Try a little kindness...goodwill gestures make our day

BRITAIN is a nation that loves to show random acts of kindness, with holding the door open for others leading the way.

Research reveals a third of adults show an act of kindness every day while 38 per cent perform one at least once a week.

The findings also show that people believe a random act to help others is “good karma” and “what goes around comes around”.

Britons said that a gesture of goodwill made them want to go out and help other people and more than half (54 per cent) believed that despite all the current difficulties, there was still goodness in the world.

Three-quarters of the 2,000 people said in a survey by hotel chain Travelodge that it made their day when a stranger showed a random act of kindness.

Often the smallest gesture meant the most, including having the door opened for you, receiving a smile from a stranger, being allowed to jump the supermarket queue, having the lift held open and being given the right of way on the road.

Others valued being given a seat on public transport, receiving a valid car parking ticket from a stranger in the car park, getting a compliment, a “good morning” on the way to work and receiving help to carry luggage or a pram up the stairs.

Travelodge spokesman Shakila Ahmed said: “A random act of kindness can be something very small, but it can have a major impact on someone’s life.

“Every day we see random acts of kindness being performed from our hotel teams across our 542 UK Travelodge hotels.

“Our receptionist at Doncaster M18 Travelodge helped a distressed pregnant woman to deliver her baby in the hotel car park and saved the baby’s life during the process.

“This research highlights that we certainly are a nation that likes to dish out random acts of kindness, which is a powerful force as receiving kindness not only improves our happiness, physical health but also our general well-being.”

But there were regional variations in how people viewed kindness.

A quarter of Britons believe more is shown in the North compared with the South – and seven northern cities scored highly in the UK’s top 10 kindest city table.