Our scout groups cub packs were on camp this weekend. One of the scout leaders and I went to help pack up & take kit back to the hut as the cub leaders don’t tend to get much sleep with cubs compared to when we camp with scouts.
Brilliant sc xc - what goes around comes around
I believe its enlightened self interest. We do nice things because it makes us feel good
Partly mine but especially MrsRNP reason's for doing stuff is that mother nature decided that children weren't for us. The love that she would have put into ours now gets shared out to the community instead! Mine gets shared out to our dog!
To mugsy and anyone else - MrsRNP set up a community kitchen during Covid. She commandeered the local church as it had a commercial grade kitchen.
We collect fresh produce on a Sunday evening from a local supermarket that has very short dates (and flowers/plants that need a bit of TLC).
MrsRNP and a team cook up a 3course meal on Monday with the donations (usually adding fresh meat/veg from the local butcher etc) and then everyone all sits down and eats together at 5:30. There's between 50-80 people from all walks of life. Its not religious - it just happens to be in a church with good kitchen equipment.
Honestly it's great. Xmas was especially good.
There are also food hampers for anyone who needs anything.
Any leftovers I take to another community kitchen/centre on Tuesday mornings on my way to work.
Anything they have left over goes in the composter - that then goes to CivicPride (more about these later).
Groups like this are all over the country.
Tonight's donations.
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Regarding CivicPride that I mentioned.
Its a local community group that has been going 20+ years. It was set up by a local business owner giving back to the community.
Its gone from strength to strength - any piece of unused/derelict land and they are on it, flower beds get built, railings painted, pavements weeded, litter picked.
It was seeing these guys out and about that made me want to start litter picking when I first became Berts guardian (our dog).
Rawtenstall is representing The North in the upcoming Britain in Bloom competition. The whole town is a flurry of flower beds, tidying, shop displays etc. Even if we don't win the town still benefits. This was a broken former north of England mill town.
Again there will be a local group near you.
A few years ago I was driving North towards Durness when I picked up a couple of hitch-hikers at Perth. They were Slovaks and had hitched all the way over. They were headed for Ullapool and were delighted when I said I could take them all the way there. As we were driving up the A9, they asked if we passed Loch Ness. Turns out they had a "map" of Scotland torn out of a small diary. I explained that we didn't pass Loch Ness but asked if they'd be happy with a detour. We went Dalwhinnie - Spean Bridge - Fort Augustus and were even happier when I dropped them off at Urquhart Castle for a wee wander around and photos before resuming our journey.
I stuck an ad on the STW classifiedf a few montha back looking for an Alpkit drybag (they were out of stock) I subsequently received one from a couple of STWers free of charge as "repayment" for advice I'd previously given. I've since given bits away too.
there is a bit of scrap land near me that has been made into a garden. At first it was unofficial but they managed to make it official recently. Stuff like this is good.
Forgot to say - there's no charge for MrsRNP community kitchen. Its free, donations are welcome and the LBC and small local businesses contribute so it's self funding with a very small float.
Was sat in a pub beer garden in Eskdale a few weeks back, a young couple and their daughter walked in and the dad made a bee-line for me and asked if he could buy a ciggie off me. Gave him one and he explained they’d come camping and not realised there was no shop and he’d gone a day without. As we were heading out I gave him the rest of the pack.
Sorry for keeping you unhealthy young man! 🙃
RM.
Earlier this year I had the pleasure of a Saturday luggage transfer from one of the local hotels back to base. Heading back and one of the Autostrasse Saturday ride chaps had been abandoned after a tubeless puncture and was attempting a repair. I pulled up and offered the use of the track pump when he needed it.
When it was obvious that a) the tyre wasn't coming off and b)there were no plugs in the kit to effect the repair I offered to take bike and rider back to base where he could catch the train home or rustle up a sag wagon. Had a nice chat for the trip back which was a nice change.
When doing the Danish part of the North Sea cycle route, one day we had torrential rain and we arrived at campsite looking like drowned rats, when trying to book in with our little tent, the whole family running the campsite was at reception and they looked at eachother and agreed we could not have a tent spot and gave us one of their log cabins at same price as 2 man tent, was amazing.
