on their level”, but I found that it came naturally to me. They were much more intelligent, mature and frank when we spoke one on one and I was touched that a few members trusted me enough to open up to me and talk about any issues they might be having.

I noticed more and more as the day went on just how important the work Kelly, Dom and Shane was to these students. The way they handled any conflicts, kept everyone motivated, and most importantly of all broke down the barriers between the sub groups within the main group was, if nothing else, astonishing.

Thursday dawned bright and clear and there were plenty of surprises in store today. There had been mutterings from the team leaders about “scraggy” which still needed to materialize, a ‘secret friend’ box which we had been doing since Tuesday and a really interesting activity about immigration. A friend of the Foundation came and acted as an immigration officer, and the students had to play the roles of asylum seekers. The pressure, the lack of ability to communicate in the right language to fill out the forms, and the team leaders harrying them, led many of the students to become flustered and appreciate what it was like for asylum seekers having to leave their homeland and be treated and pre-judged as criminals by everyone they met.

The activities and lessons went on all day as usual and sometime after the evening meal, Dom blew a whistle signaling the start of “scraggy”, an outdoor activity aimed at increasing the students’ self reliance and motivation. It was tough and demanding, but those who completed the activity were on cloud nine for the rest of the day while those who hadn’t, realised the importance of never giving up and seeing things through to the end, no matter how hard they seemed at the time.

Thursday night, I think, was the highlight of the whole week. We sat around the bonfire burning marshmallows and talking about our experiences that week. As I looked around the group, I could barely recognize them. There were no sub groups; there were no racial divides and all differences were forgotten. This was a group of young people laughing and joking amongst themselves and enjoying the bonfire, which gave me so much hope for the future.

We took turns going round the fire, each person sparing a few words to talk about what they learnt and how far they had come, listening to everyone talking, I don’t think there’s many times in my life where I’ve felt more proud of anything I’ve done. In my own small way, I was part of the team that helped change their future and gave them the tools to ensure the word got round to all their peers back in school.

Friday was a bit emotional for us. The class would be leaving in the early afternoon, so we had to cram in the last few activities before they left. My favourite of the day was when everyone drew an outline of their hand on a piece of paper, and then everyone wrote a few lines about the person whose hand it was. I still have my sheet and it’s probably one of the best thing I’ve received in a very, very long time.

When the students left, I stood watching the minibus pull away, still in shock that most of the students who, at the start of the week were making snide comments behind my back they thought I couldn’t hear, were the same ones crying and reaching for hugs and thanking me for everything and telling me they wouldn’t ever forget me, as I stood there I reached a bit of a crossroads in my life. The eyes watching the minibus pull away were the same eyes which saw the minibus arrive on Monday, but the mind behind those eyes was not the same. In a way, I had learnt almost as much as the students themselves, about myself, the world around me and probably most important of all about the Foundation itself.

It’s a source of honour for me that I can say I am on the same team as Colin, Wendy and everyone else; we all are working for the same thing ultimately, for people to lead more peaceful lives. It’s not an easy job, in fact it’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, but the rewards, and the vision of the leadership at the Foundation, is phenomenal. Maybe in this conflict saturated, war torn day and age there might be some glimmers of hope for the future of our world.
By Muhammed Ali Ghori

Young Mentors Put Skills into Practice

Written by Farai Wande, Mica Rettie, Tommy Lao and Vicky Miller: "We had the pleasure of participating in one of the most worthwhile experiences of our lives. We took on the role of facilitators on a recent Foundation for Peace Leadership programme, helping our younger peers from school to develop new skills and understanding. After training on last year’s programme, we were proud to be able to be part of the programme, as Ambassadors for Peace - to work with people in their struggle against racism in both school and the community.

Being chosen as facilitators was a great achievement for us as we had been looking for opportunities to use our skills and understanding from the previous years’ programme. We seized upon the opportunity to become role models for our peers with the goal of helping the whole community and school to achieve equality and a peaceful inclusive environment.

As peer mentors on the programme, we tried to help as much as possible using the knowledge and skills that we developed. It wasn’t easy! Throughout the five days of residential, we all faced difficulties and challenges in order to get the best from the participants. At the start of the programme, the participants had a lack of knowledge of how to deal with discrimination and how to handle conflict. Using the best tools and resources available and with the support of a committed staff team (from the school and the Foundation!), the participants were learning. By the final day of the programme, it is safe to say that every young person left the centre inspired by what they had learnt and proud to be given the opportunity to tackle racism and conflict within our school.

The leadership programme has truly been the greatest experience of our lives so far. WE feel proud and lucky to have been able to take part in such a brilliant programme which has really helped transform our school from being a place full of conflict and fear, to one where happy students and a happy staff work in an environment where violence and conflict is no longer the norm!"

Support our team in the 10K!!!

On the 18th May, more than 30,000 runners will be taking
to the streets to raise millions of pounds for their chosen
Charities. This year on behalf of the Foundation Dominic
Hudson and Phil Adshead will be taking part and would like you to help.

Dominic said “I have done a few charity runs in the past so
I am very pleased to now be able to take part in an event for
the Foundation. Hopefully this will be the first of many opportunities for me to raise funds for the charity…so please donate as much as you can!”


If you would like to help Dominic or Phil go to www.cafonline.org , search for the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace and use your credit or debit card to make a secure online donation.

Thank you