By Georgia Gill | Administrator
We are delighted to reflect on the activities of the previous year and, as we welcome spring of 2026 with open arms, we are, as always, grateful for the generous outpouring of support that has remained the lifeblood of our work.
One of our current focuses is our Forgiveness Cafe - a new, interactive model of communal discussion that we piloted this time last year. After four online sessions and four in-person gatherings, it's fair to say that we are delighted by the positive response our attendees have had to this work.
We have been able to bring the Cafe into our work in prisons: Late last year, our Executive Director, Sandra Barefoot, co-facilitated a Forgiveness Cafe gathering to a group of women at HMP Eastwood Park, alongside long time collaborator and storyteller Anne-Marie Cockburn. Sandra has reflected on the significanc of seeding this new branch of our Cafe, and what it means to be able to bring it to the prison estate, within which we have been engaged for many years:
"In November 2025 we commenced a new funded opportunity to explore five Forgiveness Cafe's with women who previously attended our RESTORE programme in the NEXUS Unit at HMP Eastwoof Park. We decided to begin these Cafes exploring collective collaging to bring forth conversations in a different way. The attached collage is from a Cafe session we led recently, and it represents the diverse thoughts, feelings, textures and images that arise from these conversations."
The Cafe brought up many questions and thoughts that continue to be explored; “Am I worthy or deserving of forgiveness?”; “Who is forgiveness actually for?”; “I forgave too easily so how do I change?”; “What exactly am I forgiving?” and “it’s unbearable that another family member has forgiven, yet I cannot”.
Alongside this work, we are continuing to run the Cafe both online and in-person. On Saturday, January 31st our Executive Director, Sandra Barefoot, delivered the first in-person Forgiveness Cafe of this year at Keele University, alongside Senior Lecturer in Social and Political Psychology and long-time collaborator of The Forgiveness Project Dr. Masi Noor. This gathering explored the art and psychology of forgiveness and invited participants to bring and discuss their own experiences and contemplations in a gently guided group environment.
Speaking after the event, an attendee shared the following:
"I am isolated, I think a lot to myself. But I have realised it's not just me thinking like this... and where people's core strengths come from to deal with things. I realise there is no actual right way to do things. I actually don't think anyone is not right and that gives me peace."
We are delighted that these gatherings continue to garner such positive responses. We're in the process of devloping a range of new in-person Cafes across England, alongside our pre-existing online series - wewill be reporting on each of these when they arise via our social media and in our Substack newsletter - watch that space for more information on our Cafe initiative!
By Georgia Gill | Administrator
By Georgia Gill | Administrator
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