Through each of us runs a thread of gold, that best part of us which loves to help, encourage and enthuse. Thread of Gold is all about advocating kindness, tolerance and inclusion. At a time where so much media content is focused on anger and division, Thread of Gold aims to seek out the positive, to promote acts of kindness, celebrate people whose tolerance is an example to us all, and endorse places and organisations which encourage inclusivity.

Through using the hashtags #threadofgold #becauseofclem, we would like to bring attention to the good and positive in the world; to the people, places and organisations whose instincts are to be kind, tolerant and inclusive. Please support us, by tweeting or using our facebook page (www.facebook.com/Thread-of-Gold), in order to promote acts of kindness, tolerance and inclusion, or indeed, anything else positive that you would like to celebrate …because of Clem.

About Clem

The sudden and devastating loss of my son, Clem, in February 2017 was the most savage blow for all of us who knew him and loved him. A young man who very definitely lived life in his own, most unique way, at once huge fun and greatly troubled by mental health issues, Clem was, above all else, someone who cared.

On the day of his funeral, a shattering, heartbreaking occasion, I was so very proud of my beautiful son. Ripon Cathedral was full, with many mourners having to stand around the sides. But it wasn’t the shear number of people who had come to show their respects and affection for Clem, that most touched me; rather, it was the diversity of those people: young and old friends, friends from school, university, the rugby club, the pub and from all over; friends from different racial backgrounds and from contrasting social circumstances, friends from the LGBTQ community, males, females, new friends and some who had been friends with Clem since early childhood. Whilst Clem most certainly had a wild side, he also had a huge heart; he loved his friends and cared not whether they be the mightiest or lowliest in the eyes of others, to Clem, they were simply his friends.

The summer before we lost Clem, the two of us were sitting in the garden together, when an elderly friend of mine dropped by. She chatted happily with Clem about a whole range of seemingly obscure topics (obscure to me, at least; Ruth’s late husband had worked as a pharmacist and Clem was studying Pharmaceutical Science, so a friendship was born). Later, when I was talking with Ruth about Clem and some of his struggles with mental health and associated addictions, she looked at me and said; “Yes, he struggles, but he is a kind young man, and running through him, there is a thread of gold.”

In the weeks and months after Clem’s funeral (and how it still shocks and pains me so much to write those words), as I thought about how I could do something positive with Clem’s memory, I recalled Ruth’s words, and the idea of #threadofgold was conceived.

It would give me, Clem’s brother Bram, his mum and all his close family and friends, great joy to know that Clem’s name was being used to promote those values for which he stood and, in such a natural way, embodied. Clem was as at home rolling a cigarette with someone on the street as he was talking chemistry with a university professor, as at ease buying a pint and chatting with someone new in the pub, as he was walking in the hills with me, his brother and the dogs. Clem was not judgemental about gender, race, sexuality, social group or personal circumstances, he tried to be kind, to be tolerant and to be inclusive. He was a young man, who by no means got everything right, but through Clem, there ran a thread of gold.

Please support #threadofgold …because of Clem.