Please scroll down for news, events and archived activities in chronological order.
Tam is very excited to be partnering, through Hope in the Heart, with the US-based Oleander Project (University of the Middle East Project), and Peace Culture Village in Hiroshima, Japan, to co-facilitate a unique Peace Education Programme in that city in June.
Three UK educators (from higher, further or community education) will be invited to take part in this pilot project, at a highly subsidised rate. More information here.
The Compassionate Plymouth City Initiative now has its own website and ﻿﻿facebook page﻿﻿, and is seeking partner organisations and allies to register as Charter Partners and be part of the compassion revolution!
Hope in the Heart has received funding from the Esme Fairbairn Foundation (via POP+) to offer﻿ free workshops﻿ to local people interested in engaging/partnering with Compassionate Plymouth.
December 2018 We have had an exciting Autumn, with courses, workshops and training in London and Plymouth for women (and some mixed groups).
A fabulous group of existing and aspiring social activists joined Tam for our Big Lottery-funded Heart in Community Compassionate Community Ambassadors training, which aimed to equip them with skills and knowledge for sustainable positive change in their own lives as well as their Compassionate Communities.
Following our recent Empathy in Schools programme, and a very successful two days at Plymouth Marjon University in July, Tam delivered further Virtues Project mentorship training to 13 CCA women. This is a powerful, accessible programme for transforming individuals, families, schools, businesses, organisations and communities. We intend to offer one more VP mentorship course, and then Virtues Project facilitator training in the new year, for people who have completed the mentorship training.
"...the most warm, compassionate, friendly, genuine, hopeful and encouraging teaching I've ever had..."
"...these workshops should be used in schools, colleges, universities, youth work, youth offending team, social services..."
"This training and the facilitator Tam Martin Fowles has absolutely changed my focus on my practice. It has enabled me to open up and broaden my skills base and understanding of effective practice. It has given me a sense of confidence in my communication and empathy with myself, my friends and colleagues and my client group. Every community and society shares this set of virtues, making connectivity and shared language possible. I really cannot rate this training highly enough and am looking forward to completing the facilitator next year."
August 2018 Wanstead Quakers made cards for HITH to send to Hibakusha (survivors of the atomic bombings) after being inspired by some of their stories, told by Tam, for Hiroshima Day (Aug 6th - the 73rd anniversary of the first atomic bomb attack). More information about HITH's links with the Hibakusha, and some of their stories in full, can be found here.
July 2018 Hope in the Heart's two-day Virtues Project training, "Awakening the Virtues Within", facilitated by Tam, brought together a diverse group of participants from a variety of professional backgrounds. The group was lively, enthusiastic and committed, and a delight to work with. There was a unanimous desire to grasp the momentum and take it forward, and it has been decided that the new Virtues Project mentors will meet regularly to support each other in using their new skills in their lives and work, and to enrich the community of Plymouth.
There will be a further two-day Awakening training in the Autumn, and we hope to offer the opportunity for those who have done this initial training to train to be a VP facilitators in 2019.
April 2018 Throughout the Easter term, Tam and Bev have been working in three schools in Plymouth, delivering the Empathy programme commissioned by Plymouth City Council to two year 5 groups and one year 7. Tam has also delivered training to staff at all four participating schools (numbering approx 150 participants in total).
Both students and staff have reacted positively to the training, enthusisatically embracing the concepts of empathy and compassion and the first strategy of the remarkable Virtues Project (Speaking the Language of Virtues). They have learned to communicate in ways that draw upon and build their own rich inner resources, and call upon these in others, improving confidence and emotional intelligence, developing resilience and compassion, and modeling these within the classroom and wider community.
The programme will be delivered to one more school in the coming term, with a comprehensive evaluation process taking place to complete the pilot programme. Each school has become a partner of Charter for Compassion International, joining the global network of compassionate schools, organisations and communities that are working together to create positive change worldwide. Any school or organisation can register as a CCI partner free of charge, and benefit from international visibility, networking and shared resources.
Please contact us if you would like to discuss how elements of our programme could enrich and transform your school or organisation, and/or if you would like to become part of the growing Compassionate Plymouth and CCI networks.
February 2018 To celebrate 2018 in style, Tam is offering subsidised workshops for women keen to embrace positive change, in their lives, communities and world.
Following a full-house in Whitstable, Kent, celebrating All Things Love for Valentine's Day, Tam will be (belatedly) celebrating International Women's Day, again in Whitstable, on 17th March - details also on a flyer below.
