The letters

Specchio dei tempi, a column created by the editor Giulio De Benedetti, was inserted for the first time in the Turin news page of the newspaper La Stampa on December 17, 1955, where it continues to be published. It is the part of the newspaper strictly reserved for readers who can write opinions, tell personal experiences, report injustices and malfunctions of society or public and private systems.

But it is also the heart of the readers, who on learning about episodes of suffering from the pages of the newspaper or from the letters themselves, decide to offer practical help to those who find themselves in difficulty.

Over the years, the column has generated an extraordinary chain of solidarity among readers, from which the Specchio dei tempi foundation was born: a non-profit organization that now has 65 active projects in Turin, Italy and worldwide. Specchio dei tempi assists lonely elderly people, needy families, the sick, homeless, children and populations victims of disasters.