Words by Abi Scaife
At Smiley Movement we love to celebrate people who are doing good; whether that is for their community, their planet or a chosen charity.
As we come to the end of 2022, here are some of our most popular tales of everyday heroes on our website, so you can read them all over again. A Christmas present from us, to you!
Nokuzola is an award-winning period activist working in South Africa. She has had many victories so far, including having tampon tax scrapped, and garnering huge financial support for ending gender inequality. Read more about her story here!
During Italy’s lockdown, Sasha started a TikTok channel where she spoke openly about the environment, and how important it is that we start trying to protect and restore our home planet. Now with nearly 350,000 followers, Sasha’s story is one to catch up on!
Passionate about mental health, Keegan encouraged people all over the world to write the message ‘mental health matters’ on a piece of paper and take a picture with it. Sharing these pictures with the world, Keegan was determined to make people feel less alone and encourage people to take care of their minds the way they take care of their bodies. Read on to find out more!
KAREN NICHOLSON AND ‘SPARKLY’ MARGARET.
Too cute not to feature twice, Jars of Joy also made it onto our Top 10 Most Heartwarming Stories list, which you can check out here! This mother-and-daughter duo used the pandemic as an opportunity to spread joy to people all across the world - take a look to see how they did it!
A Polish woman living in London, Agi used her connections across Europe to help link up people in Ukraine with those outside the country who could help them. What started off as helping out a friend’s mother became so much bigger - click the link to read what she did next!
Another one that was featured in our Top Ten Heartwarming Stories post, Darren James created these mental health badges for workwear, so that wherever you go, you always know someone is around to support you. Read on to find out more about his story!
Joey Li and Thuta Kin teamed up to create Leiho, an online shop with a difference. When you buy the essential items sold at Leiho, another essential item is donated to local homelessness charities and projects. Click the link above to see where their story began!
Ursula is the first to be featured in our Everyday Heroes video series! The founder of the charity The Flower Bank, Ursula leaves ‘flower bombs’ for people in her community made up of flowers that would otherwise be thrown away. Click the link above to watch the video!
Yasmin Benoit is a lingerie model turned asexual activist who is fighting for more awareness and recognition of asexuality. Yasmin has teamed up with Stonewall to increase understanding of asexuality, check out the rest of her profile at the link above!
When Nina was 16, she set up the non-profit ‘PinkWeek’ in honour of her mum, who died of breast cancer. Today, she has raised over $600,000 for cancer research - find out more of the amazing things she has done at the link above!
This article aligns with the UN SDG Partnerships for the Goals.
