Charity Scales the Heights to Celebrate Lives Lost to Terror

A charity from North West England, committed to the peaceful resolution of conflict, is set to scale the heights of Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, to raise funds for the work of its Peace Centre in Warrington, Created after the 1993 IRA bombing of the Town.

The Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace has established a unique facility at its Warrington headquarters to support those affected by violent conflict, including terrorism, to make a difference. This includes working with groups of young people to enable them to work through differences based on religious belief, or race, or other inter-community issues, in a non- confrontational environment. These programmes aim to promote the understanding, management and non-violent resolution of conflict, tackling a range of grassroots problems facing communities.

This fund raising event which aims to raise £20,000 for the charity, marks the 18^th anniversary of the 1993 Warrington bombings in which Wendy and Colin Parry’s son, 12 year old Tim, and 3 year old Johnathan Ball lost their lives. In response to these tragic events, the Foundation for Peace was founded by Colin and Wendy Parry, with the full support of the family of Johnathan Ball.

Foundation co-founder, Wendy Parry and her daughter Abbi are part of a team of four about to tackle Kilimanjaro. They are joined by Kelly Simcock, a Foundation programme manager and  Alan McKie, one of the charity’s many supporters.

The team sets out from Heathrow Airport  on this adventure of a lifetime on Thursday, 17^th March, reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro on Friday, 24 March, and returning home on 27 March.

Commenting on this venture, a first for the charity, Wendy Parry said: "On March 20^th 1993, family life for the Parry’s changed forever. We had to adjust to life without Tim. Creating the Foundation and building the Peace Centre as a living tribute to both Tim and Johnathan became our focus, and helping other people who had suffered from personal, community or national conflict became our future.  It is 18 years since the bombings, and this fund raising climb up Kilimanjaro marks that anniversary. But it also celebrates the lives of Tim and Johnathan, and serves to highlight the continuing need for support for victims of conflict both in the UK and throughout the world."