Richard Moore is an ordinary person from Northern Ireland who overcame terrible adversity to achieve something extraordinary. When he was a child, Richard was shot by a soldier and left blind. Richard could have responded with anger. But instead, he forgave the soldier who shot him and spent his life trying to help others. In 1996 Richard felt the need to harness all that he had learned and put it at the service of humanity, particularly children around the world who have been caught in the crossfire of poverty. Richard founded Children in Crossfire, therefore what began as a tragedy and ended as a triumph of the human spirit to overcome adversity.

The Dalai Lama calls Richard his hero. The Dalai Lama talks a lot about compassion, but Richard is a living example of what it means to be compassionate. But Richard is a modest man with a sense of humour: when asked about the Dalai Lama’s opinion of him, Richard says that the Dalai Lama must be a very bad judge of character!

Richard has been generous enough to agree to feature in our compassion module sharing his insight into how compassion has shaped and benefited his life.

Claire has kindly agreed to be the subject of our courage module sharing her experience of working in areas of humanitarian crisis. Claire discussed and how inner courage enabled her to overcome many challenges in her life. Claire has won numerous national & international awards, including the International Human Rights and Nursing Awards, 2007, from the International Centre for Nursing Ethics (ICNE).

Emma Slade had an international career as a highly successful CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst). She was known for her dynamism, intelligence, and analytical skills. But a deep-seated desire to inquire into the broader aspects of what it is to be a human being was brought to the surface following a life-changing visit to Jakarta, Indonesia.

Emma began her journey from banking to Buddhism, which eventually led her to take ordination as a Buddhist nun and founded the charity Opening Your Heart To Bhutan. Her well-honed financial and management skills are now benefiting the charity which changes the lives of hundreds of disabled children in the small Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.

Emma has been generous in sharing her experience to form part of our happiness module. Emma’s journey and reflections offer an opportunity to explore the nature of happiness.

Dame Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE is a British space scientist and science educator. She is an Honorary Research Associate in University College London’s Department of Physics and Astronomy. Since February 2014, she has co-presented the long-running astronomy TV programme The Sky at Night. 

Maggie will feature in our Wisdom module exploring the concepts and challenges of defining wisdom and its importance to society and individuals. Sharing the story, Maggie will outline her journey to become one of the UK’s most accomplished astrophysicists and public communicators of science.