The library
Kind things you can actually do
Every one of these is specific enough to do today. No grand gestures, no fundraising page, nothing that needs a free weekend.
323 ideas. Try a situation — grief, new baby, neighbor, hospital.
Know roughly what is going on but not what to search for? Start from a situation — fourteen short lists of what actually helps, from somebody new on the street to somebody having the worst year of their life.
Showing 91–120 of 323 ideas
Quietly pay for a child's kit
The boots, the instrument, the trip. Children drop out of things because of cost, and nobody is told why.
5 minutesMore than $10A neighbor
Not rated yet
Move your trolley out of the aisle
A blocked aisle is an inconvenience to most people and an impassable wall to a wheelchair or a scooter.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Write down the thing a child said
Every parent believes they will remember. Almost none do, and the exact words are what disappear first.
5 minutesFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Tell someone about money they are entitled to
Billions in benefits, reliefs and refunds go unclaimed every year, mostly by people who do not know they qualify.
Half an hourFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Tell a teacher what they did for your child
Teachers hear from parents almost exclusively about problems. Specific praise is rare enough to be kept for years.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Find a chair before anyone asks
Standing is the hidden barrier at parties, queues and exhibitions, and asking for a seat means explaining why.
5 minutesFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Praise the effort where the result was bad
A young person who worked hard and failed will be told the result was disappointing by everyone else.
5 minutesFreeA friend1 person did this
Not rated yet
Return it better than you got it
The borrowed car with a full tank, the returned dish with something in it. The margin is what people remember.
Half an hourUnder $10A neighbor
Not rated yet
Help with the deposit, not the rent
A one-off lump unlocks a situation. Ongoing help postpones one, and is far harder to stop.
5 minutesMore than $10A friend
Not rated yet
Turn the one-off donation into a standing order
Charities can plan against regular income and cannot plan against appeals. Five pounds monthly beats sixty at Christmas.
5 minutesMore than $10An organization
Not rated yet
Hand over your good tradesperson
The reliable plumber, the honest garage, the dentist taking patients. Newcomers pay a premium for not knowing.
5 minutesFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Leave credit on the machine behind you
A parking meter, a laundry card, a photo booth. The next person gets a small unearned piece of luck.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Talk to the child who is not performing
At any family gathering one child holds the room and another is under the table with a book.
5 minutesFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Split the bill by what people can actually pay
Dividing equally is simple and quietly excludes whoever ordered the cheapest thing for a reason.
5 minutesUnder $10A friend
Not rated yet
Put it back exactly where it was
In the home of a blind or partially sighted person, a tidied object is a lost object.
5 minutesFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Be the reference someone has no way of getting
Renting, banking and jobs all require a history that anyone newly arrived by definition does not have.
Half an hourFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Give one instruction at a time
Stacked instructions fail for anyone tired, anxious, learning the language or processing differently.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Believe someone about their own symptoms
People with invisible illness spend years being doubted, most often by people who mean well.
5 minutesFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Be the second person to volunteer
The first person to speak up takes all the risk. The second one makes it safe for everyone after.
5 minutesFreeAn organization1 person did this
Not rated yet
Tell someone how you got in
Careers look like merit from outside and like luck and contacts from inside. Saying so out loud helps someone enormously.
Half an hourFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Say plainly that you are glad they came
Anyone new spends months privately unsure whether they are wanted or merely tolerated. One sentence settles it.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Pay a bit more at the place that employs people
The difference between the independent and the chain is usually small per item and decisive per year.
Half an hourUnder $10A stranger
Not rated yet
Ask what the hardest part actually is
We assume we know which part of someone's situation is worst, and we are usually wrong.
5 minutesFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Tell a carer what you noticed
Carers watch someone decline daily and lose sight of who they were. An outsider's observation gives that back.
5 minutesFreeA caregiver
Not rated yet
Add alt text to your images
An image without a description is a blank space to anyone using a screen reader. Writing one takes twenty seconds.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Notice the deadline someone is drowning in
People rarely ask for help at work because asking reads as not coping. Offering removes the admission.
An afternoonFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Return the thing you have had for two years
Everybody is holding something borrowed and mildly embarrassing. Giving it back is easier than the story you have built around it.
5 minutesFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Say the spare room is available before they need it
People leaving bad situations often have nowhere to go for two nights, and cannot bring themselves to ask.
5 minutesFreeA friend1 person did this
Not rated yet
Correct your own mistake where you made it
Misinformation spreads further than corrections. Correcting yourself in the original place is the only version that works.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Find out who quietly fixed the thing
Something broke, then it didn't. Somebody did that, usually out of hours, and nobody has said anything to them.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet