Christmas greetings

For too many of us there will be an empty place at the table this Christmas and many of us will feel that there's little to celebrate just now anyway. In Wales yesterday we had flooding to add to the multiple problems that the end of 2020 has brought. But this morning the sun rose in the most beautiful dawn sky - here's hoping that it heralds a brighter time ahead for all of us.

Wherever you are, however you are holding on in the midst of the chaos going on all around, I'm wishing you and your families the best you can possibly make of Christmas 2020 - and an infinitely better one in 2021.

The Resilience Readings

I was only able to make one of the three Resilience Readings evenings last week but I wouldn't have missed it for anything. Organised by Freedom from Torture and supported by such national figures as Daljit Nagra, Imtiaz Dharker and Ian McMillan, the readings showcased the writing of survivors of horrific pasts alongside the winners of the Resilience poetry competition. My Women Aloud colleague Frances March had been highly commended in the competition for her beautiful poem Willowherb, written after hearing an interview with a Syrian refugee; it was lovely to hear her reading it.  But the highlight of the evening had to be the three featured victims of torture, who, through the organisation's weekly Write to Life programmes, had found the voices that had been all but obliterated in their own environments. Their testimony was incredibly moving.

You can find excerpts from all three evenings on the Freedom from Torture website; they're well worth having a look at. And you'll also find lots about the organisation's tremendous work in providing therapy and fostering hope for the future, a future too many of their service users almost never had.