January 2018 Hope in the Heart has won a tender to deliver an empathy programme to schools across Plymouth. Tam and Bev will initially deliver the programme, using resources from The Virtues Project and Charter for Compassion, to four schools in the city, and it will hopefully be taken up more widely following this year's pilot.
December 2017 Tam and Alan have returned from Tam's sixth visit to South Africa, where they connected with old friends and new in Soweto, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.
Among other adventures, Tam facilitated Woman Undiluted workshops at Crystal Fountain Spiritual Centre and Pimville Oldies in Soweto, and The Institute for the Healing of Memories in Cape Town, and a two-day AccepTTranscend Train the Trainer workshop at Nelson Mandela University in PE, following up on last year's successful pilot.
They also spent time visiting partner organisations, and with the local children they have come to know, and distributed many gifts from kind people in the UK, including toys, clothes, hand-made bags and personalised T-shirts.
July 2017 Tam was honoured to speak at a conference in Birmingham organised by the CoEd Foundation and Birmingham Governors' Network. Entitled Towards the Compassionate School (also the title of a book by CoEd CEO Maurice Coles) the theme of the conference was the need for a greater focus on compassion in the UK education system.
Tam spoke about the links between neurodiversity, negative labeling and mental health issues, and informed those gathered (approximately 100 people) about the Charter for Compassion, and the steps towards becoming a compasionate school.
June 2017 Alan and Tam have just returned from a 12-day visit to Saranda, Albania, where links were strengthened with fellow Charter for Compassion partners Youth in Saranda and the Saranda Shelter orphanage. This trip follows a shorter visit in September, when we first established these connections. Since then, Tam has been in ongoing contact with YiS founder Foti Vogli, exploring how empathetic links might be developed between people in our two very different communities. The conversations resulted in several women in Cornwall making and donating gifts for women and children experiencing poverty and deprivation in Saranda. These included beautiful handmade bags and knitted dolls, baby clothes and toys for homeless and disadvantaged families, and games and other resources for children at the orphanage.
On arrival in Albania, Tam and Alan met with representatives from Youth in Saranda and Saranda Shelter, arranging to meet women and children who would benefit from the gifts, and also to spend time at the orphanage, getting to know the children, teaching them games and activities and leaving the associated resources for them to use in the future.
The subsequent meetings and visits were very successful, with our partners providing interpretors and all three organisations working together with the beneficiaries. The children made pictures for us to bring back as gifts to the women who sent gifts to them. Tam and Foti were featured on Albanian TV talking about this special partnership. This has been a heartwarming experience for all involved and an example of how heart-to-heart connections can be made across borders, languages and cultures.
Anne Frank Exhibition, Programme and Workshops now available for schools and communities in SW at discounted rates. Please enquire!
Our second Big Lottery-funded project, SOWING HOPE has been completed.
We ran successful programmes at Stoke Damerel Community College, Plymouth, Liskeard School, Cornwall and workshops at Tor Bridge High School, Plymouth. We also had community exhibitions, with events, at St Saviour's Hall and The Guild Hall in Plymouth.
We are now taking bookings from schools and community groups who would like to host the exhibition and accompanying workshops.
and contact us for further information or to book.
Feb 2017 There was a wonderful, diverse turnout for the One Day Without Us Community Lunch as part of the Anne Frank - A History for Today exhibition at the Plymouth Guildhall.
One Day Without Us was a national day of action on 20th February, to celebrate the contribution of migrants to UK communities, and coinciding with the UN World Day of Social Justice http://www.1daywithoutus.org/ .
Ours was one of over 100 events happening simultaneously across the country. As the Anne Frank programme highlights issues relating to prejudice, discrimination and persecution, this was a moving and joyful example of how compassion and empathy can counter such negativity and bring communities together. Those attending came from many cultures and backgrounds, and were keen to share, learn and make new friends.
Organised by Hope in the Heart, in partnership with MegaReach and Devon and Cornwall Police, under the umbrella of the newly-registered Compassionate Plymouth city initiative, it is our intent that this be the first of many such gatherings to take place regularly. Please contact us if you would like to know more or to take part in future events.
18/19th Feb 2017 Empathy, creativity, laughter and learning were the flavours of this weekend event, at which women came together to share stories, practice compassion and get to know and understand the sub-personalities that make up their inner communities.
ONE DAY WITHOUT US: NationalDay of Action on Monday 20th Feb 2017 to celebrate the contribution of migrants to the UK, coinciding with UN World Day of Social Justice. Tam and Amina will be hosting a community lunch, in collaboration with MegaReach and other partners. Open to anyone wishing to celebrate unity in our community. Please bring food to share, a song, story or poem if you wish. Try on a turban, have a henna tattoo, make a card or piece of art, or just Meet Another Person!
