THE F WORD: images of forgiveness, tells the stories of people who are learning to forgive, reconcile or move on after their lives have been shattered by violence, tragedy and injustice. This must-see exhibition will be at Tavistock Town Hall between 10am-4pm from 24-26 February.

The exhibition features the story of Tavistock’s Camilla Carr and Jon James, who were held hostage in Chechnya for 14-months after going there to set up a rehabilitation centre for traumatised war-children.  Camilla and Jon will be giving a talk about their experiences on Tuesday 22 February at Tavistock United Reformed Church on Russell Street at 7:30pm.

This exhibition and talk from Camilla and Jon have been initiated by Tavistock Quakers with the support of many other local community groups, to ensure that as many people as possible have an opportunity to see the images and learn from the stories.

The Forgiveness Project is the brainchild of British journalist Marina Cantacuzino and photographer Brian Moody. Tired of revenge and retaliation dominating the headlines, they travelled to places including The USA, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Rwanda, Israel and Palestine and collected stories of 26 people who have chosen to take the challenging and often painful journey towards forgiveness.

These stories include Richard McCann, whose mother was the first victim of the Yorkshire Ripper; Marian Partington, whose sister was murdered by Fred and Rosemary West; and Andrew Rice, whose brother was killed in the World Trade Centre bombing.

Patron of The Forgiveness Project, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, describes forgiveness as a journey out of victimhood. “Forgiveness does not mean condoning what has been done. It means taking what has happened seriously and not minimising it; drawing out the sting in the memory that threatens to poison our entire existence. In these forgiveness stories, there is real healing.”

Camilla Carr will also be giving a talk to students at Tavistock College, where the exhibition will be displayed for students to view in mid-February. Parts of the exhibition will then be on display at various venues in Tavistock during the week leading up to 24 February.

Tinhay Building Supplies was formed by Robert Sorrell and Paul Davies in 1999 when they spotted an opportunity to open a site in Lifton, Devon. In 2007 they expanded by opening a branch in Launceston, Cornwall as they had seen an increase in business from that area, and now they are opening their third branch in Tavistock, Devon on Pixon Lane.  

The new site is scheduled to open in early spring 2011 and will bring the total number of company employees from six in 1999 to 26.

Robert Sorrell, Director, said: “We were fortunate in that we started in 1999 with the right site, in the right location and with the right business model.  People in the building trade are busy and need good and prompt service and expert advice as well as competitive prices.

 “When we expanded into Launceston it meant we could offer an improved service over a wider area, and the Tavistock site will increase our capability even more.

 “Tinhay Building supplies combine the best practices of a national company with the friendly personal service and excellent product knowledge of a local company. We both live and work in the local area and feel very strongly about supporting local business whenever possible.

“Each of our sites has a slightly different product and service range but we make sure our customers can take advantage of all three whichever site they choose to visit. If we do not have something in stock at the site they choose to visit, we will arrange for it to be there a few hours later.

“We anticipate that our new Tavistock branch will do a lot of business and we are looking forward to the opening.”

 The Director of the Convergence Partnership Office for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Carleen Kelemen, will officially open next week’s business show at St Mellion International.