"NO news is good news" is an old adage which I wish to interrogate today.

I want to report on the kindness of human nature, restore faith in human solidarity and celebrate the helpfulness of members of our local community.

My 14-year-old daughter was alone in Wycombe town centre on Sunday and like every teenager these days, she knows everything, she is invincible and she has the full confidence of youth.

But as she approached the cashpoint machine at Lloyds TSB in town, she felt unsettled by a young man who appeared to be watching her take money out. Bearing in mind numerous parental warnings and being fully aware of media saturation about "bad people" and "strangers" who may want to hurt you or at very least deprive you of your personal possessions, she was extra careful about putting her purse and money at the bottom of her bag.

However, three fashion shops later when an item of clothing caught her eye, she discovered to her horror that her purse had disappeared from her bag.

Distraught, she assumed that her purse had been taken by a "bad person" that it must have been stolen, possibly even by the man who had been watching her earlier.

Even 30 minutes later when I arrived, this 14-year-old powerhouse of confidence was feeling a lot more vulnerable than she had been when she left home that morning.

We told the police that her purse was missing, assumed stolen, and we searched gingerly through the High Street bins and I personally, at incredible risk to my health, searched the ladies' toilets in the bus station for the potentially discarded purse assuming that any thief would merely be interested in the money and not the school bus pass or photo of her boyfriend.

At this point I must say a very big thank you to the Arriva employee who volunteered to search the men's toilets (an even more repulsive task than mine) and also took our telephone number in case the purse turned up.

As a last but positive attempt, I decided to ask in the targeted shops if any purse had been handed in. The first shop returned a blank but the staff were very helpful and seemed concerned for our loss.

The second shop however saw the end of my search and the restoration of faith in my belief that there are many many more "good people" than there are bad ones, even these days.

The purse had been handed in with all its contents intact. I don't know how my daughter lost her purse but whatever happened, I do know that there is a special person out there who deserves a big thank you from me, from my daughter and from society as a whole for their generous deed.

I realise that good news does not make headlines but genuine, honest people and actions should be recognised and celebrated more often.

Maybe we would all feel a little safer in our home town if all the good and generous deeds were reported with as much zeal as the less pleasant aspects of everyday life.

To the person who handed in my daughter's purse and to all who were kind, generous and honest on Sunday, I would like to say a very big thank you.

It has not gone unnoticed. Some news is indeed good news.

Joy Cooper, High Wycombe