A high-level delegation from Boston, Massachusetts in the United States and Manchester visited Warrington’s pioneering Peace Centre to share experiences on how to recover after terrorist attacks.
The Boston delegation was visiting Manchester to share their experience of recovery and building community resilience following the Boston Marathon terrorist attack in April 2013 and to learn about the response following the Manchester attack in May 2017.
The delegation spent yesterday (Thursday) at the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Peace Centre to hear about the partnership between the Peace Foundation and Manchester City Council that builds community resilience, prevents extremism and they will find out about the assistance being provided to those people affected by the Manchester bombing.
The delegation was led by William B. Evans, Police Commissioner, City of Boston Police Department and his colleagues from the city’s Mayor’s office alongside representatives from US Non-Governmental Agencies.
They met the Founders of the charity Colin Parry OBE and Wendy Parry OBE, touring the Peace Centre and spending the day with members of the Foundation’s team.
The Peace Foundation works in partnership with Manchester City Council promoting community cohesion and working to prevent violent extremism through a series of projects in schools and colleges.
The Foundation also operates the national Survivors Assistance Network that assists victims and survivors of terrorism resident in Great Britain and is currently supporting over 700 people affected by the Manchester attack.
Nick Taylor, Chief Executive, who hosted the visit said: “We are delighted to welcome the delegation and hear about their experiences and present the approach we take.
“The attacks on Boston and Manchester share many similarities in that innocent people going about leisure activities were targeted. Our collective aim is to ensure that such violence never happens again and the two cities can work together to look at common challenges, discuss key lessons learnt to enable resilience to prevent violent extremism and build peace.”
Cllr Nigel Murphy, Manchester City Council’s executive member for neighbourhoods, said: “The US Embassy’s Countering Violent Extremism exchange programme has provided a unique opportunity for two very similar cities in different parts of the world to come together and learn from one another.
“Both cities have adopted very similar approaches, working with communities in equal partnership, which makes sure that following any incident or tragedy we can engage quickly and work closely to ensure our cities remains united against hate.”
The visit was part of a two-way community leadership exchange programme organized by the U.S. Embassy in London in partnership with Manchester City Council and the Boston Mayor’s Office, exploring community recovery in the aftermath of a terrorist attack and prevention of identity-based violence and extremism. The exchange consists of two delegations, one from Manchester and the other from Boston.
The Manchester delegation visited Boston and Washington, DC in December.
Warrington’s Peace Centre developed from the 1993 IRA bomb attack on the town in March 1993 claiming the lives of 12-year-old Tim Parry and three-year-old Johnathan Ball and injurying more than 50 shoppers, including young mother Bronwen Vickers who later died from associated injuries.
The incident which sparked outrage around the world, is credited with being a major turning point in the Northern Ireland troubles.