Tam has been busy in her role as Charter for Compassion International's Coordinator, and is enjoying her involvement in the setting up of several newly-registered Compassionate Communities in the UK. Recently-registered communities include Compassionate Plymouth, Compassionate Tower Hamlets and Compassionate Lambeth.
Any organisation, business, school or university can become a partner of CCI, and any city, town, village, county, or even country, a Compassionate Community. There's no cost and many benefits. More info here.
27th January 2017 Tam and Amina have introduced the Anne Frank exhibition A History for Today to students and community members in Plymouth and Cornwall. They trained students at Stoke Damerel Community College and Liskeard School to be guides, and to present the exhibition to their peers. The guides were fascinated and moved by the story of Anne and her family, and the rise of the Nazi party, and did not miss the parallels with today's news and the rise in hate crime.
Tam and Amina delivered additional workshops to students who had seen the exhibition, exploring issues of prejudice, discrimination and persecution, identity and belonging, and the importance of not being a bystander.
Tor Bridge High School also hosted the exhibtion and had two workshops.
Students from Stoke Damerel CC subsequently acted as guides at Plymouth University, where the exhibition was shown for Holocaust Memorial Day, with members of the university staff, Devon and Cornwall Police and Plymouth Council in attendance as well as others from the local community.
13th December 2016 In partnership with Don de Silva and Muslim Hands (https://muslimhands.org.uk/) Tam organised a Plymouth-based event entitled "Interfaith Dialogue from a Muslim Perspective". It was very well attended by people of all faiths and none from across Devon and Cornwall, and received enthusiastic responses from all. The discussion was centred around a book of the same title as the event, and explored the myths and the truth about Islam and possibilities for more proactive communication between people of different faiths upon this subject. It is hoped that this will be the first of a number of similar events across the UK, and also that some further explorations of the subject will follow the success of this one in Plymouth.
Tam, Fenna and Sophie joined Amina (wearing her Initiatives of Change hat) and fellow members of the Sustainable Communities Network for SusCom events in Liverpool on 1st and 2nd December. The group attended a play written and directed by SusCom members on the first evening. The next day, the team shared updates of work being done across the UK and beyond. There were discussions on subjects including collaboration between local government and communities, community NHS initiatives, clean eating and healthy lifestyles, and the European response to the refugee crisis. The team explored possibilities for further collaborations between members, and our Hope in the Heart contingent made some valuable new contacts, particularly relevant to the work we are planning in London, and the development of YOMAD.
The new Lottery-funded workshop "I, Myself and Me" made its debut in Penzance at the end of November. It was a full house, and participants learned about sub-personalities - the parts of us that make us who we are – and how to improve their lives by understanding and befriending these inner communities.
In the wonderful, safe and intimate environment of Mudita House, we used creative exercises, small-group discussion, virtues, poetry and magic wands to develop a simple but effective toolbox for sustainable positive change. Cake and laughter were promised, and there were plenty of both!
Hope in the Heart's association with The Anne Frank Trust kicked off in Plymouth on 22nd November when the exhibition "Anne Frank - A History for Today" made its first appearance in the South West at St Saviour's Hall, Lambhay Hill (thanks to Fotonow CIC for the loan of this space). The exhibition was accompanied by events including evening discussion "Towards a New Europe - Migration and Hope in a Post-Brexit World" and "The Language of Compassion", a workshop introducing the Charter for Compassion and the Virtues Project. All events were free and funded by the Big Lottery.
11th October 2016 Hope in the Heart has received a second lot of Awards for All funding from the Big Lottery for a project that will use the story of Anne Frank to challenge prejudice and hate crime in the South West. Sowing Hope will introduce the Anne Frank Trust's excellent exhibition and programme "A History for Today" to two schools - one in Devon and one in Cornwall - and the community in Plymouth via the exhibition and accompanying events.
The funding will also cover two follow-up workshops to last year's "Hope - Action - Transformation!" - "I, Myself and Me" will further explore the concept of sub-personalities, which proved hugely popular as part of last year's course.
The Charter has a vast global membership of individuals, partner organisations and community initiatives committed to living and modeling compassionate action for a more positive, proactive and compassionate world. Individuals can join the movement, and receive a regular newsletter, by affirming the charter, and any organisation can become a partner, with a page on the international website and opportunities to connect with others worldwide.
﻿13th September 2016 Tam and Alan interrupted a holiday on the Greek island of Corfu to spend a few days in Albania, learning how life is, particularly for youth, following the long communist dictatorship, and brutal civil war in 1997.
