A shop where products were purchased with acts of kindness opened in Kendal last week.
For one day only on Friday, the Kinder Shop opened at The Cumberland offering a range of items that included BBQs, garden chairs and hampers.
The only difference was that to pay for items shoppers just needed to show some kindness - by volunteering a suggested number of hours at a local charity.
A deckchair could be ‘bought’ for two hours of volunteering, and cutomers could walk away with a brand new BBQ if they committed to five hours.
Kinder Shops also appeared in Dumfries and Carlisle for a day as part of the campaign organised by The Cumberland Building Society.
Customers promised over 1,000 hours of time to local charities, many of whom had never been involved in volunteering previously.
First to visit the pop-up shop was Neil Tolley who ‘bought’ a stylish garden table and chair set for which he will be doing 15 hours volunteering with the South Lakes Carers Group.
“I just heard about the shop on social media so came down to have a look and think it’s an amazing idea,” he said. “It’s good to give back to the community when you can.”
He was able to meet people from the charity’s team at the shop and hear from Marion Graveson and her colleagues how it supported 1300 carers locally, including 140 young people.
Kelvin Nash, principal of Kendal College, also visited the shop and said it was a unique way to connect local people with charities. “I bought this lovely bird table and I will be paying for it with 15 hours spent with Cumbria Deaf Association and English Heritage.
“I will be donating it so that it can sit in the garden of the college and Kendal Museum.”
Kristienne Brandreth turned up on her tricycle and bought a beach towel set in return for volunteering with Cumbria Deaf Association.
“I think the shop is a brilliant idea - everyone is a winner all round,” she said.
The purpose of The Kinder Shop is to show what a difference kindness can make in communities.
The Cumberland Building Society is funding the project as part of its campaign to promote kindness and hopes it will help boost the number of volunteers at charities taking part.
Charities taking part include the Ragtag Arts, English Heritage, Space2Create, Cumbria Deaf Association and West Cumbria Rivers Trust.
Phil Ward, brand manager with The Cumberland, said: “We believe that this is the first time anyone has tried this. It’s unusual, but we hope that it will really put the spotlight on what a difference kindness can make in our community.
“As a business we are committed to being kinder to our staff, our customers and our planet and this is our way of encouraging others to join us on that mission.
“It has been humbling to see how people have responded to the idea.”
Caroline Howsley, general manager of Cumbria Deaf Association, was delighted to gain some new volunteers - a welcome boost for the charity which has been knocked recently by a burglary and vandalism at its offices.
“It is harder these days to find volunteers because everyone feels so short of time. So to have something like the Kinder Shop really encourages people to come and look at different ways of volunteering and it means they are getting something back for their time,” she said.
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