The Kindness Offensive (TKO) is a group based in London known for orchestrating large-scale random acts of kindness, involving the distribution of industrial quantities of goods to unsuspecting members of the public and charities. The group's stated purpose is to "Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty", a phrase first coined by Anne Herbert.

History

The Kindness Offensive was formed in August 2008, when three of the four founding members (David Goodfellow, Benny Crane and James Hunter) asked members of the public in Hampstead what "random acts of kindness" they would like done for them. They received many requests from the public, and the group attempted to meet some of them by contacting companies and persuading them to donate the required goods for free, a technique developed by fourth founding member Robert Williams[1] and referred to by the group as "phone whispering".

TKO attracted press attention in October 2008 for giving away 25 tonnes of non-perishable foods to 14 soup kitchens and drop-in centres across London, England; the event came to be known as "The Mountain of Food".[2] This event was the first of many large-scale events centred on distributing industrial quantities of goods in short periods of time to a wide variety of locations and causes; the most notable of these were The Vinspired Kindness Offensive (2008),[3][4] The White Stuff Kindness Offensive,[5] which was widely reported as a record-breaking event (2010),[6] The Barclaycard Kindness Offensive (2011), the Hasbro Kindness Offensive (2013),[7] and the Read Free! Kindness Offensive.[8] The large scale 2014 XL Catlin Kindness Offensive event resulted in the events organiser and group co-founder David Goodfellow being awarded with a Points of Light,[9] award by the then UK Prime Minister David Cameron who acknowledged that it generated "a record-breaking Christmas toy donation".[10]

As well as large giveaways, TKO has also staged a series of pop-up events, including The Everyday Kindness Awards in 2009. Over the course of a weekend, actors in public places pretended to need help, and when members of the public stepped up to offer a hand, they received a pop-up celebration rewarding their kindness with champagne, flowers and a gold medal.[11]

The Kindness Offensive established their headquarters in Islington in 2013,[12] which includes a bookshop that offers 100,000's of books free of charge to the public,[13][14] and a community space whose grounds have been converted into a sensory garden for special needs students. The building has become something of a local landmark due to installations such as a set of giant brockley[15] and a replica TARDIS from the long running UK TV show Doctor Who.[16][17]

In 2017, Joanna Bevan[18] become the fourth[19][20][21] member of The Kindness Offensive to be awarded a place on The Independent Happy List, in recognition of her Kindness Offensive work with special needs children and with providing free language lessons to newcomers to the UK.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Jochan Embley (25 May 2014). "Independent on Sunday's Happy List 2014 (NOT the Rich List): Robert Williams, kindness giver - News - People". The Independent. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  2. ↑ "England | 'Kindness offensive' begins". BBC News. 7 October 2008. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  3. ↑ "England | Hampers at the ready". BBC News. 22 December 2008. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  4. ↑ "An act of kindness". YouTube. 22 December 2008. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  5. ↑ "A festive kindness offensive". YouTube. 22 December 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  6. ↑ "A hundred volunteers & ONE dog". YouTube. 19 January 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  7. ↑ "Kids show true Christmas spirit". YouTube. 16 December 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  8. ↑ Rose, Beth (27 December 2013). "BBC News - Free Bookshop: What happens when you offer 100,000 books for free?". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  9. ↑ "Winner Search Results". Pointsoflight.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  10. ↑ UK Prime Minister [@Number10gov] (18 December 2014). "David Goodfellow, co-founder of @KindOffensive, wins today's #PointsofLight award for organising a record-breaking Christmas toy donation" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. ↑ "UK | England | London | Project rewards acts of kindness". BBC News. 14 August 2009. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  12. ↑ Rose, Beth (27 December 2013). "BBC News - Free Bookshop: What happens when you offer 100,000 books for free?". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  13. ↑ "BBC News - Islington's The Kindness Project library opens". Bbc.co.uk. 3 October 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  14. ↑ "The Kindness Offensive Bookshop". list.co.uk. 17 July 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  15. ↑ "OUR NEIGHBOURS: Who's been making the news round your way this week? | Islington Tribune". Archived from the original on 1 March 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  16. ↑ "A tardis has landed on Camden Road". Timeout.com.
  17. ↑ "Holloway charity to host Doctor Who convention outside its hand-built Tardis". Islingtongazette.co.uk. 21 September 2016.
  18. ↑ "The Independent's Happy List 2017". Independent.co.uk. 27 June 2017.
  19. ↑ "The IoS Happy List 2011 - the 100". Independent.co.uk. 9 March 2012. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022.
  20. ↑ "Independent on Sunday's Happy List 2014 (NOT the Rich List): Robert". Independent.co.uk. 24 May 2014.
  21. ↑ "Happy List 2015: The people who make life better for others". Independent.co.uk. 10 May 2021. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022.
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