A. On the 6th April, 2020, Captain Tom Moore began walking in his garden to raise money for British hospitals. The world was at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and hospitals were having an extremely difficult time. His aim was to do ten lengths of his garden per day which may not sound like much, but Captain Tom was 99 and needed a walking frame to get around. He aimed to complete his goal before his 100th birthday on 30th April and raise £1000. He gained international attention and was hailed as a hero. He ended up raising over £32 million. His efforts symbolised the kindness towards others that were needed at such a difficult and frightening time for the world. 

D. Neuroscientists have found that doing things for others lights up the same parts of our brain which respond to reward. It may explain why, during times of crisis, people can be more motivated to help others. In the UK during the first six months of 2020, the British donated £800 million more to charity than they had during the same period the previous year. In Germany, the percentage of people who said that they cared about the well-being of others increased by 22% between February and June. Those whose job it is to help others, medical professionals around the world, became the focus of much public gratitude. In France, a florist left bouquets of flowers on the cars of 400 workers at the local hospital. It was a difficult time, but the sense of shared crisis led many to find joy in helping others. So, if you’re in need of a boost to your mood, perhaps you should go and do a random act of kindness for someone. You’ll both feel better for it. 

B. But kindness isn’t just good for the people on the receiving end. Studies show that it is good for the person bestowing their kindness on others. Volunteering, for example, can lead to the chance of an early death being 24% lower than if you don’t give up your time to help others. It reduces the type of swelling which causes heart disease, arthritis, cancer and diabetes. Perhaps unsurprisingly, volunteers spend roughly 38% fewer nights in hospital, according to studies conducted in Spain, Jamaica, Uganda and Egypt. Kindness can also reduce pain. People who were giving blood were shown to feel less pain than those who were having their blood extracted for a test, even though a larger needle was being used for the former. 

C. Despite this, acting kindly can be difficult for many, particularly with people we don’t know. A lot of people worry that acts of kindness will be misunderstood or perceived as weakness. Take for example, offering someone a seat on a bus. Some people will infer that you are seeing them as more fragile and may respond in a hostile way. The embarrassment of offering a seat to a pregnant woman only to be informed she isn’t pregnant has happened to more than a few good-hearted people. Yet we all welcome acts of kindness. A BBC survey reported that 16% of participants had received an act of kindness from others within the last hour, 43% within the last 24 hours. Words such as ‘grateful’, ‘happy, ‘loved’ and ‘pleased’ were used to describe the experience.