Nick Hooper on face masks and utilitarianism.

Thought for the Day – 28th June 2021 Nick Hooper Today we’ve been hearing about a remarkable young woman, Megan Abernethy-Hope, receiving the Diana Award for helping to launch the ‘Billy Chip’ scheme for rough sleepers and raise money for the hospital. This set me thinking about what motivates her, and many others like her, to make such selfless acts.

Marina Cantacuzino gave a wonderful presentation to Bristol Humanists on forgiveness on 7 September 2020. The meeting was held via zoom. Unfortunately some of the talk is missing from the video, but all of the Q&A is included. Marina is an award-winning journalist who has worked for most British mainstream publications including The Guardian, The Telegraph and Hello magazine. In 2003, in response to the invasion of Iraq, she embarked on a personal project collecting stories of people who had lived through trauma and injustice, and sought forgiveness rather than revenge. As a result Marina founded The Forgiveness Project and started speaking widely about forgiveness and restorative storytelling. The Forgiveness Project provides resources and experiences to help people examine and overcome their own unresolved grievances. The testimonies they collect bear witness to the resilience of the human spirit and act as a powerful antidote to narratives of hate and dehumanisation, presenting alternatives to cycles of conflict, violence, crime and injustice. At the heart of The Forgiveness Project is an understanding that restorative narratives have the power to transform lives; not only supporting people to deal with issues in their own lives, but also building a climate of tolerance, resilience, hope and empathy. This idea informs their work across multiple platforms – in publications and educational resources, through the international F Word exhibition, in public conversations, and their RESTORE prison programme.