Monday, May 26, 2014

Jimmy Mizen went out to buy a lottery ticket. A few minutes later, he was dead – fatally wounded in an unprovoked attack in the local bakery.



Margaret adn Barry Mizen

Jimmy – A Legacy of Peace

On the morning after his sixteenth birthday, 10th May 2008, Jimmy Mizen went out to buy his first lottery ticket. A few minutes later, he was dead – fatally wounded in an unprovoked attack in the local bakery. As calls for retribution began, his parents appealed for calm. Barry and Margaret Mizen chose to respond to Jimmy’s death by rejecting violence and revenge. Instead, they now dedicate their lives to helping young people find a better way, through the Jimmy Mizen Foundation.
Jimmy: A Legacy of Peace is a story of heartbreak, hope, forgiveness and courage. “We need to understand [our young people] in order to find out why those who hurt others do what they do,” said Barry in a recent interview with The Guardian. “We don’t need any more laws. We have the power to build the sort of communities we want to live in. It’s down to us. We shouldn’t need to wait for the police or politicians.”
Margaret and Barry, both recently awarded the MBE in the New Year’s Honours List and who attended Greenbelt in 2011 (you can download their recorded talk, Out of the Darkness: Ending the cycle of violence, here), will speak tonight at St James’s Church, Piccadilly about their journey of faith through tragic loss, and their work for peace with the Foundation dedicated to Jimmy’s memory. Co-author Justin Butcher and acclaimed actress Amaka Okafor will read excerpts from the book, described by The Guardian‘s Erwin James (at Greenbelt in 2012) as “One of the most moving books I have ever read.”