The Times 03 January 2011

In a letter written when she was 20 and studying abroad, Miriam Hyman told her parents that she often questioned the meaning of life, noting that “every form of pleasure is temporary and can be gone in a matter of seconds”.

They were the inquisitive words of a woman entering adulthood but they proved tragically prophetic when she was killed, a number of years later, in the July 7, 2005 London bombings.

Her mother, Mavis, 79, struggles to control her emotions as she remembers her “great gift”, an artistic and generous daughter whose laughter regularly filled their North London home until she was killed aged 32.

Mrs Hyman’s face is steeped in sadness as she describes Miriam, a freelance picture editor, but her voice takes on a determined and resolute tone when she speaks about the future.

“We absolutely refuse to accept a victim’s mindset. We will not curl up and die. We will not follow in their *the bombers’+ footsteps. We will not enter into that downward spiral.”

People deal with death in different ways and the Hyman family have stared it in the face. One of several bereaved 7/7 families to have set up charities in the name of their loved ones, the Hymans are attempting to tackle the root cause of the worst ever terrorist atrocity on British soil.

The Miriam Hyman Memorial Trust, set up by Mrs Hyman, Miriam’s father, John, and her elder sister, Esther, 41, recently launched a high school programme with the aim of combating extremism.

Currently being piloted at Copthall School in Barnet, North London, which was attended by the Hyman sisters, the programme uses Miriam’s story to promote diversity, tolerance and cohesion. If it proves successful, it could be extended to other schools.

Miriam’s artwork (she was an enthusiastic painter), family photographs and depictions of her family’s experience in the aftermath of the bombings will be used to present the issue of terrorism to students in an alternative, non-confrontational way. Students will be encouraged to learn about different cultures and reject the attitudes that were embraced by the suicide bombers.

The trust is an important healing process for the family, and for Mrs Hyman the opportunity to potentially prevent another young person becoming radicalised keeps her sane.

She lost a companion when she lost her daughter. The pair regularly went to the theatre and art galleries together, while Miriam liked nothing better than to sit and chatter as she watched her mother paint.

“There’s absolutely no justification for those actions on July 7; they cannot be reconciled,” Mrs Hyman said. “The main factor is fear. One community is afraid of another because of our differences in culture, religion, skin colour. I am hoping that through the process of educating and understanding, we can reduce that fear.”

The trust has already set up the Miriam Hyman Children’s Eye Care Centre in Orissa, India, where Mrs Hyman was born, raising more than £250,000 for the project.

Esther told The Times that the project would have appealed to her sister. “Miriam and I are of mixed race, with an Indian mother and an English father, and that was always a source of delight to her. If she can have a legacy of creating a more cohesive society, then that will be extremely valuable.”

Over the Christmas break the Hyman family steeled themselves for the resumption of the July 7 inquests. On January 12 the evidence turns to Tavistock Square, where Miriam and 12 others were killed by Hasib Hussain’s blast on the number 30 bus.

Mrs Hyman hopes that the inquests will bring answers about the way her daughter died and will improve the methods by which families are informed about victims in future (it took nearly four days for the family to find out what had happened to Miriam).

“The question of why it took so long to identify Miriam and to tell us is something they will have to answer. I just hope that no other families have to suffer in the same way again,” she said.

For Jane Beaumont, the head teacher at Copthall, the way that the Hymans have dealt with such suffering is “inspirational”.

Owing to its diversity in terms of race and religion, Copthall is already considered a particularly cohesive school. But Ms Beaumont recognises that she cannot rest on her laurels.“It’s not about tackling extremism, it’s got to be base-root avoiding it. Give children ways of understanding and appreciating other cultures,” she said.

Esther has already addressed assemblies at the school, delivering her message that every action has consequences. For her, the choice is simple: “You can’t control what happens to you in life, but you can control how you respond. We are really honouring the way that Miriam lived her life. She was inclusive and loving, generous to a fault. That’s been the main reason that we did this — to create a legacy for her.”

Inquest timetable

•The inquests resume on January 12 when the evidence turns to the events at Tavistock Square

•In February the hearings will move to the backgrounds of the bombers, examining their upbringing and how they were radicalised. They will then turn to the scientific evidence before examining command and control of Transport for London and the emergency services on the day

•The inquests will finally turn to the issue of whether the attacks could have been prevented. Theresa May, the Home Secretary, recently abandoned an attempt to have some of that evidence heard in secret

•The inquests will have lasted for more than five months and heard from almost 500 witnesses

•They form the broadest examination to date of the worst terrorist atrocity on British soil