The Kindness Offensive (TKO) is a group based in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
known for orchestrating large-scale
random acts of kindness A random act of kindness is a nonpremeditated, inconsistent action designed to offer kindness towards the outside world. The phrase "practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty" was written by Anne Herbert on a placemat in Sausalito, Cal ...
, 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
Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...
what "
random acts of kindness A random act of kindness is a nonpremeditated, inconsistent action designed to offer kindness towards the outside world. The phrase "practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty" was written by Anne Herbert on a placemat in Sausalito, Cal ...
" 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 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". 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), The White Stuff Kindness Offensive, which was widely reported as a record-breaking event (2010), The Barclaycard Kindness Offensive (2011), the Hasbro Kindness Offensive (2013), and the Read Free! Kindness Offensive. 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
Points of Light is an international nonprofit, nonpartisan organization headquartered in Georgia, United States dedicated to engaging more people and resources in solving serious social problems through voluntary service.
Each year, Points ...
, award by the then UK Prime Minister David Cameron who acknowledged that it generated "a record-breaking Christmas toy donation".
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.
The Kindness Offensive established their headquarters in Islington in 2013, which includes a bookshop that offers 100,000's of books free of charge to the public, 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 and a replica TARDIS from the long running UK TV show ''Doctor Who''.
In 2017, Joanna Bevan become the fourth
member of The Kindness Offensive to be awarded a place on ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
''
Happy List
The ''Happy List'' is a list of 100 people in the United Kingdom "who give back, volunteer, and who make Britain a better balanced, happier country." It has been published annually in April by the ''Independent on Sunday'', a British national Sund ...
, in recognition of her Kindness Offensive work with special needs children and with providing free language lessons to newcomers to the UK.
See also
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Altruism
Altruism is the principle and moral practice of concern for the welfare and/or happiness of other human beings or animals, resulting in a quality of life both material and spiritual. It is a traditional virtue in many cultures and a core as ...
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Cool To Be Kind
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Join Me
Daniel Frederick Wallace (born 16 November 1976) is an English filmmaker, comedian, writer, actor, and radio presenter, presenter of radio and television presenter, television. His notable works include the books ''Join Me'', ''Yes Man (book), Y ...
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Kindness
Kindness is a type of behavior marked by acts of generosity, consideration, rendering assistant or concern for others, without expecting praise or reward in return.
Kindness is a topic of interest in philosophy, religion, and psychology. Kin ...
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Random act of kindness A random act of kindness is a nonpremeditated, inconsistent action designed to offer kindness towards the outside world. The phrase "practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty" was written by Anne Herbert on a placemat in Sausalito, Cali ...
*
Random Acts of Kindness Day
Random Acts of Kindness Day is a day to celebrate and encourage random acts of kindness. "It's just a day to celebrate kindness and the whole pay it forward mentality", said Tracy Van Kalsbeek, executive director of the Stratford Perth Community ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kindness Offensive, The
Non-profit organisations based in London
Kindness