Kind Cumbria Day, which encourages people to think about being kind and getting involved in random acts of kindness is back by popular demand on the 13th November, to link in with World Kindness Day.
The campaign “Kind Cumbria” is organised by ACTion with Communities in Cumbria, with the very first Kind Cumbria Day held back in November 2019. Random acts of kindness in all forms were performed in every corner of Cumbria – from donations to food banks, bouquets of flowers left around towns, school walking trains, litter picks, de-icing of cars, baking of cakes and writing letters, to even a simple smile and hello.
For Kind Cumbria Day in 2020 ACTion with Communities in Cumbria are encouraging people to either make pledges of kindness online, or share stories about how people have been kind to them. ACT want to create a wave of kindness and show that Cumbria is a really ‘kind’ place to live – the kindest in the UK!
Kind Cumbria Day, sponsored by Electricity North West, is even more poignant in 2020.
Lorrainne Smyth Chief Executive of ACTion with Communities in Cumbria explains why; “We are often told about the ‘new normal’ since COVID-19, but why does the new normal have to mean isolating ourselves entirely? Could the ‘new norm’ mean adopting kindness, like the great acts of kindness that were shown in our communities during lockdown? Could it mean getting a neighbours shopping, baking someone a cake, drawing a rainbow for a loved one? It would be lovely to ‘pay it back’ to someone who was kind to you during the pandemic and passing on the kindness to someone else.”
GET INVOLVED
Kind Cumbria wants organisations, businesses, charities, community groups and the general public to think about what random act of kindness they could do – perhaps visiting a relative and taking cake, doing a litter pick in a communal space, volunteering some time, or something as simple as making a cup of tea – all socially distanced of course.
The ACT and Electricity North West teams are also looking for schools to get involved in making “flags of kindness” and helping them fly the flag of kindness in Cumbria. There are a range of resources schools can download online, including a flag template and a kindness calendar to encourage children to think about Kindness outside the classroom.
Lorrainne added: “A second wave of COVID19, or lockdown does not have to stop us showing kindness either – there are endless things our communities can do for one another – so everyone can get involved! Acts of Kindness don’t have to cost money – it is simply about being kind to someone else. We would love for anyone to join the campaign by making a pledge, sharing any events, initiatives or activities with us, any photos, case studies or stories of all things kind and neighbourly using #KindCumbria and #KindCumbriaDay – let’s show the rest of the UK what a kind place Cumbria is to live.”
More information about getting involved in Kind Cumbria Day can be found at www.cumbriaaction.org.uk/what-we-do/kind-cumbria
You can follow Kind Cumbria on
Twitter: @kind_cumbria
Facebook: www.facebook.com/kindcumbria
Instagram: @kind_cumbria
