TAMAR COMMUNITY PEACE TRUST
In 2015 a group of committed Launceston citizens formed the Tamar Community Peace Trust with the aim of promoting a more peaceful approach to conflict resolution – from community, social, environmental and global perspectives.
The Peace Trust
The concept of the Peace Trust was initiated by long-time peace activist Mrs Jean Hearn. Jean, now in her mid-nineties, was inspired by the late Tasmanian Governor Peter Underwood’s 2014 Anzac Day address where he issued a challenge to all Tasmanians to “actively strive for peace on a daily basis and learn ways of resolving conflict without violence”. He challenged us, in remembrance of all those who died or were damaged in war, to “do something, to learn how to create peace”.
Peace, in this context, is not only about the conflict of wars: it is about our behaviour as citizens of local communities and global societies. It relates to the conflict and violence in our homes, workplaces and on our streets, and it is also about celebrating diversity.
The Trust, under the stewardship of Trustees Donna Bain (Chair), Josephine Archer, Mark Baker, Tamara Foster Janine Healey (Trust Treasurer), aims to achieve the following objectives:
To raise the awareness of peace issues through the arts, education and the media;
To promote peaceful strategies for resolving conflict at all levels from personal, community, to international;
To translate the desire for peace into action and offer people, especially young people, a course for hope and a motive for action;
To build a world free from injustice, threats of war and violence;
To encourage the artist in every one of us to express peace and tolerance as ways of overcoming violence
In 2016 the Trust will deliver two key initiatives to fulfil Trust objectives: the 2016 Tamar Valley Peace Festival and the establishment of the Peter Underwood Peace Garden.
The Peter Underwood Peace Garden
In support of the Peace Trust and its activities, the City of Launceston allocated land for the installation of the Peter Underwood Peace Garden in Launceston’s Kings Park.
After a year of fundraising and planning, the first stage of the Garden, opened on the 7th April 2016, will provide a peaceful place for relaxation and reflection.
“Actively strive for peace on a daily basis and learn ways of resolving conflict without violence. ”
What We've Achieved
In support of the Peace Trust and its activities, the City of Launceston allocated land for the installation of the Peter Underwood Peace Garden in Launceston’s Kings Park.