The parents of an 18-year-old boy murdered in the street have spent Restorative Justice Week talking to school children about the importance of understanding how even the smallest decisions can have an enormous impact on people's lives.

Chris Donovan was beaten then dragged into the road where he was hit by a car and killed in Ewell in 2001.

Remarkably Ray and Vi Donovan, of Clyde Road, Sutton, responded to the tragedy, not only by setting up a charity, The Chris Donovan Trust, but also by meeting and forgiving their sons killers.

Their charity aims to put the victim at the heart of the criminal justice system and to give those who have suffered the opportunity to meet the criminals who have changed their lives forever.

The process, they say, is having an enormous impact on repeat offenders with 25 per cent not going on to offend again and for every £1 spent on the scheme the Ministry of Justice says it is saving £8.

The couple have spent the week at the MOJ, which annouced an addition £30 million for restorative justice, visiting schools and carrying out awareness of their charity.

On November 17 Ray and Vi took over the MOJ's Twitter account hosting a public question and answer session, having earlier given a presentation to children at the Wandle Valley School titled "Five minutes of Madness."

Mr Donovan, 63, said: "We do the talk to show that a small decision can lead to something big.

"We talk about police, their job, what they do, and how they do it and how they are human beings.

"It's about the ripple effect of crime.

"We draw circles and in the middle we put Chris' name, then we put all the people involved in it.

"With the Wandle Valley we thought that might be a bit much so we put a stolen mobile phone in the middle and the children realised how many people are affected by it.

"You can't ring your job or call the hospital.

"We didn't tell the children what to say".

Restorative Justice Week, is being supported by the Restorative Justice Council, WhyMe? and the Chris Donovan Trust, with this year's theme being "What would you do?". It aims to encourage people to think about whether they would meet somebody who committed a crime against them.

Mrs Donovan, 60, added: "How many parents carry their children's guilt?

"Restorative justice means that for the first time in British justice history the victims get a voice.

"When you went to court before you were ignored, you just sat there watching a show.

"The justice system used to just be 'what was the crime, who is to blame and what is the punishment?

"Today it is 'who has been hurt, what are their needs, how can we help them' it's about the victim?"

For further information visit: www.chrisdonovantrust.org.