Hope in the Heart continues to grow and learn through past and ongoing collaborations with organisations around the world, including Hiroshima Japan, South Africa, Kenya, USA, Costa Rica and Albania. Please scroll right
The founding of Hope in the Heart in 2012 was inspired by Tam's first visit to Hiroshima a year earlier. Having been a peace activist during the 1980s, Tam expected the city that was destroyed by the first atomic bomb used in combat to be a dark and hostile place. The beautiful, vibrant community that welcomed her changed her life, demonstrating the power of hope and reconciliation to transcend devastation. Hiroshima's recent history of literally "rising from the ashes" has become a model and inspiration for many people who have experienced trauma and adversity, and Tam's successful AccepTTranscend Model for Transformation was very much shaped by her time there.
She has returned to the city several times since, to work with survivors of the atomic bombing and members of the city's remarkable peace culture community. Hope in the Heart has strong partnerships and relationships with Peace Culture organisations in Hiroshima and the US, including the World Friendship Centre, 8th River Hiroshima, Peace Culture Village and the Oleander Inititaitve...
The founding of Hope in the Heart in 2012 was inspired by Tam's first visit to Hiroshima a year earlier. Having been a peace activist during the 1980s, Tam expected the city that was destroyed by the first atomic bomb used in combat to be a dark and hostile place. The beautiful, vibrant community that welcomed her changed her life, demonstrating the power of hope and reconciliation to transcend devastation. Hiroshima's recent history of literally "rising from the ashes" has become a model and inspiration for many people who have experienced trauma and adversity, and Tam's successful AccepTTranscend Model for Transformation was very much shaped by her time there.
She has returned to the city several times since, to work with survivors of the atomic bombing and members of the city's remarkable peace culture community. Hope in the Heart has strong partnerships and relationships with Peace Culture organisations in Hiroshima and the US, including the World Friendship Centre, 8th River Hiroshima, Peace Culture Village and the Oleander Inititaitve...
Peace Education Programmes in Hiroshima (bespoke immersive visits available for groups)
Hope in the Heart now collaborates regularly with the US/Hiroshima-based Oleander Initiative, accompanying groups of teachers, academics, community leaders and others to visit Hiroshima and take part in the OP's unique and powerful peace education programmes. These generally run over five or six intensive days, during which participants meet A-bomb survivors, peacemakers and academics, visit relevant sites, experience Japanese culture, and explore "The Lessons of Hiroshima" - encompassing restorative communication, resilience, community cohesion, and peacemaking beyond merely the rejection of war.
In March 2025, Tam coordinated a return visit for Oleander staff to come to the UK and visit organisations and educational establishments, sharing Hiroshima peace culture and learning about compassionate/peacemaking practices - especially in the area of mental health and wellbeing - in London, Essex and rural Norfolk.
We are delighted to have now developed an ongoing partnership between Hope in the Heart, the University of Essex Clinical Psychology Dept, and the Oleander Initiative.
If you or your group are interested in taking part in a Hiroshima peace programme, please email [email protected]. We would be happy to work with you to develop a bespoke programme to suit your needs.
Hope in the Heart now collaborates regularly with the US/Hiroshima-based Oleander Initiative, accompanying groups of teachers, academics, community leaders and others to visit Hiroshima and take part in the OP's unique and powerful peace education programmes. These generally run over five or six intensive days, during which participants meet A-bomb survivors, peacemakers and academics, visit relevant sites, experience Japanese culture, and explore "The Lessons of Hiroshima" - encompassing restorative communication, resilience, community cohesion, and peacemaking beyond merely the rejection of war.
In March 2025, Tam coordinated a return visit for Oleander staff to come to the UK and visit organisations and educational establishments, sharing Hiroshima peace culture and learning about compassionate/peacemaking practices - especially in the area of mental health and wellbeing - in London, Essex and rural Norfolk.
We are delighted to have now developed an ongoing partnership between Hope in the Heart, the University of Essex Clinical Psychology Dept, and the Oleander Initiative.
If you or your group are interested in taking part in a Hiroshima peace programme, please email [email protected]. We would be happy to work with you to develop a bespoke programme to suit your needs.
Global Compassion
Hope in the Heart has been involved in the global compassion movement since 2014, when we became a partner organisation of the Charter for Compassion. Tam was a member of the Charter's international team for several years, and Sophie and Tam made many friends and contacts around the world through the Charter and other compassion-focused networks, collaborating in various contexts online and in person.
Sophie joined Hope in the Heart as a volunteer at the age of 17, after spending a month at an orphanage in Kenya, where she was inspired to encourage other young people to broaden their horizons through connecting with communities in other cultures and finding ways to support people in need. She remained in touch with the orphanage staff and residents for many years.
Sophie subsequently worked at the UK headquarters of Initiatives of Change, "a global movement of people who are changing the world for the better - starting with themselves." There she collaborated with international changemakers from many countries, and facilitated workshops for the organisation's Refugees as Rebuilders initiative.
Both Tam and Sophie are Master Facilitators of global character education programme The Virtues Project.
Directors, Forough, Tomi and Ami-Mai also have rich and significant international connections.
As refugees who have recently navigated the UK's harsh asylum system and settled in the UK, Forough and Tomi bring invaluable experience, skills and knowledge both from their countries of origin and the diverse communities in which they now live and interact. Both contribute inestimable gifts and understanding to HITH's services.
