Words by Smiley Team
Today to celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Day, we’ve put together our favourite random acts of kindness from the last few weeks. Launched in the US to make kindness the norm, the event celebrates every little contribution to spreading happiness because, as scientific evidence shows, a positive deed benefits everyone. It brightens the day of the beneficiary, the doer and even just a passerby who witnesses an act of goodwill.
Cutting off her golden locks to raise money for homeless charity DENs, 10-year-old Laura from Hertfordshire reached over double her target of £1,000. She said: “I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while. I know about DENS through my school because we support the Harvest Appeal. I want to do something to help homeless people because everyone deserves a home. It’s wrong that people don’t have somewhere to stay and something to eat so that every day is a struggle. I want to stop that struggle.” Donate to her fundraiser to help tackle homelessness, poverty and exclusion.
The families of nursery school children in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, donated hampers of goodies to NHS staff in thanks for their work tackling Covid-19. Each parcel contained treats including biscuits, sweets, drinks, long life cakes and chocolates. They were delivered to local doctors, nurses, paramedics, hospital cleaners and porters as well as other frontline workers.
Spreading the love, Peterborough family, Del, Jas, Lachami, Neelam and Karishma Singh, spent 12 full hours cooking and delivering 50 meals for deserving couples around their city on Valentine’s Day. Nominated by neighbours for their hard work tackling Covid-19, each couple received a meal of samosas, lentil dahl, curry and sweets. They had initially planned to make only one meal. But, after being inundated with nominations they were unable to choose so decided to cook for as many people as possible.
A teenager with learning difficulties living in Lichfield, Staffordshire, has shown incredible generosity in time and energy, to locals struggling with isolation. Handing out biscuits, helping to water lawns and washing cars for strangers, seventeen-year-old Sebbie Hall has helped tackle loneliness in lockdown. For his efforts, he has raised over £23,000 for charities supporting young people. To donate visit his JustGiving page.
While Bristol languages student Ella Lambert was experiencing terrible period pains, she realised that for others it must be much worse. So, calling for scraps of materials and taking to her sewing machine, she started The Pachamama Project, which distributes reusable sanitary products to refugees. The initiative has grown to send out 2,500 pads sewn by 150 volunteers, to camps in Greece and Lebanon. To help tackle period poverty around the world visit Lambert’s website for more information on how to volunteer.
