So, the memory which repeats itself in my head when I think of the Poverty Truth Commission is working with Donna. On one occasion we were booked to go through to Edinburgh university to speak to a group of students about the PTC and we met a few times to plan what we would say etc.

Well, we spent so much time talking but we never did get to plan what we would say on the day. And I was therefore nervous because I like to plan ahead in my professional life anyway. Donna’s repeated reassurance that we could “wing it” did not ease my anxiety. In fact, nerves were heightened when we realised the group we were addressing were from various other countries and English was not their first language.

However, I needn’t have worried - my role was really just to introduce Donna and she just carried the day from there. I remember one student saying Donna’s stories of frontline poverty made the “hairs on her arms stand up”- think she got a bit mixed up there!

Anyway the point really is, of course, Donna wasn’t “winging it”. She was speaking her truth which is why she made so much impact and why the PTC was so important.