They met Joan (Yo-an) a representative and co-founder of Youth in Saranda, who spoke to us about life in this developing country now it is a democracy, and the group's aims to empower youth through the processes of democratisation, stimulation of dialogue and creativity.
They also visited an orphanage, Saranda Shelter, home to 31 children aged six to 18. Resources and funding are very scarce there, but there is a dedicated staff team and the children are clearly well-loved and cared for.
Children showed the visitors their bedrooms, communal areas and art room. They were curious and friendly, and keen to take selfies with Tam's iPhone!
August 13th 2016 Hope in the Heart has moved from Penzance and is now based just over the border in Plymouth, Devon. We will continue to maintain our partnerships in Cornwall, and develop new ones.
Soweto's first vp facilitators - and tam's first graduates.
July 1st 2016 Tam was recently given the honour of becoming the only Virtues Project Master Facilitator in England, and one of only two in the UK. Her first job in the role was to train the marvellous Siyabonga Mkhize and Luthando Shenxane, who have supported her on many VP workshops in Soweto, to be faciltators. They finished their training on Tam's last day in Soweto, and she was delighted to present them with their well-earned certificates before she left.
The Virtues Project has had a spectacular impact in the townships since Tam and Fenna introduced it in August last year. It is hoped that Siya and Luthando will continue to make significant positive change as facilitators in their community, with ongoing support from Tam and Hope in the Heart.
Mbuyisa Makhubu who tried to save his life. Hector was 12 years old and not even involved in the march.
Tam, Siya and Luthando met Antoinette at the museum to discuss possible collaborations between her enterprise, The Hector Pieterson Foundation, and Hope in the Heart.
Antoinette has worked for many years as an ambassador for peace and unity, using her experience and her passion for reconciliation to inspire people of all ages, especially youth. She is keen to come to the UK and work with us to raise awareness of the issues that surrounded the student uprising, and the inspiring example of the brave young activists who proved that youth, unitied for a common goal, can change the world.
25th June 2016 As Fenna and Charlotte traveled back to the UK, Tam flew to Port Elizabeth, where she delivered a two-day workshop at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, for a diverse group of adults including university staff, Masters students and leaders of local NGOs. The workshop was a collaboration between Tam and Dr Belinda du Plooy of NMMU. Brought together by Charter for Compassion International, they met in January in Port Elizabeth, and again in London in March.
The workshop, entitled by Belinda "Survivalism as a way of Living and Working Today", was an introduction to the Accept Perspective, the Virtues Project, the Charter for Compassion and Hope in the Heart's "What Hope Looks Like" art project. It was very successful, with excellent feedback, and Belinda hopes to obtain further funding for Tam to deliver full two-day workshops on the Accept Perspective and the Virtues Project as well as another "Survivalism" combination. The two also hope to take the "Survivalism" workshop to other universities in the UK, SA and elsewhere.
Youth DAy 2016 in soweto - commemorating brave change-makers!
16th June 2016 Tam, Fenna and Charlotte are overjoyed to have achieved their goal to spend June 16th in Soweto celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Student Uprising that turned the tide on apartheid and inspired the world.
When 10,000 brave children and youth marched peacefully to protest their brutal oppression by the apartheid government, many lost their lives and many others were punished and persecuted for years to come. But the apartheid system was eventually dismantled and Nelson Mandela became president as a result of their actions.
Hope in the Heart/YOMAD! has been building strong relationships with individuals and organisations in Soweto and other parts of South Africa since January 2015, with the aim of raising awareness of this inspiring period of recent history to challenge racism and hate-crime on both continents. We have learned a great deal from the descendants of the students who marched in 1976.
Working with Siya Mkhize and Luthando Shenxane, two exceptional young Sowetan musicians, who have become YOMAD volunteers and Virtues Project mentors, we have linked youth in the UK with their peers in Soweto, and explored values such as freedom, compassion, equality, courage, unity, and Ubuntu - the South African tradition that prioritises community and humanity.
Celebrating June 16th with the Siya, Luthando and the youth choir we have been working with has been the icing on the cake, and the end of the first phase of our South African Journey. We look forward to the next with enthusiasm and curiosity.
19th May 2016 Tam and Amina completed their training with the Anne Frank Trust by spending four days in London with the Trust's Aimee, observing and participating in an exhibition and workshops exploring the lives of the Frank family and the rise of the Nazi Party that was responsible for their persecution. The pair are looking forward to introducing the Trust's work to the South West as an effective tool to challenge racism and hate-crime.
We are delighted to welcome our friend and associate Amina Khalid as a director of Hope in the Heart. Amina will take the place of Maya Conway, who will continue to support us as a valued friend. Very many thanks to Maya for all she has done during her directorship. You can find out more about Amina on our Meet the Team page.
