This February we're celebrating kindness all month, with next week being official Random Acts of Kindness Week. There's plenty of information here on how you can get involved and we'd love to hear what you're up to. In many areas, it's actually half term next week, so a great opportunity to talk about kindness with your children and come up with some fun kindness-related activities.

In the meantime, here are a few stories of real life acts of kindness that our very own team members have been on the receiving end of. No matter how small a gesture, an act of kindness does wonders for your mental health and is very rarely forgotten. Hopefully, you'll feel inspired to spread (even more) kindness moving forwards.

‍

'Recently in hospital my daughter threw up everywhere and the reception staff couldn’t see me so a lady that was in A&E came over and gave me a pack of her kid’s wipes!'

‍

'I had bought a very large item from a shop, it came in a massive box and whilst I was trying to get it in my car in the car park a gentleman got out of his car because he could see I was struggling and helped me find a way for it to fit! He was super helpful and made me smile all the way home.'

‍

'I was on my own with my daughter and didn’t have enough change for the vending machine so a man overheard what she wanted and got it for me.'

‍

'I was carrying a large box of toys to take to a charity shop, when the box broke and everything fell out on the street. A group of teenage boys came rushing over to help me. I remember it well because teenagers often get bad press but very often this is unfair.'

‍

'During a period of isolation due to covid, I was overwhelmed by the number of people who offered to do some food shopping for me and who called me to make sure I wasn't too lonely.'

‍

'I was on a flight alone with my then 2 year old son. He was agitated and crying throughout most of the flight, and the lady sitting next to me made it very clear that she wasn't happy, which added to the stressful experience. At the end of the flight, the man sitting behind me told me he thought I had handled the situation brilliantly and said I'm obviously a good mum. Those words made me feel so much better.'

‍

'I was walking through town at the weekend when a young lad come running towards me and said "excuse me sir you dropped your glove". It made me happy not that I got my glove back or that he called me sir... just that he made the effort.'

‍