Children's Mental Health Week Thoughtful Thursday
Today we are asking you to do an act of kindness for someone else and share this with us by writing what you have done in one of our hearts. The hearts will be added to our NBHS Kindness Tree. Doing something for others is powerful for your wellbeing. In fact, when we give to others, our brain’s pleasure and reward centres light up as if we were the receiver and not the giver! We also get a boost of feel-good endorphins and a hormone called oxytocin is released, which lowers our stress!
One thing that we have seen all over the world is that kindness is prevailing in uncertain times. People are coming together to clap on their doorsteps for Sir Captain Tom, others are - like collecting groceries or calling them for a chat. We have heard stories of people having virtual movie nights and creating choreographed dances over video chat to share with the world.
Get involved with Acts of Kindness:
- Call a friend that you haven’t spoken to for a while
- Tell a family member how much you love and appreciate them
- Make a cup of tea for someone you live with
- Arrange to have a cup of tea and virtual catch up with someone you know
- Help with a household chore at home
- Arrange to watch a film at the same time as a friend and video call
- Tell someone you know that you are proud of them
- Tell someone you know why you are thankful for them
- Send a motivational text to a friend who is struggling
- Send someone you know a joke to cheer them up
- Send someone you know a picture of a cute animal
- Send an inspirational quote to a friend
- Send an interesting article to a friend
- Contact someone you haven’t seen in a while and arrange a phone catch up
- Spend time playing with your pet
- Reach out to call a friend, family member or neighbour who is experiencing loneliness or self-isolation
- Donate to a charity
- Lend your ear – call a colleague and ask how they’re finding the change in routine
- Give praise to your colleague for something they’ve done well
- Arrange to have a video lunch with a colleague
- Send an inspirational story of kindness people around the world are doing for others to someone you know
- Donate to foodbanks
- Offer to skill share with a friend via video call - you could teach guitar, dance etc.
- Offer support to vulnerable neighbours
- Offer to send someone a takeaway or a meal
An Inspirational Role Model in doing something for others…
Captain Sir Tom Moore barely needs any introduction. Thomas Moore (born 30 April 1920), popularly known as Captain Tom, is a former British Army officer known for his efforts to raise money for charity in the run-up to his 100th birthday during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic.
On 6 April 2020, at the age of 99, he began to walk around his garden in aid of NHS Charities Together during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the goal of raising £1,000 by his hundredth birthday. By the time of writing he had raised in excess of £30m.
Captain Tom said: “When we started off with this exercise, we didn't anticipate we'd get anything near that sort of money. It's really amazing. All of them, from top to bottom, in the National Health Service, they deserve everything that we can possibly put in their place. They're all so brave. Because every morning or every night they're putting themselves into harm's way, and I think you've got to give them full marks for that effort. We're a little bit like having a war at the moment. But the doctors and the nurses, they're all on the front line, and all of us behind, we've got to supply them and keep them going with everything that they need, so that they can do their jobs even better than they're doing now.”
On his 100th birthday, he received 1000s of cards from well-wishers all over the world, and greetings from the Queen and Prime Minister. The occasion was marked with an RAF flypast, and he was made an honorary colonel. Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith said, “he is an inspirational role model” while Brigadier Andrew Jackson, colonel of the Yorkshire Regiment, described Moore as: “an absolute legend [from] an exceptional generation that are still an inspiration for our Yorkshire soldiers today”.
Sadly Sir Captain Sir Tom Moore died on 2nd February 2021 at the age of 100 after a battle with Covid and pneumonia.
In a statement, his daughters, Hannah Ingram-Moore and Lucy Teixeira, said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our dear father, Capt Sir Tom Moore. We are so grateful that we were with him during the last hours of his life; Hannah, Benjie and Georgia by his bedside and Lucy on FaceTime.
“We spent hours chatting to him, reminiscing about our childhood and our wonderful mother. We shared laughter and tears together.
“The last year of our father’s life was nothing short of remarkable. He was rejuvenated and experienced things he’d only ever dreamed of. Whilst he’d been in so many hearts for just a short time, he was an incredible father and grandfather, and he will stay alive in our hearts forever.
Let’s do something thoughtful today to make someone smile