ACTRESS Pippa Haywood visited Tavistock recently for a booksigning at Book Stop — and was delighted with the response to her project to raise funds for War Child.
Pippa, whose face is familiar to fans of the Brittas Empire, Office Gossip and more recently The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, had invited well-known personalities to suggest a poem and give their reasons for choosing it.
The result is an anthology called Poems for Refugees which, as well as a being published as a book is also in tape and CD format where some of the poems have been read by the celebrities that picked them.
The inspiration for the project came from watching news footage of the plight of people in Afghanistan.
'As a mother you look at this situation and feel the stark contrast between your own family life and families in other areas around the world. You cannot help but get drawn in and want to help,' she said.
Pippa wanted to use her TV success in a positive way to help others. 'It is a useful way in to try and do something helpful,' she said.
The anthology is selling really well in shops — and apparently is a popular read in airport lounges as travellers enjoy the fact they can dip in and out of the contents rather than get stuck into a novel.
However Pippa says the real satisfaction will come if money 'streams into War Child'.
'The personal joy has come from working with the celebrities — especially on the audio version. But the real joy will be if we know it helps the little girl on the cover get some real help from money flowing into Afghanistan.'
Creating the anthology has got Pippa thinking she would like to write a children's book as she particularly admires children's authors.
'I have always wanted to write one because when they were young I used to tell my own children stories I'd make up.'