I believe we all have with in us a desire to reach out and help others from carrying out small acts of kindness to welcoming refugees to share our homes as they flee from war zones. We are often bombarded with negativity that we fail to see the selfless giving that many people exhibit without clamouring for recognition or reward.
Over the years I have met so many individuals whose lives have been dedicated to helping others. I have worked and supported many charities ranging from organisations such as Rotary, Salvation Army, Internal Aid Trust, and World vision to name a few. Many of my clients work in Charity shops supporting good causes. They freely give up their time which enables the charity to obtain funds to develop their work.
I consider myself very fortunate to have visited Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Malaysia on humanitarian projects. I have witnessed at first hand the difference various projects such as the building of a village in Sri Lanka after the devastation of the tsunami, for local fisherman and their families who lost everything.
In South Africa following fund raising by five local Rotary clubs enough funds were raised to build toilet blocks in several schools in the KwaZulu-Natal district. Most schools had no running water, the children often walking barefoot 5 kilometres, carried water in blue plastic containers from the local river, which was poured into large water tanks. The water was used for drinking, hand washing and cooking. It was always a very humbling experience to realise how they lacked what we consider to the basic needs of life, and yet they were happy and full of joy and singing.
I returned from the trip with a completely different mind-set in relation to material wealth realising that happiness can never be found in a material driven world.
Another charity which I whole heartedly support is Release into Victory (RIV) it is a support service for victims of sexual abuse both male and female over the age of 18. The service focus is on support information and guidance for survivors/victims who have experienced sexual abuse within the family unit, extended family, or members of the community. The term INTRAFAMILIAL is the officially recognised term.
The founder and visionary of RIV is a dynamic caring lady who works tirelessly to promote awareness of sexual abuse by offering 1-1 sessions and peer support, promoting social awareness of child sexual abuse to the public and awareness training sessions to other agencies.
If you want to discover more about the charity or know someone who could benefit by the services available, please visit csasupportlancashire.com
In my role as a life coach, I promote the idea of volunteering to assist a good cause along with carrying out one act of kindness daily. Evidence shows that helping others can also benefit our own mental health and wellbeing by reducing stress improving self-esteem and happiness.
To quote the lyrics of a song
What the world needs now is love, sweet love, it’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.
Let’s consider what we can do to share love and kindness to others.
Kindest wishes
Lynne x