Four stories that restored my faith in humanity
“Whoever saves one life saves the whole world.”
As 2025 comes to an end, it can feel as though the world is a difficult place, dominated by cruelty rather than kindness.
Many of us feel this particularly strongly in our work. As lawyers, we often see people at their lowest and often worst: we see plenty of conflict, loss, injustice and fear. It can leave you wondering whether there is much good left out there at all.
Still, every so often, I come across a story reminds me there is more kindness and care out there than the headlines would have us believe.
That feels especially fitting right now, as we’re in the middle of Chanukah, the Jewish festival of light, which speaks to hope, resilience and the importance of protecting even the smallest flame.
So, to close the year, I wanted to share four stories from 2025 that reminded me that all is not lost – there are plenty of good, kind people out there doing wonderful things to help others.
When good fortune becomes a legacy for others
Steve Thomson is a builder from Selsey in West Sussex who won £105 million on the EuroMillions lottery in 2019.
Rather than disappearing into a life of comfort, Steve chose to give back to his local community, in a very hands-on way. Having seen friends struggle to support children with autism and learning difficulties once they reached adulthood, he became painfully aware of the lack of provision for young people over 18.
He initially helped the charity Together Our Community by buying a second-hand minibus so young adults could access work experience and activities. But his involvement didn’t stop there.
Steve went on to find a near-derelict building in Chichester and personally helped transform it into a permanent centre for vulnerable young adults. Across three floors, it now includes a sensory room, classroom and a training kitchen and café where young people can learn practical life and hospitality skills.
What makes this story so moving to me is that Steve doesn’t have children with autism himself. He simply saw a gap, listened to the experiences of others, and decided to act. He has said his motivation came from a childhood spent volunteering alongside his father, a legacy of kindness passed down and paid forward.
Freedom begins with a book
Reginald Dwayne Betts was just 17 when he was imprisoned and placed in solitary confinement in the United States.
One day, fellow prisoners used a makeshift pulley system of torn sheets and a pillowcase to deliver him a book of poetry. That single act changed the course of his life.
Reginald began reading constantly, then writing, and gradually realised that education could offer a way out. After his release, he earned a degree, then a law degree from Yale. He became a poet, a lawyer, an advocate for prison reform, and the founder of Freedom Reads.
Since 2020, Freedom Reads has installed more than 550 libraries in prisons across the US, putting over 275,000 books into spaces often defined by isolation and despair.
As Reginald puts it, prisons are “the loneliest places on Earth”. His work transforms them into places where ideas, and hope, can take root. All from one book: one act of kindness, one spark of light.
When science turns fiction into hope
This year also brought a remarkable medical breakthrough in the UK.
Doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital and King’s College Hospital in London developed a world-first gene therapy for previously untreatable blood cancers. The treatment works by turning donor white blood cells into a “living drug”, genetically edited to target cancer without attacking the patient’s body.
Nine children and two adults with T-cell leukaemia received the therapy. Most entered deep remission, and seven remain cancer-free three years later.
One of them, Alyssa Tapley, was just 13 when she became the first person in the world to receive the treatment. Now cancer-free, she says: “I’ve now been able to do some things I thought earlier in my life would be impossible. My ultimate goal is to become a research scientist and be part of the next big discovery that can help people like me.”
“A few years ago this would have been science fiction,” said one of the lead researchers. It’s a reminder that, from a medical perspective at least, we are living in a time of extraordinary progress - one that continues to turn previously fatal diagnoses into stories of recovery.
A friendship that became the gift of life
The final story is one of extraordinary human compassion.
In 2004, Tim Swinburn, then a police officer, knocked on Clare Brixey’s door to tell her that her 20-year-old son had been killed in a car crash. Clare was already living with kidney failure and reliant on dialysis.
Over the years, the two stayed in touch, supporting each other through life’s ups and downs. When Tim later learned that Clare’s previous kidney transplant was failing, he didn’t hesitate - he offered her one of his own.
The transplant was successful. Clare is now back horse-riding, spending time with her daughter and granddaughter, doing things she once thought might be impossible.
“Giving the gift of life is just a human thing to do,” Tim said.
After I had finished writing this email, news broke of a horrific anti-Semitic attack on Jewish families celebrating Chanukah on Bondi Beach in Australia.
It’s a sobering reminder of how fragile these moments of light can be and how vital it is to keep naming and standing against hatred. At the same time, the bravery of Ahmed al-Ahmed, who was seriously injured while disarming one of the attackers, shows how individual acts of courage can still make a difference, even in the darkest circumstances.
Carrying the light forward
There’s a line from the Talmud that feels especially apt here:
“Whoever saves one life saves the whole world.”
It’s a line you may recognise from Schindler’s Ark, where it was inscribed on a ring given to Oskar Schindler by the Jewish workers whose lives he saved.
Not because it denies how hard things can be, but because it reminds us that individual human acts still matter.
To my Jewish readers, I wish you a very Happy Chanukah. This year especially, may the light it represents bring comfort, strength and moments of peace.
To those celebrating Christmas, I wish you a peaceful and restorative festive season.
And to everyone reading, however you mark this time of year, I hope the coming weeks bring a bit of calm and some well-earned rest.
Your 2026 Success Plan
As we begin to look ahead to the new year, I’d love to invite you to something special.
Your 2026 Success Plan
A free live workshop - Wednesday 14 January, 1pm (UK)
Why not spend an hour feeling inspired about what you’d love to be, do and have in 2026?
You’ll also receive a beautiful workbook just for signing up - something you can have a look at over the holidays if you fancy a quiet moment to yourself.
No New Year’s resolutions.
No “new year, new you.”
You’re already great just as you are.
This is about choosing goals that light you up - the ones that make you feel excited to get out of bed in the morning. And they don’t have to be all about work.
At Female Lawyers’ Club, we believe that building a rich life outside of work is what makes our careers sustainable in the long term.
Here’s what people have said about this session in the past:
“Thank you so much for the insightful session earlier. I hadn’t realised how easily my goals/things I need to change would come to me and I am sure it’s because of your beautiful guidance through the workbook!”
“The workbook will be so helpful to gather thoughts and focus the mind!”
“Thank you for this! Been really insightful. Love your blog posts and appreciated a chance to join and listen.”
“Thanks Rachel. I’ve filled the workbook in as I’ve gone along and am going to make a real effort to keep checking in with it.”
Places are limited, so do save your place if it sounds right for you.
Thank you so much for being part of this community, and for allowing me into your inbox each week. I truly appreciate it.
Wishing you and your family a peaceful Christmas, a Happy Chanukah, and a hopeful start to the New Year.
Rachel