This series of six live conversations was recorded between October 2020 – April 2021 delving deep into the work of RESTORE, The Forgiveness Project’s award-winning prison programme. In conversation with the storytellers as well as a participant and former officer, these enquiries, like the work of RESTORE, explore our shared humanity and ask us to imagine – if we had lived each other’s lives, would we have done things any differently? 

Since running the conversations we have had a lot of interest from people asking for access, both for personal interest and professional development. We offer them here as powerful intimate conversations on lives deeply considered as well as models of conversation and facilitation. We offer them fully subtitled on the Vimeo platform. We ask a small fee for all videos, both to support our future work and also to afford privacy and respect to our storytellers who have been willing to share so much of themselves in these intimate conversations.

Siobhan took part in the RESTORE programme as a participant whilst serving a 6-year sentence. She then volunteered with RESTORE whilst serving her sentence and now released, works with RESTORE sharing her story. Siobhan says of RESTORE, ‘this programme is life changing for me’.

Siobhan works for the Nelson Trust as a Team Leader. Working to support women who are coming into contact with the criminal justice system.

Exploring how Marian found the most creative way to turn towards her pain and understand her place in it. She explains how she chose prison work as a form of justice that supported a profound understanding of how we might restore the human spirit. Learn more

Exploring how collective and systemic trauma shapes our identities and leads us to live a life where a part of us is hidden from the world. Jason shares his insights into how violence shapes the lives of young men in prison and how he himself refuses to live a life of violence. Learn more

Exploring the depths of grief and the unexpected place of love that can be found in the most barren of spaces. Anne-Marie examines how her curiosity to discover the story behind the story nourished a profound realisation of mutuality with men and women in prison. Learn more

This conversation offers a rare opportunity to listen to a former prison officer share his own story and how that impacts on his relationships with the men in prison, offering a space for kindness, empathy and compassion to emerge. Learn more

This conversation examines how prison saved Siobhan’s life and reveals her fears of whether she would be safe enough and good enough to share her story when there was nowhere to hide. Learn more

Exploring Jacob’s return to prison as a storyteller, and the unexpected resentments and challenges that arose – ultimately revealing a need for Jacob to realise the limits of sharing his story. Learn more