Tam and Amina have spent the past two days in York training with The Anne Frank Trust to challenge racism, prejudice and discrimination in the South West. They will be offering peer training and workshops in schools and throughout the community in Cornwall, Devon and beyond. The photos below show them together in York, and with excellent AFT trainer Heather Boyce.
During another successful four-week visit to Soweto, Tam delivered Virtues Project training to University of Johannesburg's Community Engagement Volunteers, and met with faculty members to discuss further collaboration with UJ. The training was a delight, and the students gave excellent feedback. Tam will be working with UJ again in June, delivering more training and supporting them as they become partners of Charter for Compassion International. She will also be training staff and students at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth.
As well as UJ, Tam was happy to introduce The Virtues to representatives of a number of Soweto NGO's, Gogo's (elders) in the community of Eldorado Park, a township bordering Soweto, and orphaned and vulnerable children from that same community. She also ran workshops for the youth of St Paul's Anglican Parish in Soweto, exploring issues of freedom, reconciliation, and the experience of being a young person in Soweto 40 years after the uprising. These will be followed up when Tam returns to Soweto for Youth Month in June.
Alan continued to introduce the game of petanque to Sowetan communities, and it was received with huge enthusiasm by people of all ages. We were able to donate several sets of boules (Petanque balls) to groups he worked with. Thanks to Kernow Petanque for donating them to us.
Tam and Alan enjoyed a morning with the senior citizens of Pimville Oldies, who sang to us, shared their creativity and taught us a new game in exchange for learning petanque. They were delighted to receive gifts from Cornwall's Tiny Soul. We also spent time with Pimville Future Stars football club, who were very grateful for the gifts of footballs and kit from Truro Community Football and Truro City FC.
Standing Together, Our London fundraising benefit, on 19th March, featuring Jean Paul Samputu and Friends, was a wonderful evening full of hope and celebration. Its finale, Hope in the Heart/YOMAD's anthem, We Are Beautiful, became a rousing chorus of intent and solidarity, as the audience joined in with Jean Paul to echo the song's message - We Are One! Huge thanks to Jean Paul for his ongoing support, Initiatives of Change for providing a venue for this joyful event, and YOMAD! volunteers Fenna, Sophie and Sam for their fantastic help on the day.
On March 18th, Tam spent a lovely, chilly afternoon in London with Dr Belinda du Plooy of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, during Belinda's first visit to the UK. Discussions were had and plans made for Tam and Belinda's collaboration at NMMU in June, when Tam will introduce students and staff to Hope in the Heart/YOMAD! and The ACCEPT Perspective.
In February, Tam went to Manchester to take part in Initiatives of Change UK's Sustainable Communities network gathering. Representatives of organisations across the UK, all working in the field of reconciliation and peacemaking, spent two days discussing collaborations and ways forward during these times of national and international challenge. Hope in the Heart gained several new contacts interested in working co-operatively and it was agreed that those present will meet regularly for the forseeable future.
on March 9th, Amina Khalid and documentary-maker Yee Liu Williams came to Cornwall to work with Tam for three days. Day One was spent at Cape Cornwall School in the morning, where Tam and Amina co-facilitate a workshop entitled "Where is Home", designed to inspire empathy and raise awareness of issues facing refugees fleeing their homes and coming to Europe. In the afternoon, students at Kehelland School impressed all three with their knowledge and expertise of The Virtues Project.
On Friday 11th, while Yee Liu filmed the proceedings, Tam and Amina spoke at an event to bring those supporting refugees in Cornwall together.
On Saturday 12th, the three visited Steve Double MP in Newquay. Tam is keen to borrow from iofc's model for engaging local politicians in community dialogue. She proposed that she might organise some events aimed to reconcile dissatisfied voters with their political leaders by finding common ground and humanity where there is currently division. Steve agreed to this in principle and promised to encourage his fellow Cornish MPs to take part.
Tam and Alan have just returned from the third Hope in the Heart visit to Soweto/South Africa, where they met with HITH friends old and new. The purpose of the visit was to further develop our project, Ubuntu Soweto, which aims to inspire young people to create positive change in their (our) world, inspired by the example of the youth who stood up against apartheid in Soweto on June 16th 1976.
Time was spent training NGO staff and young volunteers in the Virtues Project, and creating dialogue with youth and adults regarding community, identity and belonging, the philosophy of Ubuntu and how to create a better world. Existing links were strengthened and new ones developed in this 40th anniversary of the Student Uprising that turned the tide on apartheid.
