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Kind things to do in your neighborhood
Within walking distance. Most of these are for people you half-know: the faces you recognize on the same street every week and have never actually spoken to.
Showing 91–120 of 172 ideas
Find out who is on their own at Christmas
People will not volunteer that they have nowhere to go. The question has to be asked directly and early.
5 minutesFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Walk a lost person to the corner
Directions are forgotten by the second turn. Walking someone to the point where they can see it is what works.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Plan something that is not built around drinking
People in recovery, pregnant, on medication or simply not drinking are excluded from most adult socialising by default.
An afternoonUnder $10A friend
Not rated yet
Warn someone about the ticket they are about to get
Thirty seconds of effort saves a stranger sixty pounds they very possibly cannot spare.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Learn the dog's name first, then the owner's
The dog is the easiest introduction on any street, and the one conversation nobody finds intrusive.
5 minutesFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Write down whether a place was actually accessible
Step-free claims are frequently wrong, and disabled people plan whole days around information nobody has verified.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Tell the driver you are genuinely not in a hurry
Taxi and delivery drivers assume every passenger wants speed. Saying otherwise removes a pressure they carry all day.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Ask an older person to teach you something
Being useful is the thing most often lost in older age. Being taught is a better gift than being helped.
An afternoonUnder $10A neighbor
Not rated yet
Become a regular somewhere on purpose
Being known by name in one place is the cheapest antidote there is to feeling like a stranger where you live.
OngoingUnder $10A neighbor
Not rated yet
Go to the appointment as a second pair of ears
People retain very little of what a doctor says, especially when the news is bad or the room is rushed.
An afternoonFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Ask an older person what they used to do
Retired people are asked about their health and their grandchildren. Almost nobody asks what they were good at.
Half an hourFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Ask what they would make if you let them
People who make things all day rarely get asked their opinion by the people they make them for.
5 minutesUnder $10A stranger
Not rated yet
Say something specific about their garden
Someone is doing that for nobody's benefit but the street's, and almost certainly has never been told it was noticed.
5 minutesFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Stay with someone who has fallen
Most people who fall in public are surrounded by people who assume someone else is handling it.
Half an hourFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Talk to the person on the door
Security staff stand in one place for twelve hours while thousands of people walk past without making eye contact.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Wave through the person with three things
You have a full trolley and eleven minutes of unpacking ahead. They have a sandwich and a train to catch.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Cover the few pounds someone is short at the till
Being short at a checkout with a queue behind you is a small public humiliation, and it is trivially preventable.
5 minutesUnder $10A stranger
Not rated yet
Knock, rather than posting a leaflet
Leaflets reach people who are already connected. The person most worth inviting needs someone at the door.
Half an hourFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Go to the small thing nobody else will
The exhibition, the first gig, the talk to nine people. Attendance at the small things is what people remember.
An afternoonUnder $10A friend
Not rated yet
Turn up for the move
Helping someone move is the least fun and most remembered favor in the entire catalogue of friendship.
An afternoonFreeA friend
Not rated yet
Face them instead of raising your voice
Shouting distorts speech and singles someone out. Facing them and slowing down works far better.
5 minutesFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Say something kind to a parent having a bad time
A toddler melting down in public means a parent convinced that everyone is judging them. Usually everyone is sympathetic and silent.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Start something that meets weekly
Loneliness is rarely solved by an event. It is solved by something recurring that requires no arrangement.
OngoingFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Offer to take the photo for the group
Someone is always missing from the picture, and it is usually the person who organized the trip.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Offer to water while they are away
Offering before a holiday is worth far more than offering after. It also quietly tells a burglar the house is occupied.
5 minutesFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Invite the whole household, not just the one you know
Partners and teenagers of a newcomer are often more isolated than the person who has the job or the class.
5 minutesFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Pay the small place in cash
Card fees take two to three per cent from a business whose margin may be five. Cash is a quiet discount you can choose to give.
5 minutesFreeA stranger
Not rated yet
Teach six people the thing you can do
Most useful skills are held by people who do not think of themselves as qualified to teach them.
An afternoonUnder $10A stranger
Not rated yet
Introduce two neighbors who should know each other
You often know two people on the same street who would be useful or good company to each other, and who have never spoken.
5 minutesFreeA neighbor
Not rated yet
Give a local group one evening
Small charities and clubs cannot afford the professional help they need, and the gap is usually one evening wide.
An afternoonFreeAn organization
Not rated yet