At the moment i am bringing joy by taking my 12 week old Labrador puppy out and about, no one can see her and not smile 🙂
Back in the 80s two friends and I ended up at Mallaig with the idea of getting the estate ferry to Inverie the heading to Sourlies. We hadn't booked and it was full. The skipper of the ferry said he might have an idea. He got on the radio and a couple of hours later we were on a small private ferry being driven by ex SAS Tom McClean, the first guy to row the Atlantic solo west to east. At the time he had an outdoors place in Knoydart. He was picking up supplies in Mallaig and dropped us off at Tarbert Loch Nevis. There was nobody else but him and us on board so I even got a shot at steering while he made a brew. I had no idea who he was at the time but saw him on TV later for various things . I think it was the year after he got the record for the smallest boat to sail the Atlantic.
Gave away a pile of Crud mudguards and a few control tech bars to my local bike charity. Who did the usual when decent kit is provided by a member of the public.
Yup, they rake through it all like vultures over the latest carcass.
And it looks like I've convinced an old school friend to go Electric(bike) Bumped into him today and lo and behold he'd seen me on mine and obviously got the idea for one of the same, and opted for Bosch, his reasoning was my recommendation 🙂
Gifted him a Karrimor bar bag- the type with the klikfix mount.
Couple of good turns done by me 🙂
I think there are more acts of kindness happening right now, and now, and again, and every second of the day, than there are any other kind of act.
Every day it is someone's birthday, it is the day after something terrible has happened but they survived, it is the anniversary of someone you loved so much, it is the morning they wake up with the person they will spend the rest of their life with - every day is full of these moments, some fleeting, some that will mean nothing is ever the same again.
People are, on the whole, actually quite lovely, really.
We gave a fold down sofabed/futon thing away via Freegle a couple of weeks ago. The lady that had it was genuinely down on her uppers, you could tell it was a story of a shit life with mental illness, depression, divorce, she'd just been through the wringer lately. So we threw in some sheets, pillowcases, towels, a duvet and a bedside light with the futon. Felt good to help her be in a position where her daughter could come and stay over at the flat once in a while.
All the usual stuff, used to litterpick locally when still in the UK, no need to here in rural France.
About 8 years ago, wife and I had parked a few miles out of Bagneres de Bigorre to go and watch the end of a tour stage. We rode back to the car and were putting bikes on the rack when a rather overweight chap on a city bike struggled past, with a further 8 or 9 miles and several hundred feet of climbing to his destination. He paused for a break so I had a chat with him, a belgian chap in his 50s who had brought his aging mother to Lourdes and thought he'd take one of the hotel bikes to go watch the stage finish....he had bitten off way more than he could chew. We gave him a lift back to Lourdes but he was insistant on being dropped off just out of town and tried valiantly to drop a 20 euro note on us. (we told him to drop it in a charity pot). His mum will have seen her son set out and return on two wheels.....
Been in the privileged position of being able to give a lot of my mates stuff to friends in need, homeless charities & charity shops over the last few months, much more rewarding than getting a house clearance co in, but quite emotional when I'd finished the job.
Years ago, as poor students my ex wife & I popped down to the shops, both assuming the other had money, when it came to paying we couldn't but the person behind paid for us which was very unexpected - I'm still waiting to be able to pay that one back, doesn't help doing internet shopping 🤔
Amazing how much you can fit in a Mk1 Berlingo!
Ready for MrsRNP and her team of volunteers to work their magic tomorrow for the FOC community kitchen, anyone welcome.
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had someone walk by my front window a couple of weeks ago pushing their bike while it was raining so there was a good chance they had a puncture. I ran after them and sure enough they were miles from home with nothing to fix it. As soon as we got the tube out it was clear the hole was too big to patch and a look at the tyre showed that it had a massive hole so patching the tube wouldn't have worked. Fortunately i throw little out so I had an almost new tyre that I had taken off a bike years ago and I had just bought some new inner tubes the day before so all way good in no time at all. It always feels great to be able to send someone off on a bike working better than when you got it. It was all I could do not to go and fix all the other problems with it at the same time 🙂
This one felt a bit funny as it was a young woman and it was raining so I did the work in my garage but I always kept the garage door fully open to the road and never got between her and the door. You shouldn't really have to think about these things but they don't know you and the idea is to remove stress rather than add it.
Two weeks later I received a letter from the family thanking me for everything and a £200 Rapha voucher which was very thoughtful!
Did you get the left or the right sock?
I volunteered to do shopping for 4 pensioners during COVID, sadly 2 of them have passed away in last couple of years, but still go every Saturday afternoon for my neighbour Ronald, poor guy lost his wife during first lockdown, and couldn't bury her for months, and he had never ever cooked before and he is 96!
I enjoy it, as he lived an interesting life, a military policeman during Suez crisis and carried on living out there and travelling africa in the 50-60's, we tend to cook a roast or similar on a sunday too and take a plate round, as he is too frail to even travel the 3 doors down to me.
But it is no act of kindness as i genuinely enjoy his company, even had his first beer in 20 years the other week for his birthday sat on his patio.
‘People are, on the whole, actually quite lovely, really’
this +1
i ran out of petrol a few years ago, on my motorbike.
called the wife, she arranged a mate to bring me some.
took an hour or so, i was thoroughly shocked at the number of people who stopped to ask if i was ok.
Ray is a local character in our small town. He's old and bent over, and you often see him shuffling along excruciatingly slowly on his decorated zimmer frame. His kind happy manner and decades as a binman make him a well-known and well-liked person in the town. He shuffles to his favourite pub every day for a pint and a chat.
Recently, the pub started a fundraiser to get him a mobility buggy. The target £2k was raised very quickly, and they held a surprise presentation party in the beer garden. Ray cried.
Living in rural Aberdeenshire there are plenty of opportunities to help out folk.
In the way home one January I passed a car that had been in a smash. I spoke to the young Corsican couple to see if they were okay and they said the tow truck was coming. Her Indoors came home about an hour later & she stopped too and they were still waiting for the tow truck. It was dark now & very cold.
We took a flask of coffee and went back to check on them. Turned out they were on the first day of their first ever holiday together & were touring distilleries & staying in nice hotels every night.
Then the cops & an ambulance turned up. Some (unhelpful) passer by hadn't stopped but had called 999. Anyway, Her Indoors translated the French for the cops & ambulance til they were satisfied. Then I called the car rental firm to discover the tow truck was two hours away & that they couldn't get a replacement car until the next day.
We took them back to ours for dinner and invited them to stay the night as their hotel was down in Perthshire that night.
In the morning I took them to Aberdeen (45 minutes away) to get a replacement car. I harangued the car hire firm for their shoddy treatment & got them a massively upgraded car for the rest of their trip for no extra charge.
When I bade them farewell the girl had tears in her eyes and offered me a handful of cash as thanks. I told them they'd be better off spending the cash on their holiday.
They wrote us a lovely letter when they got home saying we'd made their holiday. 😁
Things like the story above make me so happy. As we argue on another thread about why we even need to put signs up asking people not to be horrible arses to the staff, it's just great that someone's holiday has been resurrected by being nice and going that bit further.
Like others on here, plenty while out on the bike, always carry a couple of inner tubes if i am taking a pack even though i run tubeless these have helped many a people out through the years, loan of tools, gifting of quick links etc.
Little while ago a kid was obviously told to buy his lunch on the way to school in the shop where i was grabbing some milk, he wasnt given enough money and i overheard him talking to the lady in the shop asking what he can get for the couple of quid he had on him. He must've only been about 8 or 9, i just told him to grab what he needed and ill sort it. Was only a few quid and ensures he gets fed at lunch, least i could do.
The wife is a paramedic and she has a fair few people who buy her a drink or pay for her lunch etc. Last time, someone left a tenner under the wiper of the ambulance with a note saying "treat yourself".
Driving through Innerleithen earlier in the year and as I got to the crossroads where the cafe is there was a blind chap (dog & stick) trying to cross the road. No one was even slowing down, so I just stopped on the opposite side blocking my side and got out. Stopped the traffic on the other side and walked him across.
Luckily for those stopped no one complained, and I got the thumbs up from the driver behind me.
Was surfing in Messanges and a lad got into difficulty in the rip and flipped a bit. I got him on my mal and paddled him in. En route I noticed a big kerfuffle on the beach, a path cleared and a Poncin buggy with life savers hurtled through, wtf?, and they saved the lad as we got onto the beach.
Was in Toxteth and was going to meet the Mrs who was giving a lecture a few miles out. Asked two ladies chatting for directions, 'its quite a way, how you getting there?'
'walking'
She stuck her hand in her pocket to give me the bus fare. Charming. I've only ever had a good time in Liverpool.
I sent a Garmin watch for a chap to try off of here, he was asking what the wrist heart rate thing was like. He kept it.
This is a bad example isn’t it.
Well, I lost my phone this morning and someone helpfully picked it up and gave it me back. That was very nice I thought. Refused any kind of reward as well.
Just spent 2 hours fixing up an old bike being thrown out by a neighbour for someone else who'd had theirs nicked. Feels good.
I offered to repaint the walls in a displaced refugee children's centre, and it seems now everyone thinks I'm a ****.
Yours,
Bob
In 1993, I was 22 years old and on a boys holiday to Kos with two pals. We got friendly with a family with three young teen boys. We looked after the boys in the hotel to give Mum and Dad a few hours to themselves before we went out, kept them busy at the pool or at the beach. That sort of thing.
Typically, we completely messed up our timings and on the last day, all three of us were skint and the bus to the airport was at daft-o-clock the next morning.
The Mum and Dad supplied us with food, drink and a few beers through out the day!!!
We thanked them greatly and I asked why they had been so generous?
The Mum answered that she would like to think that maybe someone, in the future, would do the same for her kids.
Stayed with me for over 30 years now.
I like this thread a lot.
Hahahahah bob
No one takes responsibility for these trees. Over the years I have cut a couple of tunnels. 
A very decent fellow on here mentioned he had a longitude frame for sale when I started a thread a few years ago about differences in the model years . I contacted him and he offered it at a very fair price but at the time I was struggling with depression and having minimal income I became anxious about whether I could afford it . I apologised for wasting his time and explained it was best if I left it .
He replied " how does this sound ...pay for the postage and you can have the frame /forks + a dropper post etc "
Initially I felt I couldn't accept it but he explained he'd been through lots of hard times and was currently doing OK so would like to help me out . I later discovered he was far from flush and worked in a low wage environment although finally doing something he enjoyed . I still have the frame ..awaiting building up ..to be completed very soon . As someone who has often come to the conclusion there are a lot of unpleasant, selfish ,unkind folk out there ...This demonstration of kindness from a stranger made me realize there are some truly good people around ..they just don't shout about it or get in the news.
I hope to repay his kindness one day or do similar for another . That is what he actually asked me to do in the future ..if I was able ..to help someone else . I do help others ..in fact I'd help anyone out apart from maybe those who take advantage ..and of course that has often happened .
Finally a lady told me that I had restored her faith in humanity when one day she observed me helping another . I was driving a bus in Exeter ..past the blind school where students await transport. Although I wasn't stopping there as I drove past I noticed a young man standing alone , holding a sign in his hands with details of the bus he needed . Sadly he was holding it upside down and nobody appeared to let him know ,so I pulled up 100m down the road , walked back and let him know , then returned to continue the journey . At the last stop on the route , the last passenger who got off was an older woman who said I had made her day and as mentioned earlier ..restored her faith .... . I did feel good afterwards but I didn't do it for that reason ..it was simply the right thing to do .
In some ways ..the easiest way to incorporate a random act of kindness into your daily life might be to simply , always let the driver , who is facing you and waiting to turn right , go . More than one car generally benefits and traffic would flow much better if we all did such small things . The Dalai Lama says regularly if you want to be happy just be kind ..everyone benefits ...and it appears so true .
In some ways ..the easiest way to incorporate a random act of kindness into your daily life might be to simply , always let the driver , who is facing you and waiting to turn right , go
I love coming back to the uk just because drivers are so much kinder than in Belgium and generally do this sort of thing. It makes me happy every time
...You shouldn’t really have to think about these things but they don’t know you and the idea is to remove stress rather than add it.
Ah, clearly I wasn't too scary. Came back from hols to find this in my letterbox. Makes it double worthwhile
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^there should be an image there. I'll try reposting
I saw a very confused looking elderly lady stood at a self-service checkout in the local supermarket the other day, so went over to see if I could help and she had no idea how they worked. A few minutes later and I'd helped her scan all her shopping through and pay for it. It didn't take much time but helped save her from standing around feeling confused until an assistant arrived.