In addition, Alan's introduction of the game of Petanque to the townships was met with great enthusiasm, and shared art, poetry, singing and cultural exchange brought joy to all Concerned.
The last part of November and first part of December have seen the last two two-day courses of our one-year Big Lottery funded Hope - Action - Transformation! project. Both well-attended and a joy to facilitate, as always, they took place in Brixton, London and Penzance Cornwall. Here is a short (very amateur - Tam is learning how to edit!) video featuring participants of the Brixton course, which was run in partnership with Disability Advice Service, Lambeth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTQ6S1GYsi4.
We were delighted to host our friend Amina Khalid when she traveled down from London to join us at our event at The Lugger Hotel, Penzance on Tues 8th December. The theme of the event was reconciliation, and both Tam and Amina used examples from post-apartheid South Africa; Tam telling of her summer living and working in the Soweto townships and Amina introducing the moving documentary film "Beyond Forgiving". Amina also told the story of her flight to the UK as a child refugee from Somalia, and her struggle to settle and be accepted in her new environment. Amina and Tam led a lively disucssion about forgiveness and reconciliation with those in attendance.
Tam and Amina also attended a number of meetings with people preparing to support refugees who will come to Cornwall in the near future, and addressing issues of hate crime and Islamophobia.
On Weds 9th December, they spent the morning at Kehelland Primary School, learning about how the Virtues Project is used throughout the school and talking with students about the Virtues. Amina told her story to the children as part of a discussion about how they might respond to refugee children coming tot heir community.
Ubuntu soweto - new project for 2016 seeks sponsors!
Following an extraordinary and wonderful month in Soweto this summer (see photos and video below), Tam and Fenna, plus YOMAD youth worker Charlotte Andrewartha-Dodd, are planning a return trip to start an exciting new project in 2016.
Ubuntu Soweto - There is no THEM, There is only US - will link groups of youth in Soweto, Cornwall and London to explore issues including personal and group empowerment, identity and belonging, culture, diversity, solutions to hate crime, and the story of Soweto 40 years after the Student Uprising that turned the tide on apartheid. A film will be made featuring participants in all three groups, which will subsequently be used in schools and youth groups to inspire dialogue on the above issues.
Hope in the Heart is seeking sponsors to make this project happen. Please visit our DONOR PAGE if you would like to contribute or know more.
This video offers a glimpse of the talented youth choir at PUSH Centre for Orphaned and Vulnerable Children, with whom Tam and Fenna worked throughout August.
We are looking forward to deepening the relationships we developed, by returning to Soweto to run workshops with this group, and create links with youth groups in Cornwall and London.
Tam and Fenna have just returned from a month in Soweto, where they lived as part of a township community, volunteered at a centre for orphaned and vulnerable children, worked with a wonderful youth choir, and trained staff and students at various institutions in The Five Strategies of the Virtues Project.
Our patron, Jean Paul Samputu, has kindly given us the use of one of his songs, entitled "We are Beautiful" to teach to groups of children and youth. The song is about how when young people unite as one they can change the world.
We are inviting young people Humphrey Davy School on Weds 22nd July, 5.30 - 7pm, to learn and sing the song. We will film them and take the film to South Africa as a form of greeting and empathic connection. We will teach the song to groups of young people in SA, film them too, and make a compilation to symbolise the unity alluded to in the lyrics.
If you are under 35(ish), and would like to sing with us, or have children who would like to, please come to Humphrey Davy School's drama hall on Wednesday. To get a head start, you can listen to the song and read/learn the lyrics here (we will only be singing the first verse and chorus).
Fenna and Tam will be going to South Africa in two weeks' time, volunteering for a month with various organisations, doing art and singing with children affected by HIV, as well as connecting with youth organisations and learning how we can collaborate with other Charter for Compassion partner organisations to take a stand against hate crime globally.
While we have made some great links and the trip looks set to be enormously beneficial for all concerned, we haven't done very well on the fundraising. Hope in the Heart doesn’t have the coffers to pay for this. Our Crowdfunder and attempts to find sponsorship have not been successful, and this project will put us into considerable debt.
Following several recent meetings with Tam in Brighton and London, prominent World musician and inspirational speaker Jean Paul Samputu has agreed to become Hope in the Heart's patron.
Jean Paul and Tam are currently working together on developing collaborative projects to combat hate crime and inspire unity and reconciliation within the global community.
A prominent World Musician, Jean Paul is a survivor of the genocide in Rwanda, in which most of his family was killed. He travels the world as a cultural ambassador for Rwanda, delivering a message of forgiveness, peace and reconciliation. Jean Paul is a living example of how to be an “Exceptional Survivor” and his music and work to unite the global community reflect the ethos of Hope in the Heart and YOMAD!
