Paint it orange! The charity turning anger into hope - and quick action

Dashing through the snow with Father Chris... It doesn't get any more seasonal, even if it feels as if there might be a final syllable missing.

- Sam Wollaston

To be honest we're not really dashing, it's more like a leisurely walk and talk around North Shields. And the snow, the remnants of an early Tyneside flurry, is patchy and dirty rather than deep and crisp and even.

Father Chris is real though: Chris Hughes, a Catholic priest; the diocese is a strategic partner for the local chapter of Citizens UK, one of five charities supported by this year's Guardian charity appeal, under the theme of "hope".

The appeal supports grassroots voluntary groups that nurture community pride and positive change, providing an antidote to division and hate.

Citizens UK is all about bringing people and communities together, to build a better, fairer society.

I'm getting a little tour around the sites of some of their "wins". We're accompanied by people involved in them: children from two local schools, teachers, mothers, parishioners and Sara Bryson, the community organiser. There are about 25 of us in all and we're calling it a Walk of Hope.

Bryson, an atheist (Citizens is not affiliated with any religion), reminds us that Saint Augustine said hope had two beautiful daughters, Anger and Courage.