The spirit of kindness

we should never forget that kindness is all around us.

Over the summer, I had a coffee in Darlington with Joan Lawrence, mum of missing York chef Claudia. Joan was born and bred in Darlington and married Claudia's father Peter at All Saints Church in the town's west end. She told me how grateful she was for the support she'd received from the people of Darlington and how she'd like to do something special in the town to say thank you to the local community and to remember Claudia.

From that conversation, the idea for yesterday's "Service For Claudia" was planted and the kindness began to shine through. The church's vicar, the Rev David Railton, was consulted and, without hesitation, agreed to lead the service at All Saints. He met with Joan a number of times to discuss the arrangements and he could not have been more supportive. The All Saints choir quickly made it clear they wanted to be involved, and church volunteers came forward to serve teas and coffees.

Hayley McKay, a brilliantly talented professional singer from Hurworth-on-Tees, near Darlington, was asked to perform and immediately said "yes". Her performance of "Songbird", recognising Claudia's love of nature, was stunning.

The Northern Echo's head of production, Dave Horsley, gave his skills to design the Order of Service, while Darlington company Printwell Design and Print offered to print hundreds of copies free of charge.

The Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, sent a personal message, which I was proud to read.

What we couldn't be sure of was how many people would turn up but, despite the weather, enough people came to the church to show they cared, including the Mayor and Mayoress of Darlington Tom and Gill Nutt.

Christmas is a time we traditionally think about our families. So imagine what it must be like for the Lawrence family, mum Joan, dad Peter, and sister Ali, agonising every day what has happened to Claudia.

I just wanted to say thank you to all those who helped make yesterday's Service For Claudia so special. The tears in Joan's eyes showed how much it meant to her.

When people come together in the spirit of kindness, it does the world of good.

NEWSPAPER editors are expected to not only have strong opinions but to publish them for scrutiny. I write The Northern Echo's editorial comment every day, trying to take advice in the process, to show what the paper stands for.

In 20 years of writing those editorials, I can't ever remember being so torn as I was over the question of whether it was right or wrong to drop British bombs over Syria. Would it help stop Islamic State or increase the terrorists' resolve? Would it cost innocent lives or save them in the longer-term? Would it make Britain safer or more dangerous?

Strong opinions are required of editors but, sometimes, I think it's also important to acknowledge the difficulty of the decision facing politicians and to admit to uncertainty.

ON Thursday, I'll be hosting the Local Heroes Awards for the 16th time – celebrating the heroes of grass roots sport.

A souvenir supplement will be published on Saturday. Suffice to say for now that I was misty-eyed just writing the script.

I suggest that those who are coming bring their hankies in readiness for some emotional, inspiring and humbling stories.

WE are in the process of establishing a Northern Echo Camera Club to encourage local photographers and give them the chance to see their images published.

Letters, emails and social media messages were circulated inviting enthusiasts to register an interest.

I couldn't help smiling when a reply came back from an interested party who sent an email saying: "Further to your call for immature photographers."

Just to be absolutely clear – it's amateur photographers we're looking for. Anyone interested – irrespective of your maturity levels – go to thenorthernecho.co.uk/photos/cameraclub.

FINALLY, I have to admit that The Northern Echo has managed to get the date wrong occasionally – but never by nearly a century.

I feel the pain of the editor of the Herald Sun in Australia.