‘Human Touch‘, the winning poem of a competition to help people to express their feelings about Covid-19 has been made into a song by Manchester singer-songwriter and musician, Emma Mould. Produced by Dan Stirling and commissioned by Building Bridges Pendle. Hilary Walker from Wigan won the competition with her powerful poem, which will be followed by an official video in the coming weeks.
Shabaz Ahmed of community organisation Building Bridges Pendle said: “We ran the Living in Hope poetry competition as part of our Good Neighbours Project to celebrate community, friendship and strength in Lancashire as we face the pandemic together. We asked people of all ages and backgrounds across Lancashire to express their feelings about the virus and our virtual competition encouraged a unique outpouring of poetry,” he explained.
“The song translates across all faiths, ages and cultures, highlighting our most basic human need, for a touch of kindness and affection. The key message is about living in hope and Hilary Walker has conveyed that beautifully,” he stated.
Hilary Walker said:
“I work as a Funeral Celebrant and wrote the poem Human Touch after my first experience of not being able to shake hands with a grieving family, early in the pandemic. It was, and continues to be, a desperately heartbreaking situation. I entered the poem in the competition as I felt the message might relate to others,” explained Hilary. “I’m so excited that my poem has been turned into a song, thanks to the amazing creativity of singer songwriter Emma Mould,” she added.
Councillor Mohammed Iqbal MBE, Leader of Pendle Council said:
“We work in partnership with Building Bridges Pendle and are part of a Pendle Task Force working together to reach out to our community to help people stay safe during the pandemic. This online competition has given our community a new way of reaching out too, as we celebrate our shared humanity and keep our strength up during these challenging times,” he
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