Random Acts of Kindness

As part of Random Acts of Kindness Day our Community Engagement officer Jo Linton encouraged the North Tyneside community to perform a small act to benefit an older person.  By making a pledge to spend time with an older person or by making and delivering a ‘Box of kindness’.  The boxes were filled with goodies such as handmade book marks, bracelets, biscuits, socks, ‘sweets to give you the energy you need to be so amazing’, ‘a candle to brighten your day’ and many more heartfelt messages.

 The gesture was part of Age UK North Tyneside’s campaign to ‘End Loneliness’ across the borough in Partnership with the SIGN network. According to Age UK, around 1.4m million people across the country feel cut off from society, with loneliness as damaging to health as 15 cigarettes a day. Age UK North Tyneside’s Head of Charity Services, Yvonne Probert, said: “Social isolation can happen anywhere, but it particularly affects older people. We want people to realise this happens all the time, not just at times like Christmas. Random Acts of Kindness can make a real difference to people who feel lonely.” If you would like to help us in the fight to End Loneliness and have an hour a week or more, you could volunteer with our Befriending service.

Children from year 4 in Benton Dene Special School handed over shoeboxes filled with treats at Rowan Croft Wellbeing Centre, Killingworth, run by Age UK’s social enterprise EveryDay Care. Benton Dene staff member Alison Wile added: “The children have absolutely loved packing up the boxes and then handing them over today. Most of our children have autism and find social situations difficult but they have found today really easy, and fun. It is fantastic to see the children spreading joy and helping to make other people happy.” As well as Benton Dene school, children from Collingwood Primary School in North Shields and the Explorer Scouts in Tynemouth were also involved, packing the boxes themselves and handing them over to older people in the community.

Our Community Engagement Officer Jo Linton, who organised the handover, added: “It has been so rewarding and lovely to see everybody’s faces. It just goes to show how much joy can be given to someone through just a small random act of kindness.” Hilda Williamson, 88, a customer at Rowan Croft  said: “We had the children over singing carols at Christmas so to see them again is lovely. It is marvellous what they have done for us all, they are very thoughtful. We have all received some lovely gifts and it has brightened up everyone’s day. I love coming to Rowan Croft and things like this is one of the reasons why. I lost my husband and got lonely and a bit depressed, but coming here has helped so much. I get to see my friends, play games, listen to music and generally enjoy myself. It has been a godsend.” Rowan Croft is one of three North Tyneside wellbeing centres, with customers also attending Cedar Grove, Wallsend, and the Linskill Centre in North Shields.