21 September to 28 September

Rekindled Kindness

I had begun to have doubts about the effect of my campaign for kindness whilst standing in front of eighty teenagers. I was in the Lake District, far-away from the contrasting urban-scapes where I had been practicing kind stunts; handing out free umbrellas in the street, holding up a sign encouraging passers-by to 'smile', and organising a festival themed around kindness.

Out of the blue I was invited to give a talk to a group of wide-eyed students at a summer camp by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. As I began, a hand in the audience was immediately raised. My heart sank; 'Aren't you the guy I saw on the Internet giving out free umbrellas?' I nodded hesitantly. 'I love that kindness stuff!' He replied. And for the rest of the trip I witnessed many of the attendees performing Random Acts of Kindness. A few days later, I received an email from another young lad in the audience; 'Just to let you know; myself and a few friends have started performing our own random acts of kindness in my local area.' My doubts were unfounded. My faith in the receptiveness and kindness of the next generation has been rekindled.

Tom Robbins, a former student of Chelsea College of Art & Design is campaigning to encourage people to undertake random acts of kindness. At the same time he is Manager of online video content for Leap Anywhere.