A THOUSAND peace cranes were hung from the ceiling of the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Peace Foundation to mark the 31st anniversary of the Warrington bombings.
The peace cranes were hand-crafted by survivors and those affected by terrorism from all around the world.
Suzanne Atkins, a graphic designer from Saddleworth, began the project as a way to connect those affected by conflict.
The artist told the Warrington Guardian how she was a survivor of the Manchester Arena bombings back in May 2027, which saw 22 people killed and more than a thousand injured after a bomb was detonated in the foyer of the arena while concert goers were inside.
Suzanne was left injured from the attack and could not create art for several years.
“For quite a long time from after the attack, I could not paint properly. It eventually came back last year, so I wanted to do artwork with other people.”
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The 54-year-old organised online and face-to-face workshops in partnership with the peace centre, to allow children and adults affected by terrorism and conflict all over the world to join together and learn to create peace cranes.
“This is a way of letting people express themselves without having to talk about it, just learn and do it.
“It is the kind of thing that anyone can do. The way it has spread has been the best.
Suzanne described the comparison between ‘the fragility of each crane’ and ‘how people have come together with strength’ to look for peace from conflict.
“There are one thousand cranes and they have been made by survivors of terrorism,” she added.
Will Roberts, service manager at the peace centre, remarked on the ‘beauty’ of the project saying: “Susan wanted to do the project with people affected by terrorism.
“The beauty of this project is that there is always going to be people who are going to be affected but cannot come here to the peace centre. This project will come to them.”
Speaking on the work the peace centre in Warrington does, he added: “We bring survivors of terrorism together to learn how to cope with their trauma.
“We offer one to one support but also a large support network.”
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