Ami-Mai's experience as an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher for over 10 years has brought her into contact with many people from different parts of the world. She is a DELTA qualified (level 7) teacher trainer and has written and delivered teacher training in North Brazil. She has trained international Lawyers in Legal English and business clients for IELTS exams, travelled for extended periods and taught in South America (Argentina, Peru, Bolivia and Chile) and South East Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia & Laos).
Honouring South Africa's Fight for Freedom
During the 1980s Tam was a member of the UK's anti-apartheid movement. When, en route to training as a Virtues Project facilitator in Botswana in 2015 (where she also took part in community events and delivered some creative/compassion-based workshops), she had the opportunity to visit Soweto, seat of the student uprising that turned the tide on the brutal apartheid system in South Africa in 1976, she had another profound experience of being welcomed and inspired.
Tam stayed in the home of Lindiwe Tshabalala, still a close friend and collaborator. Lindi leads the team at Phaphama Initiatives. Born out of the struggle and fight for human rights and equality, Phaphama is a social investment enterprise with over thirty years of experience in nurturing people and creating resilient, resourceful and caring communities.
Recognising how much we in the UK - and especially our young people - could learn about combatting hate, and civil society organising and activism, from the courageous former freedom-fighters in Soweto, Tam returned to the townships many times between 2015 and 2020, taking interested others, working with community organisations and developing lasting friendships. A highlight of this ongoing association was the attendance of the Youth Day celebrations on the fortieth anniversary of the student uprising.
Tam also visited Cape Town on two occasions, collaborating with Charter for Compassion partner organisations and running a workshop for The Institute for the Healing of Memories, with whom she maintains a connection. She worked three consecutive summers at Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth, training staff, graduate students and local community leaders in the AccepTTranscend Model for Transformation (which she developed in 2012, also inspired by her time in Hiroshima) and the Virtues Project, both also delivered at the University of Johannesburg.
In January 2020 she delivered a workshop on the same subjects to postgraduate students at the remarkable United Nations' University for Peace in Costa Rica.
Hope in the Heart has been involved in the global compassion movement since 2014, when we became a partner organisation of the Charter for Compassion. Tam was a member of the Charter's international team for several years, and Sophie and Tam made many friends and contacts around the world through the Charter and other compassion-focused networks, collaborating in various contexts online and in person.
Sophie joined Hope in the Heart as a volunteer at the age of 17, after spending a month at an orphanage in Kenya, where she was inspired to encourage other young people to broaden their horizons through connecting with communities in other cultures and finding ways to support people in need. She remained in touch with the orphanage staff and residents for many years.
Sophie subsequently worked at the UK headquarters of Initiatives of Change, "a global movement of people who are changing the world for the better - starting with themselves." There she collaborated with international changemakers from many countries, and facilitated workshops for the organisation's Refugees as Rebuilders initiative.
Both Tam and Sophie are Master Facilitators of global character education programme The Virtues Project.
Directors, Forough, Tomi and Ami-Mai also have rich and significant international connections.
As refugees who have recently navigated the UK's harsh asylum system and settled in the UK, Forough and Tomi bring invaluable experience, skills and knowledge both from their countries of origin and the diverse communities in which they now live and interact. Both contribute inestimable gifts and understanding to HITH's services.
Ami-Mai's experience as an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher for over 10 years has brought her into contact with many people from different parts of the world. She is a DELTA qualified (level 7) teacher trainer and has written and delivered teacher training in North Brazil. She has trained international Lawyers in Legal English and business clients for IELTS exams, travelled for extended periods and taught in South America (Argentina, Peru, Bolivia and Chile) and South East Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia & Laos).
Honouring South Africa's Fight for Freedom
During the 1980s Tam was a member of the UK's anti-apartheid movement. When, en route to training as a Virtues Project facilitator in Botswana in 2015 (where she also took part in community events and delivered some creative/compassion-based workshops), she had the opportunity to visit Soweto, seat of the student uprising that turned the tide on the brutal apartheid system in South Africa in 1976, she had another profound experience of being welcomed and inspired.
Tam stayed in the home of Lindiwe Tshabalala, still a close friend and collaborator. Lindi leads the team at Phaphama Initiatives. Born out of the struggle and fight for human rights and equality, Phaphama is a social investment enterprise with over thirty years of experience in nurturing people and creating resilient, resourceful and caring communities.
Recognising how much we in the UK - and especially our young people - could learn about combatting hate, and civil society organising and activism, from the courageous former freedom-fighters in Soweto, Tam returned to the townships many times between 2015 and 2020, taking interested others, working with community organisations and developing lasting friendships. A highlight of this ongoing association was the attendance of the Youth Day celebrations on the fortieth anniversary of the student uprising.
Tam also visited Cape Town on two occasions, collaborating with Charter for Compassion partner organisations and running a workshop for The Institute for the Healing of Memories, with whom she maintains a connection. She worked three consecutive summers at Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth, training staff, graduate students and local community leaders in the AccepTTranscend Model for Transformation (which she developed in 2012, also inspired by her time in Hiroshima) and the Virtues Project, both also delivered at the University of Johannesburg.
In January 2020 she delivered a workshop on the same subjects to postgraduate students at the remarkable United Nations' University for Peace in Costa Rica.
Please contact [email protected] if you would like to discuss training, consultancy or presentations.