At 1pm today, my train (which would continue on through to Aberdeen) pulled into Birmingham New Street station. I was in Birmingham to meet someone at the Rotary International Convention there. I thought that lots of people were getting off the train but their number was nothing to the queue waiting to climb on board! And what a huge station. This was my first time here and I quickly realised what a huge, dark city it is.

The taxi ride past tiny flats and houses crowded with people of many nationalities, all poor, including many Muslims, showed me the other side of British life only too clearly. Yet the Pakistani taxi driver was very positive. Knowing a number of languages he’d looked at many others and had discovered that the word “taxi” is the same in all languages.

The last taxi driver of the day was from Bangladesh. He was so passionate about finding a better way for his people to be that I gave what help I could with ideas and contacts.

In darkness there is always light…