A Simple Act of Kindness - had me in tears.

As I was recovering from a stroke after discharge from Airedale General Hospital in West Yorkshire, UK I received a handwritten letter in the post from a national newspaper journalist I had never met or spoken to.

We’d had a brief exchange of emails when I was a lecturer at Leeds Beckett University about a book he had written which I subsequently recommended highly to my postgraduate PR students. It was one of the best media relations primers I had read from a journalist’s perspective and even after 50 odd years in PR in taught me a few things too.

Then out of the blue came this letter. It was one of the kindest letters I received and the fact that it was handwritten made it even more special.

Alex Singleton used to be a former contributing editor for the conservative The Daily Telegraph newspaper and a Research Director of The Adam Smith Institute (ASI), a neoliberal think tank and lobbying group based in the United Kingdom. He is now Director of Strategy, Insight and Digital of the Circle Health Group.

Despite our difference in political outlook which couldn’t be further apart, I shall never forget how his simple act of kindness lifted my spirits during a pretty dark time for me in 2020.

Alex would probably be aghast that I am posting this up on LinkedIn, but I wanted to show what impact this letter had on me.

 A simple card, letter or note to a friend, family member or relative can make all the difference. It can really lift your mood especially during this Covid-19 pandemic.

 His book? ‘The PR Masterclass: How to develop a public relations strategy that works!’

 Alex Singleton (2014). The PR Masterclass: How to develop a public relations strategy that works!. London: Wiley. 208.