IN a week when people might be excused for thinking the world has gone mad, it was a welcome relief to hear a still small voice of calm talking of building bridges not walls, of dropping aid parcels rather than bombs, and of speaking up against those who want to instil fear and divide nations.

A packed Sub Rooms listened spell-bound as a refugee from war-torn Syria brought more than a ray of hope to the Stroud Book Festival.

And it came from one who’s suffered more than most of us can imagine, a young man who fled his country, undertook a harrowing journey across the Mediterranean then made his way through Europe to the UK.

Hassan Akkad, 28, shot to fame with the screening of the BBC2 documentary Exodus: Our Journey to Europe. Last night, Hassan returned to Stroud – a meeting at the Prince Albert last year was the first time he’d told his story in England – to continue his tale and to answer questions from the audience.

With a real flair for story-telling, Hassan kept the audience spell-bound, talking about life in Syria and answering questions ranging from how are your family doing (great, they’re in the UAE), would you ever go back to Syria (yes, when the police have stopped killing and torturing people) and what can we do (find those who need help, and help them).

Inspirational stuff, it went down to rapturous applause and ended with a rallying cry.

“The crisis continues,” Hassan said, “and the politicians and governments are part of the problem - but we will tell the story and solve it.”

Thank you, Hassan, for a spell-binding evening, and for showing that there is still some sanity in our mad world.