Active Hope

Description of Class

A payment of £50 will secure your place. You will be invited to make a donation to the Brighton Buddhist Centre. In a world unravelling from the weight of climate change, conflict, mental health crises, and ecological breakdown, it’s easy to feel powerless. But what if this moment—however overwhelming—could also be a call to action, to purpose, and to connection? Active Hope offers a way to meet these times not with despair, but with courage and clarity. Based on the ground breaking work of Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone, this approach isn’t about wishful thinking—it’s about finding your strength, acting for what matters, and nourishing a hopeful, life-sustaining future. This course is an opportunity to step into friendship and connection with others so that we are not alone and our hopes and intentions can be held with the wisdom, compassion and common humanity that the Active Hope programme helps us find in ourselves and for others. It runs over three evenings in April and an intensive weekend on 9th/10th May. Through the sharing of key ideas and exploring these with the help of imagination, story and meditation it is designed to help you find joy in the midst of difficulty and to nourish and grow your capacity to care for what you love. Gina lives and works in Brighton as a counsellor psychotherapist. Gina has been a gatherer of human and relationship stories. Her interest and passion for what is happening in the world is continually shaped by the rich learning that comes from stepping into deep, courageous and honest encounters with others both in her work and with friends and family. She believes that “stories happen through people” (a beautiful quote from the Active Hope course) and people are made by nature and our culture. Gina has facilitated several Active Hope groups and has been branching out into transformative group and personal work held in nature. Santacitta is a retired GP who also studied Traditional Chinese medicine, used acupuncture in her practice and later trained as a Jungian Analyst. She is a member of the Triratna Buddhist Order and a co- founder of Triratna Earth Sangha. Santacitta has been concerned about the climate and ecological emergency for about 30 - 40 years and became involved in XR in 2019, particularly the October rebellion. Since then she has been involved with XR Buddhists and also with local activists of all faiths. She has been interested in the work of Joanna Macy for many years.