The Westbourne Trader’s Association, supported by the Bournemouth Coastal BID, has launched a Random Acts of Kindness month for March and is urging its Businesses and also the local residential community to ‘do something nice for someone and tell us what you have done.’
People are asked to upload their acts of kindness or nominate someone who has carried out a random act of kindness to the Discover Westbourne Facebook page. At the end of the month there will be two prizes for the acts of kindness that have best captured the judges’ attention.
Steve Taylor, Director of Fab Frocks of Westbourne and President of the Westbourne Trader’s Association said, “We are very keen to promote thepositive, caring and thoughtful side of our community and get people thinking about what kindness is and what this can mean. No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted and we look forward to hearing about all the positive gestures being made by everyone.”
Steve continued, “There will be two prizes in recognition of acts of kindness that stand out for the judges; We will be awarding an Ipad Mini 2 in an Under 18 category and £250 of Westbourne Shopping vouchers in the over 18’s category.
Steve added, “There are so many different ways in which you can show kindness to someone. It might be that you pay for the coffee of the person behind you in the queue, you could simply compliment a stranger to make their day, help someone across the road, give an elderly person a lift to the shops, bring a friend’s pet a treat, let your work colleagues know how much you value them or how about giving a slice of your pizza to the delivery man! The list is endless…”
Businesses in Westbourne Village have come together to back the campaign and are keen to make sure that they take part too and offer random acts of kindness to their customers throughout the month.
Claudine Harley, owner of Vintage Tea Shop, Dot Teas said, “We have found that doing something nice for a complete stranger makes us feel good. This March campaign provides us with the ‘excuse’ to show some extra acts of kindness. We might brighten up someone’s day by giving them a free cup of tea and cake.”
Clare Measor, Store Manager at Marks & Spencer’s in Westbourne enthused, ““We are delighted to be involved in this community initiative. Customers loved our Christmas campaign around random acts of kindness, so it is great to be able to continue surprising and delighting. We have been encouraging our staff to regularly show random acts of kindness. Whether it be giving a deserving customer a box of chocolates, to spotting if someone looks like they are having a tough day and giving them a cup of coffee. Our staff really enjoy brightening up someone’s day and making a difference to them.”
Robert Watts, Proprietor of Peter Treble butchers added, “We are a very community minded business and have become a community hub for locals. We are always keen to help our customers out and often go the extra mile to give something unexpected to them and are looking forward to sharing our acts of kindness in March in the hope of encouraging others to join in.”
To join in and share your Random Act of Kindness visit https://www.facebook.com/discoverwestbournebournemouth or visit the web site www.discoverwestbourne.co.uk/kindness