Hope - action - transformation!
Hope in the Heart's second Big Lotteries-funded "Hope - Action - Transformation!" course was held in Bethnal Green, in the East London borough of Tower Hamlets. Tower Hamlets is the most deprived borough in London, with poverty a major problem. We were pleased to be invited by fellow Charter for Compassion organisation Simple Gifts to share their premises and run the course for their clients and other women in the local area. We are planning more collaborative projects later in the year.
Eight new virtues project facilitators qualify in penzance!
Eight people qualified as Virtues Project facilitators in Penzance, at the end of Hope in the Heart's first round of Virtues Project training, brilliantly facilitated by visiting VP Master Facilitator Diana Macpherson, who joined us all the way from Scotland.
The Final Day of the course included a creativity-fest as participants crafted their personal images of "what hope looks like" for the Hope in the Heart collection. Small-group discussions and large-group explorations of the effects of the last five weeks' journey on participants' lives were undertaken. Hilarity arose during Soozie's "energiser" games, and in the final exercise, lasting gifts were exchanged, to be kept and revisited in times to come.
This has been a profound and poignant experience for participants and facilitators alike. We are hugely grateful to the wonderful women who took part and gave of themselves so graciously and generously. This first pilot course has been a resounding success due to this.
Day Four - the penultimate day of our course - saw participants exploring the remaining components of The Accept Perspective - Expression, Purpose and Transcendence.
We looked at the power of telling our story and being heard - either verbally or through creative means. We discussed how our personal story can give birth to a sense of purpose that enriches our own lives and the lives of others. And we contemplated those glimpses of "something bigger" that can help us to feel connected, and rise above our challenges, embracing Acceptance at a new level, ready to journey into the next cycle of the Accept Perspective spiral.
As always, there was much laughter, and also a few healing tears, as our community of women shared and learned, and prepared for the future beyond next week's final session of Hope - Action - Transformation!
Day Three of our course focused on the first three components of The Accept Perspective - Acceptance, Community and Compassion.
We explored the things we find difficult to accept, in ourselves, our lives and our world, and acknowledged how essential acceptance is in moving forward.
We looked at the different levels of community, including internal (subpersonalities), local and global, and where we fit in to that.
We shared thoughts and feelings about compassion, and its many overlaps, and the need for self-compassion within our lives. We laughed, we told our stories, we ate delicious soup and cake (courtesy of Whole Again Communities. https://wholeagaincommunitysoups.wordpress.com/).
Day two of our course for women focused on how we are ALL survivors. Participants heard the stories of "exceptional Survivors" worldwide, the common criteria that allow such individuals to transcend incredible adversity in order to live richer, more proactive lives, and how we are all capable of doing that. They were introduced to The Accept Perspective, shared poignant, inspiring personal stories of survival, and created pieces of art to symbolise their own remarkable transcendence over adversity (see below).
The first day of Hope in the Heart's first course, funded by the Big Lotteries, took place yesterday at the Col Coombe Centre in Penzance.
Hope - Action - Transfomation is a creative personal development course taking place one day a week for five weeks. It aims to facilitate improved mental, emotional and spiritual well-being and community cohesion. The first group is for women wishing to make positive change in their lives, and consists of a wonderful group of participants, from different age-groups and backgrounds, who have made a great start on this five-week shared journey.
What a delightful two days we have just had sharing the magic of The Virtues Project in a glorious Springtime St Just (Cornwall) setting.
Tam put the training she received in Botswana in February to good use when she ran her first two-day Introduction to the Virtues workshop with a wonderful group who all felt the benefit of this excellent programme.
The Virtues Project is a treasure that is widely used worldwide and endorsed by the United Nations. There will be more opportunities in June for people in Cornwall to attend an introductory workshop, and subsequently train to be facilitators if they wish. If anyone else would like to sample the Virtues, Tam would be delighted to travel and train.
Please contact us with any queries, and visit www.virtuesproject.com to see what it's all about.
SEEKING WOMEN WHO WANT ENRICH THEIR WORLD!
(Free Creative Personal Development course in Penzance for 10 women).
Thanks to funding from The Big Lotteries, we are offering a free creative personal development course entitled "Hope, Action, Transformation", starting 16th April, and running every Thursday at the Col Coombe Centre, Treneere, Penzance, for five weeks (9.30am to 4pm).
The course is for women who would like to live more richly and effectively; to find greater happiness, fulfilment and meaning in their lives, and to recognise and celebrate their potential and their rightful place in the wider world. Please contact us if you are interested in taking part.
