Exploring Forgiveness, Justice, and Hope: Join Our Upcoming Events and Conversations
Online Event: Forgiveness and Criminal Justice
“Because crime hurts, justice should heal.” – John Braithwaite
We are excited to invite you to join our Creative Lead, Sandra Barefoot, Creative Strategist, Jacob Dunne, eminent forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Gwen Adshead, and two of our storytellers, Anne-Marie Cockburn and Dunia Shafik, for an online inquiry exploring forgiveness and criminal justice.
These topics have been some of our core investigations over the past 20 years, particularly in our prison programme, RESTORE. Forgiveness is as difficult to grapple with in these spaces as it is in the public domain, and it leads us to contemplate - ‘are we more than the worst thing we have ever done?’
This online event will run from 5.00pm-6.30pm on Thursday 13th March. Please click the button below to purchase a ticket.
Live Event: Living Well - Beyond the Tragedy: A Post-Show Conversation at the Young Vic
Join us on March 11th at the Young Vic for Living Well – Beyond the Tragedy, a special post-show discussion curated in collaboration between The Forgiveness Project and Jacob Dunne. This conversation will explore resilience, transformation, and the ways we find hope and meaning in the aftermath of profound loss and adversity.
Co-chaired by Jacob (whose memoir Right From Wrong inspired Punch) and Sandra, the panel will bring together voices who embody extraordinary strength and courage: We will hear from two of our storytellers; Dunia Shafik, a mother whose son is serving a life sentence, and Anne-Marie Cockburn, a mother who lost her 15-year-old daughter Martha when she took a half gram of pure crystallised MDMA.
As a former offender, whose actions led to a tragic loss of life, Jacob is now working in criminal justice reform and, in Punch, his journey of connection and healing is front and centre. In the play, Jacob meets and builds a relationship with Joan, whose son was killed, it is a dynamic that reflects the real-life experience of forging understanding across deep divides. Dunia, in turn, represents Jacob’s own mother, who tragically passed away from alcoholism. Together, they embody the ripple effect of harm - the way trauma extends to all sides, impacting families, communities, and generations.
This conversation will honour those ripples while offering a space to reflect on how, no matter which side of harm we find ourselves on, we have the capacity to come together, to support one another, and to heal. Because healing is not something we can do alone. In this discussion, we will explore how we can still find joy and hope, even in the face of profound loss.
This live event will run on Thursday 11th March following the production of Punch. Access to this post-show discussion is only valid with a ticket to the play. Please click the button below to purchase.
Listen Now: Right From Wrong Podcast, hosted by Jacob Dunne
How can we address the root causes of crime, heal communities, and find sustainable solutions to society’s toughest challenges?
In his podcast, Right From Wrong, Jacob draws on his lived experience and his advocacy for restorative justice to explore the themes of crime, punishment, and redemption. In this first season, Jacob reflects on the night a single punch led to a manslaughter conviction. Through powerful conversations with his family, friends, mentors, and the victim’s parents, the show delves into the event’s far-reaching consequences, examining guilt, forgiveness, and transformation, and highlighting Jacob’s journey of rehabilitation.
Later in the season, Jacob will be joined by Sandra, where they will reflect on their work together and Jacob’s return to prison as one of our RESTORE storytellers.
Listen to all other episodes via the button below.
Watch Now: Prisons: On the Brink?
“Sometimes, the narrative in the media isn’t representative of the whole system and the general population of the prisons. I wanted to do an informative documentary that looks into the issues and how we got into this problem." - Jacob Dunne
Join Jacob as he investigates what can be done about the UK's prison crisis. Throughout the documentary, which aired on Thursday, January 30th on ITV, Jacob presents a balanced exploration of the impact of the criminal justice system and interrogates the impact of high imprisonment rates and increasingly dilapidated prison conditions.
The documentary can be viewed in the UK by clicking on the button below.