40 Years of Building Bridges for Peace with Jo Berry

“I’m not an extraordinary person, but something extraordinary happened to me,” says Frome resident Jo Berry. After her father was killed in the Brighton bomb of 1984, Jo reached out to the ex-IRA combatant Patrick Magee who had planted it. Determined to avoid bitterness and blame, she’s been in an unprecedented dialogue with Patrick for the past 24 years, and has travelled to places of conflict all over the world sharing her experience of how kindness and forgiveness can lead to understanding and peace. At a time of increasing polarization and demonization, join us for a fascinating exploration of what it takes to challenge our assumptions, certainties and judgments, and of how we also can develop empathy for people we label the ‘other’.

Jo is a Visiting Fellow at the University of Nottingham and was the subject of the 2001 BBC documentary “Facing the Enemy.” You can find out more at www.buildingbridgesforpeace.org, the charity that she founded in 2009.

The evening will be chaired by Frome facilitator Neil Oliver, who supports Jo’s international peacebuilding work. After the lecture there will be a break for refreshments followed by Q&A.

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There will be a paid bar in the interval serving alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

Booking essential – and please add a donation to help with the costs of organising this event. Any surplus will go towards the work of The Good Heart – providing pay-it-forward meals, a warm space and promoting kindness – and will enable The Good Heart to organise another Kindness Festival in 2025. Thank you!