the lost, the forgotten, guilt or the unsaid thank you...

A great deal of my work is, one way or another, about connections, and the quality of our connections. Because I am interested also in the healing power of words, the work I do is about more than 'creative writing'; more, too, than 'reflective writing'. As a course participant astutely said last year, it's really about how we live.

Part of this inevitably involves reconnection: with ourselves, with others, with the world around us; with all the lost and forgotten ones, or aspects of ourselves.

And I remember weeping copiously as I navigated the ring road around Glasgow, heading for the hills, last year or the year before listening to a similar programme as that mentioned below on Radio 4.

For all these reasons, I thought I'd post for you an email that arrived in my inbox last week. Please do get in touch with the person concerned if you think you could be one of the people she's looking for:

'I'm working at Wall to Wall - a television production company - on a new series for BBC One provisionally called 'The Gift'. I just wanted to tell you a bit about it and see if you thought it might be the sort of thing any of your writing group might be interested in. It would be really interesting to know what you think.

'The concept is all about resolution and reconciliation – helping people to make amends for something that they have done or to express their gratitude to someone who has affected their life in a really profound way. We’ve found that holding on to an unpaid debt of gratitude or the burden of guilt can have a really negative impact on both the physical and mental health of an individual, and leave them unable to move on with their lives. Yet people often find it difficult to do this themselves. For example they no longer have contact with the person who helped them when they needed it most, or don’t perhaps have the courage to make an approach to an old friend alone.  We’re putting together a team of professional mediators and specialists in tracing people, to responsibly put these people in touch, and support them through a meeting.

'We are currently trying to find people who may need our help. We are aware that people who are relevant to our search will come from all walks of life, professions and backgrounds and we’re trying to spread the word to as many people as possible. It doesn’t take a lot to lose touch with someone important, and even with the advent of social media some people are still hard to find.

'Perhaps someone has been looking for an old friend or even a stranger who was really there for them at one point in their life and who they no longer have contact with? Perhaps someone who really helped or inspired them at an integral moment in their life who they’ve never had the opportunity to thank? Perhaps someone they really regret hurting who they’d finally like the ability to apologise to? I think, for many it’s often difficult to realise exactly what a person meant to you until it is too late to tell them.

It would be great to speak further if you think this might be something that any of your writing groups or writers might be interested in. I can be contacted on 020 3301 7871 or via email at ruby.coote@walltowall.co.uk'