← Back to Museum of Kindness – Staff Edition

David W, Head of Culture, Hartlepool Borough Council

Two men in navy uniform sit on what appears to be the deck of a ship, one of the men has his arm round the other who is sitting lent forward with his elbows resting on his knees and his hands clasped together in front. The men are laughing like they have just been caught telling jokes. The photograph is in sepia.

Photograph showing Robert Mellanby (left) whilst serving in the Navy during the Second World War. Image courtesy of Kirkleatham Museum.

“No matter how well you know a person it is not always possible to know what is going on behind their public face. The biggest smiles can often mask the greatest traumas, it sometimes only the eyes give away those dark moments.

It is not always about walking in someone’s shoes….they may not fit! It is about giving them your most precious commodity, time. In this busy world it is about taking time to be kind and sometimes an encouraging word or smile can be all it takes.”