The Little Bureau representing Hope and New beginnings

One glance at the tabloid newspapers or a few clicks on twitter and you would believe that we are living in a dark, hostile age of ugliness. Our communities filled with cruelty and brutality.  As the political philosopher Thomas Hobbes wrote about the nature of human beings, we might expect to have a life that is ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.’  At Cohort 4 we bear witness to our women’s experiences. The stories they tell can indeed include experiences of brutal nastiness, of living through violence and of finding life lonely and isolating.  That’s why Cohort 4 was first formed, to help make a difference to the women surviving abuse and loneliness in our area.

This week a couple of emails to friends of Cohort 4 has brought in a wealth of resources for one local woman and her small children. It shows me that there are many wonderful people who are kind, compassionate and generous. It indicates that community does still pull together for others and that this can be beautiful. Thank you to the women who have volunteered their time and to those who have donated their resources. This ‘women supporting women’ model of community support reignites my passion for the organisation I founded and reminds me of the importance of community that can be generated if we work together.

Today a new life begins for this woman and her children; safe, comfortable and with a sense of hope. Thank you to everyone who has pulled together this week.

Special thanks to the furniture artist who has refurbished a little wooden bureau, I cannot express how I feel. The sentiment and care that has gone into this piece of furniture is amazing. It effectively represents a new chapter in this woman’s story, a place of security to hide her treasures and to keep her hopes for the future. You are more than a decorative painter; you are a woman who has woven magic into an ordinary piece of furniture.

As you wrote in your Instagram feed about the bureau, “She will have a place to write her dreams, diminish her fears and plan a new life. Sometimes charity begins at home, charity begins in our acknowledgement of the pain and suffering another woman has to go through to stop suffering and has the balls to walk away and say enough is enough..!! Here’s to the women that raise their heads and say… my life begins today & I will make it my own!!”

Pricelessly wonderful. Heartfelt thanks.

B