With Lindiwe Tshabalala of Phaphama Initiatives in Soweto.
We met and heard from many others today whose work and aims share this ethos, and look forward to collaborating with them in the near future.
Tam, Fenna and Sophie have all been "up-country" in the past week, doing constructive things and getting constructive results. Tam and Sophie returned to Cornwall yesterday, and Fenna started her second year at university, but will pop back regularly to stay in the loop.
We have been remotely working on the launch of Compassionate Cornwall, one of a number of exciting events planned for International Compassion Week, 10th to 16th November. Watch this space for details soon!
New Compassionate Cornwall/Charter Partners will be invited to have a stand to publicise their work. Please see here for how to become a partner, and our Facebook Page and Twitter feed @HopeintheHearts for more news and pictures of our South East adventures. Please like the page (if you do!) and follow us on Twitter.
Compassionate corwall initiative taking off!
We are working on a partnership project with Compassionate Botswana that will take Tam, Fenna and Sophie to Cape Town and Botswana next summer to work with Charter Partners and City Initiative organisers there, and train to be facilitators of the Virtues Project, which is providing character education in 100 countries worldwide. Cape Town is already a compassionate city and Botswana is the charter's first compassionate country, despite, or perhaps because of, the serious challenges it faces every day.
Compassionate Botswana's founder, Magdalena Whoolery, visitied Cornwall this week and Tam and Sophie were able to spend time with her, discussing the ways in which we can support each other and how to take our partnership forward. Watch this space for more news of our time with Magdalena, and these exciting plans.
Whilst in London, we also spent time at two centres running valuable community projects.
We also spent time at the Islington Centre for Asylum Seekers and Refugees, (http://www.islingtoncentre.co.uk/) where we hijacked an English lesson to tell the participants all about Cornwall and answer their questions. The next day we ran an Art and Communication collage workshop, which was well-attended by people of many nationalities. It was a delightful experience for us, and we felt very welcome. Everyone seemed to enjoy the session and we hope to work with both Simple Gifts and Islington Centre again in the near future.
The day was a delightful mix of shared stories, food and creativity, empathy, exploration of our place within the global community, and the experiences that have made us who we are. Participants signed the international Charter for Compassion and heard about and wrote messages of support to friends of Hope in the Heart in different parts of the world.
We are happy to announce two more subsidised one-day workshops to celebrate hope, survival and the remarkable capacity of the human spirit to transcend hardship and move forward to a richer, more effective life.
Recent events have been delightful to run, and very well-received. See http://www.hopeintheheart.org/testimonials.html for comments from participants.
Our next workshops will take place at 22 York Street, Penzance, on 17th and 24th May. They can be attended individually, but are designed to be taken consecutively for maximum impact. Places are limited and booking essential.
Learn how exceptional individuals transcend adversity, find their authentic place in the world and live richer, more fulfilled and effective lives - and how you can too?
Identify your own personal image of hope, and learn how it has served you throughout your life, and can guide you through difficult times to come?
Spend a creative day in a welcoming, positive environment with a small group of like-minded others including a free shared lunch?
Some people do not just survive hardship, but transcend it to move forward more authentically, effectively and joyfully than they could otherwise have done, often contributing great gifts to the lives of others as they do so.
The Accept Perspective is a model for recovery/personal development based on the common factors observed in the lives of such Exceptional Survivors the world over. It consists of six areas for development, and is easy to understand and follow for your own journey through transcendence and transformation. It will be introduced in a dynamic and creative way as a tool you can take away and use throughout your life.
If you would like to take part in either or both of these days, you would be very welcome. Please contact me for further information or to book. Each costs £25 (payable in advance) and includes free resources, refreshments and a vegetarian lunch.
"What Does Hope Look Like?" Exhibition 8th to 19th April at the Lost and Found Cafe, Chapel Street, Penzance. Come along and sample images of hope from Cornwall and around the world, create and contribute your own if you feel inspired. And enjoy the Lost and Found's wonderful ambiance, coffee, cake and other delights!
Hope in the Heart's one-day workshop last Saturday 29th March, at the wonderful Lost and Found Cafe, Penzance, celebrated the remarkable capacity of the human spirit to recover and transcend against all odds.
In an environment of creative inspiration, the 10 participants learned how certain people are able to triumph over profound adversity to become "exceptional survivors", and how we can all move forward to live richer, more effective lives by following their examples.
The participants each focused on what hope means to them, and created an image based on their insights, to contribute to the Hope in the Heart Collection, and to use as a tool for recovery in the future. An enjoyable time was had by all (some comments from participants can be see here).