Where it all began

In October 2002, a deadly attack in Bali, Indonesia took the lives of 202 people, both locals and foreign tourists. Among them was Daniel Braden, a 28-year-old Marketing Manager who was visiting Bali for a rugby tournament. The tragic loss of Daniel spurred his family to set up Encompass Trust. They believed that it was ultimately a deep-seated misunderstanding, rather than hatred, which motivated the terrorists who perpetrated these attacks against Daniel and so many others.

Daniel’s family and his long-term partner, Jun Hirst, set up the trust in his memory, with the mission of bringing together young people in conflict-driven communities, to help them try to better understand one another and ultimately bridge the gaps that divide them.

An application for charitable status was fast-tracked by the UK Charity Commission, and by February 2003, Encompass – The Daniel Braden Reconciliation Trust – was registered and operational.

A brief history

In May 2003, with the help of Richard Gozny (British Ambassador to Indonesia) and Heroe Soeprapto, Head of YEPE (a young People’s Pioneer Association in Indonesia), Daniel Braden’s father Alex toured ministries and Islamic schools in Indonesia, and helped to select eight young people for the first ‘Journey of Understanding’ programme. It took place in May of that year, on the tall ship ‘Prince William’, and involved other participants from the UK and Eire. Involving Israeli, Arab-Israeli, English, Irish and Britons of Pakistani Origin, the 3rd “Journey of Understanding” (in 2004) was the first truly international programme.

The organisation expanded into the Palestinian Territories, sourced American participants, sought to achieve an equal mix of genders and view, ranging from the liberal to the extreme, and increased the lower age limit for participants from 16 to 18.

By 2008, with the addition of Eric Appleby as CEO, and Andrea Miles’ and Neville Pressley’s appointments to the Board, the trust – up until then a small, family-run charity – had shifted up a gear to become a fully-fledged operation. Meanwhile, ex-alumni moved into coordinator roles in different countries, and both the ‘Journey of Understanding’ and post-journey phases were fully formalised.

With the appointment of new staff in 2011, the trust rapidly expanded its work into non-residential programmes in the UK, consolidated its operation in the Palestinian Territories, and forged a new partnership with a youth organisation in Pakistan, thus extending its operations to six countries.

Recent Years

During the course of 2016, the Trustees took time to consider future operations in the light of burgeoning activity at a national level, but increasing difficulty in funding international programmes. The result of these discussions was a scale-back of UK staff and operations, to ensure that the resources available can be maximised for the benefit of the programmes and their participants.

Encompass now operates in a leaner format, with a volunteer CEO and a small team of dedicated volunteers, along with sessional staff and facilitators as required. As well as continuing to run programmes within the UK, we are also focussing on supporting local programmes in Israel and Palestine, where we have very reliable and motivated local representatives. At the present this includes two Journey of Understanding programmes per year, with participants from Israel and Palestine travelling to neutral ground in Cyprus to explore the conflict and barriers that divide them.