Schools help launch church's kindness revolution
The 1000 Hours initiative from Gateway Vineyard in Norwich is up and running again this Lent with four Norfolk primary schools joining the “revolution of kindness”.
Kids and Family Pastor, Marc Lillystone, explained: “The school project works by giving each child a kindness passport they fill out with details of the acts of kindness they complete, how long it took and if they did it with anyone else. Once they’ve filled it up they post it in the 1000 Hours school postbox and we give them another passport. We send them home with a list of ideas and some of the schools may do class kindness projects together too.”
Marc launched the initiative with an assembly for Kinsale Infant School in Hellesdon on Monday morning (February 24) and has already heard that some children have completed their first kindness passports and handed them in to get another one. “There was one story of a girl who wrote her neighbour a nice note and the next day had a reply note with a small gift to thank her for her kind note.”
Naomi, Heidi and Becci from Gateway launched the initiative in Worlingham CEVC primary school, in Suffolk, on Ash Wednesday and with 358 pupils will be the biggest school involved this year.
Trowse Primary school, which has 120 pupils, are also involved and they are really excited to be joining this year, said Marc. The final school to be involved is Coltishall primary school, with another 120 pupils.
“The focus for 1000 Hours in schools is to do acts of kindness at school, at home, in the community and ninja kindness – secret acts where no one knows it was you,” said Marc.
“We are also aiming to get the schools to join in one of the NHS appreciation projects by writing personalised thank-you cards for staff at Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Health Trust which was inspired by one of the children at Kinsale Infant school last year when she wrote thank you letters to NHS staff caring for her grandad.”
Pictured top is the launch at Worlingham primary school and, above, Marc at Trowse primary.