The Compassion Project

‘A wonderful book’ – Dr. Rangan Chatterjee

‘Highly convincing’ – Daily Express

‘Pioneering’ – The Telegraph

‘The strength of the book lies in its description of how community life can have a transformative effect on individuals’ – British Journal of General Practice

Across the country, general hospital admissions are on the rise. But in a small town in rural England, thanks to the simple introduction of kindness and compassion, that trend has been reversed. And what this town achieved, we can all adopt in our own lives to powerful effect. Through daily mindful acts of care we are capable of changing things for the better, both inside ourselves and for the world around us.

Frome in Somerset isn’t special. It could be any town; it could be your town. And yet the people who live there have a story to tell about the simple, ground-shaking power of compassion. If it came in tablet form, it would be hailed as a wonder of modern medicine. By contrast, it’s entirely free but offers heartening evidence that when human beings make time for each other, the beneficial effects go far beyond the reach of naive optimism.

‘A culture in which compassion is a prevailing value allows individuals to flourish and bring their talents and gifts to the communities in which they live. Unanticipated possibilities emerge, presenting fresh ways of addressing what previously appeared to be insoluble problems. Hearts are lifted. The case for hope is more strongly made. And as the people who work in this way begin to change the world immediately around them, so too, the wider world beyond begins to change.’ Dr Julian Abel & Lindsay Clarke

Author Biography

Dr Julian Abel a recently retired consultant in palliative care, has worked for two and a half years as joint-leader of the roll-out of the Frome project with Dr Helen Kingston, the town’s lead GP, and is currently leading the implementation of the Frome Model in Wales. He is Vice-President of Public Health Palliative Care International, and as a recognized expert on Compassionate Communities has made presentations on the Frome model in Europe, the USA and Australasia. He publishes regularly in peer-reviewed medical journals.

Lindsay Clarke is a Whitbread Award-winning novelist and widely translated freelance writer living in Frome. He has been Writer-in-Residence and Associate Lecturer on the MA Creative Writing Course at Cardiff University, Resident Scholar at Schumacher College, and is a long time Creative Consultant to the educational work of the Pushkin Trust in N. Ireland