The Gift of Giving

No more fumbling around for change, we have provided the whole Tonkin Liu team with Giving Bags made by Francisco Dimate Diaz, ready with £1 coins to give to a different stranger each time.

Giving is an art that needs practice, an act often hindered by guilt, shame, judgement. We can all give a little, but we are clumsy when it comes to the act of giving, it can feel difficult to give easily.

During lockdown our local community became our lifeline, and we have come to value our daily walks outdoors. We have learned to look out for others, for those who might be feeling the pain of Covid and isolation. Our community includes the homeless, whose number had been on the rise long before Covid. By giving to a complete stranger we can defy isolation, acknowledge someone's humanity, and in turn our own.

Over the past few months our team have fed back stories of their giving and acts of kindness, reaching out to others unexpectedly and the positive effects this has for everyone; the giver, the receiver and the passer-by who witnesses this - perhaps they too may then go on to give to another. As lockdown continues, and hopefully soon ends, let us carry forward the act of giving and looking out for others as part of normal everyday life.