Wellbeing is part of good mental health. And the community surrounding each of us can contribute a lot to (or detract a lot from) our wellbeing.
The Place of Kindness: Combating loneliness and building stronger communities is a report written by Zoë Ferguson for the Carnegie Trust, who say:
“Kindness is at the very heart of our wellbeing. … over 2016 and 2017 we worked with seven organisations to test what, if anything, could be done to encourage kinder communities, exploring ideas around the importance of places and opportunities to connect, and the intrinsic values underpinning our interactions and relationships.
We have seen powerful examples of where kindness and everyday relationships can affect change and support the wellbeing of individuals and communities. You can hear about some of these in our film. But there are major factors that get in the way of engaging and encouraging kindness both in individuals and organisations, including real and imagined rules relating to risk; funders and policy makers valuing the formal and organisational over the informal and individual; and modern definitions of professionalism and good leadership crowding out everyday kindness and intuitive human interactions …”
You can find out more, watch an 11-minute film and read/download the report here
