#withkindnessandlove 10 – stories of kindness and sharing some blog love

#withkindnessandlove is a weekly series which is part of my #365daysofkindness project which I am taking on during this year. Each week, I will be sharing some stories of kindness along with some things that have made me smile during the week.  Some weeks I might share a quote that has inspired me, or some suggestions for small acts of kindness that I have come across. Here are this week’s little moments of kindness and little things I have loved.

 

Helping others – donating to Foodbank

Last Sunday at church, one of our members spoke about our local Foodbank. I was shocked to hear that in our borough alone, the amount of food given out each week would fill around 40 wheelie bins.  Her challenge for Lent is to donate one item to Foodbank every day – and by the end of Lent, she will only have filled half a wheelie bin. We live in a fairly affluent area and it is appalling that so many people in this area alone are struggling just to put food on the table. I will be making sure that I add a few items for the Foodbank whenever I do my weekly shop in the future. It seems such a small thing – my little contribution won’t help many people – but if everyone who was able to give a little did so, then it makes a big difference.

 

I normally drop off my donation to our collection point at church, but I’ve since learned that Tesco will top up donations to their collection points by 20% – if I drop it there in future, it will go that little bit further.

 

You can read more about how foodbanks work and find out where your local one is here.

Little moments of kindness

“Back in 2002, my boyfriend (now my husband) were travelling in Australia. We were in a beautiful place called Shark Bay on the Western coast, walking along a coastal path. We stopped, and we got chatting to a woman, who we could tell had the strains of a Yorkshire accent. She told us her story, about how she’d emigrated to Australia and bought her children up there. She loved living in Australia, and had embraced the outdoor life. Her children had travelled Europe, and she completely applauded us travelling, and how brilliant it was to see us over there, also loving Australia.

 

We said our goodbyes, and returned to our cars.

 

As we were packing up, she came over to us and suddenly thrust some money into my hand, and said ‘From One Mother to another daughter, use this money to enjoy yourself. Someone did it for my daughter whilst she travelled in Europe, and I want to do it of for you.’ I was completely gobsmacked, I tried to refuse, but she was adamant.

 

We did use that money for fun: We had a fish and chips (a rare treat on a backpacker’s budget!) and filled our car up so we could travel a little further.” (Megan – Truly Madly Kids)

 

“I was touched by the kindness of an older couple who held my buggy for me during a bus journey last week when I had to fold it for the first time in 21 months. The gentleman of the couple also got off the bus and set the buggy back up for me before getting back on again to continue his journey! Between this and the operator at the bus depot, which I had to phone because I’d lost Baby Lighty’s hat on the bus, telling me that I was doing a great job as a mother, I was so touched by the kindness of strangers that day.” (Nicola – All Things Spliced)

 

Sharing some blog love

A blog series that I love

Burnished Chaos has a weekly series on her blog sharing the words that she and her family are living by that week. Each week, she shares the words that have been displayed on her family noticeboard for them to focus on, and reflects on them. It’s a wonderfully inspiring series and has certainly made me think about the small changes that can make big differences. I particularly loved reading the recent post reflecting on being the person you want to become and how changing our thinking can change our actions.

 

 If you have any stories about being on the receiving end of an act of kindness that you’d like me to include in a future blog post, please feel free to email them to me at louise @ littleheartsbiglove.co.uk or fill in the form here.