Ideas to help the community during Covid-19

There are SO MANY awesome community initiatives coming out of this crisis so we are pooling them together in a one-stop-shop for helping people.

Isolation doesn’t have to be so isolating! There are still plenty of things we can be doing to help those in need in our local communities and around the world so let’s be kind to each other.

If you have suggestions of things to add to this list, send them in using this form.

• Write postcards, emails or send video messages to elderly people in care homes who can’t have visitors. Email this one in Dorset to start off with: trinitymanor.reception@barchester.com

• Donate blood - the need for donations hasn’t stopped and donation stations are still open

• Volunteer for the NHS! Even if you're worried about leaving home and exposing yourself or loved ones, you can volunteer from home to contact those at risk of isolation.

• Making masks, scrubs, scrub bags etc for essential workers - more info and instructions here

• Download a free toolkit for Community Leaders

• Join your local Covid Mutual Aid group and offer your support - Covid-19 Mutual Aid Local Groups are small groups of people setting up independently in communities to support vulnerable people in their local area through the outbreak. 

• Cook/prepare a school lunch, post it on the OLIO App withe the #cook4kids for families to collect. No-contact pickup is available. If you have food that will go to waste, share it :)

• Volunteer with the British Red Cross within your community - more info here

• Purchasing gift certificates to local restaurants, record stores, and brick & mortar retailers to provide an alternative revenue stream

• Hosting virtual happy hours with friends and family to bolster human connection

• Support Foodbanks - use Google to find your nearest one and see what they need to support those who need it the most

• Support the homeless community - see the Crisis website to find out how

• Buying tickets to future community events to show support for the greater community

• Go and work on a local farm to help feed the nation!

• Offering grocery store runs or meal delivery to the elderly and immuno-compromised

• Contributing financially to food banks for children who have lost access to daily meals during school closures

• Donating to artists, performers, and venues to show solidarity and continue the celebration of the arts

• Creating wishlists for direct delivery to non-profit organisations and shelters that cannot currently receive in-person donations

• Providing online attendance options for classes, concerts, church services and more to connect communities to meaningful experiences

Founder's Blog: #bethebird

A seagull sits atop a sign, a sign showing a red line through a silhouette of a seagull, which happens to be facing exactly the same way as the real-life bird sitting on it.

If there's a photo that sums up the idea behind the YesTribe it's this!

Originally it was shared by Avani, one of the team at Facebook looking after this year's Community Leadership Fellows. She said,

"This bird is really inspiring me today. I've been reflecting a lot on the journey with you all - watching you lead, deal with the craziness of the world, your communities and sometimes your lives.

Then I watched a talk by Seth Godin about building tribes and I realized a large part of your work is sitting like this bird, pretty much openly flouting some "rules" made by some authority - to not do exactly what you are doing to make the world better by connecting people.

I won't be over philosophical here. I love you all for being this bird. This bird is cool."

--

For me, SayYesMore has always been an idea that helps me ignore the self-set or ingrained rules in my head, a reminder that it's ok to do something that other people might think is wrong, it's ok not to look for guidance and safety before we land, it's thoroughly encouraged to ignore (or even poo on) the silly, restrictive rules that are there for the plonkerish of reasons (ie. I can put a sign there, so I will).

I'd like to think you're all here because you recognise that life isn't transactional and that every single day you bosh down some barrier that someone else thoughtlessly put in your way, led by a sense that the other side has a lesson, or a new friend, or maybe just a cool place to camp for the night.

It's mental health week this week, but let's keep up the conversation all the time. Remember that if your mind can be the bird that doesn't care and the bird that isn't influenced by rules or thrown stones or even the sharp edge of the surface it happens to arrive at, then your mental health will be in a pretty good place.

You're awesome, regardless of what they say and even what you think sometimes. You're the cool bird living life your way.

#bethebird