FROME Medical Practice has recently filled a week with kindness-related activities, to mark the second Frome Kindness Festival.
One of the key focuses of this year’s festival was to set a kindness challenge and the practice used this as an opportunity to support their charity of the year, Active and In Touch. Their kindness challenges included a sponsored bike ride, with the aim of virtually crossing the channel, with the aim of raising enough money to fund at least the first 100 cups of tea and coffee, when Active and In Touch open the cafe based in Frome Medical Centre later in the spring.
The practice team has also been busy writing postcards to everyone who uses the services of Active and In Touch. The charity aims to support lonely and isolated people, befriending them and helping them to feel part of the community, and the practice hopes this simple act of kindness will brighten people’s days.
Practice manager, Karen Creffieldnsaid, “We know that simple acts of kindness can transform people’s lives – both for the person giving and the person receiving the kindness. Kindness is something we aim to practise here every day, but the Frome Kindness Festival gives us the chance to remind ourselves of the contribution kindness can make to our mental and physical health, both as individuals and as a wider community.”
Other activities during the week have included a shared staff lunch, staff wellness walk, a visit from the Kindness Caravan and a free ‘taster’ day at the new cafe that will soon be opened by Active and In Touch. Art installations, including one linked to the Hindu festival of Holi, which celebrates new life and the victory of good over evil, have also appeared at the medical centre.
For anyone wanting to sponsor the fundraising effort to provide as many free cups of tea and coffee at the new Active and In Touch cafe as possible, the fundraising page can be found at www.viing.com/v/ frome-kindness-festival
To find out more about the work undertaken by Active and In Touch visit activeandintouch.org/
