A million acts of hope

This month A Million Acts of Hope will see organisations up and down the country taking action to inspire hope. We’ll be bringing this theme to events and meetings we are participating in this week.

Organisations are invited take part in activities that spark hope. These could include community litter picks, dance and music events, workshops celebrating migration, community cafes and coffee mornings, creative walls of hope, film screenings and swap and repair shops.

Find out more

It’s not too late to take part. Find out more and sign up here. 

For ideas on acts of hope that you can take this week try A million acts of hope’s ‘Hope Dispenser‘. The tool provides inspiration and information about partner organisations who can help.

Acts of hope

We asked members to tell us what makes them hopeful when they think about the voluntary and community sector and to share examples of hopeful acts they’ve witnessed. Here are some of their responses:

“I have only recently started working in Brighton and Hove again but it is immediately apparent that it is filled with wonderful people, all striving to support the city’s residents in a collaborative way, rooted in local need and experience.” – Alice Matthews, Mediation Plus

“There are many caring and selfless volunteers in the community who, daily, help and support the needy and unloved in the community.” – Lancing and Sompting Churches Food Bank

“I see a real willingness of organisations to work together. We are all trying hard to do our best to make the city a happier, healthier place and play to each other’s strengths” – Sam Hart, Brighton Natural Health Foundation

“I am disabled but try to be as independent as I can. I was moving furniture in the office one day when a younger fitter young person came from the other side of the office to help. #Grateful” – Anonymous

“The simple but powerful act I witnessed last week was a community centre manager making a cup of tea for a homeless man – taking the time to connect with someone clearly experiencing a lot of sadness.” – Joanna Martindale, The Hangleton and Knoll Project

“I saw an elderly lady very distressed at a supermarket checkout having not brought her money out with her. Immediately and without hesitation a person stepped forward and offered to pay for her shopping and refused to enter a discussion about how she would pay him back.” – Annonymous

“A female survivor of domestic abuse has been Crowd Funding to provide other survivors with a book of poetry to help them heal.” – Jo Gough, RISE