The Art of Giving and the Feel Good Factor

The Art of Giving and the Feel Good Factor

Why give something away? Why help someone from your street? Why put yourself out for someone else? The art of giving, selfishly; do you partake in this activity or not? 
Are you a giver? Or do you think that everyone is out to gain something out of every situation and so give and risk the chance of feeling like you have given to someone and you have received nothing in return.


It is a hard one, running this site has raised this question a number of times for our family ... are we asking too much expecting people to put up educational items, often for free to give to someone else that they do not know?

Please can I just ask you to take a minute and think about how it would feel if it was you...

Are we asking too much expecting people to trust those around them and at the end of the day us?

No, I don’t think we are, yes, we are asking you all to put faith in each other and help each other out, yes we are asking you to give up a little bit of your time to put an advert up. We know that it is sometimes hard to trust and sometimes it is a case of why should I put myself out...

Look, the thing is we need your help...we have this idea that by having a bank of educational items that we can support the children that haven’t got the things they need –

Ok, you are 15 years old and you go into school but you do not have the correct uniform on because your family can not afford it, now think how it feels when the teacher pulls you up on it, “I have warned you already about this, you do not have the correct uniform on, why do you feel the need to not wear the school uniform..I have spoken to you about this before and yet you defy the school and choose not to wear the blazer...detention and a letter home to your parents” and before you say that doesn’t happen it does. As a 15 year old what you going to do about it and as the parents of this 15 year old what are you going to do about it when the choice is to eat that week or buy the blazer! Now on top of that, a letter comes home the following week – school trip £50, oh yes it is non school uniform day on Friday £2, and now your other child wants to join an after school club – of course, you want the best for them – but you have just lost your job, money is tight – "No" -  that’s all you seem to do all the time is say No to them – and they do not moan and they understand but you see that it really effects them, but there is nothing you can do about it , you just don’t have the money...

Now, I am asking that if you have spare uniform, a book, put it up on the site because it really does make a difference to those families – the relief when you can finally say “here you go – here is the book you need for school” and the quiet relief in the child when they too can join in because they have the same things as the other children. Priceless

That to me is worth the bit of time it takes to put an item up on the site, and the bit of time that it takes to go to your front door and hand over the item, yes, you may not get the thanks from the child whom benefits but believe me it will affect them, and when they start to succeed in life because the whole community was behind them then that is when we can pat ourselves on the back. When they feel that they have the same chances in life as others, that they are not second class right from the beginning that is when we have done a good job as a community.

You know how I know this, because I have been there – I know how it feels to say "No" all the time and believe me it is the worse feeling in the world, seeing the face of your children when yet again they cannot join in with something.

So, the art of giving – take the risk and try it – it feels good – you know that feeling when someone smiles to you in the street, or lets you out when in the car, makes you want to do the same for someone else that day, makes your day just that little bit easier, a little less lonely, a little bit nicer. So if you give something on the site – maybe, just maybe you have just made someone else have a bit of a nicer, less lonely, easier day!
Emily J