This week is ‘Random Acts of Kindness Week’ and we certainly are a nation that loves to dish out random acts of kindness – as a new report out today reveals that a third (33%) of British adults show an act of kindness every day.
The Kindness Report was commissioned by Travelodge who surveyed 2,000 British adults to seek the nation’s view on Random Acts of Kindness.
The report also revealed that 29% of Britons reported that dishing out a random act of kindness to a stranger is good karma and believe ‘what goes around, comes around’. A third (33%) of adults stated that a gesture of goodwill actually makes them want to go out and help other people. Whilst over half (54%) of Britons believe that despite all the current difficulties across the globe, there is still goodness in the world.
Three quarters (75%) of Britons reported that it makes their day when a stranger shows them a random act of kindness and it’s the smallest gesture that means the most.
This includes: having the door opened for you, receiving a smile from a stranger, being allowed to jump the supermarket queue, having the lift held for you and being given the right of way on the road.
These are the top ten acts of kindness Britons love to receive:
- Having the door opened for you
- Receiving a smile from a stranger
- Being allowed to jump the supermarket queue
- Having the lift held for you
- Receiving the right of way on the road
- Receiving a seat from a stranger on public transport
- Receiving a valid car parking ticket from a stranger in the car park
- Receiving a compliment
- Receiving a ‘Good Morning’ on the way into work
- Receiving help to carry luggage / or a pram up the stairs
The report also revealed that a quarter of Britons believe that more kindness is shown in daily life up North compared to the South of the UK. This point was verified further with seven Northern UK cities gaining a top position in the UK’s top ten kindest city table.
Topping the poll of the UK’s kindest league table are Scousers, with over half (55%) performing an act of kindness every day. The most popular random acts of kindness being: holding the door open for someone, holding the lift for someone and helping a mum up steps with her pram or shopping.
York wins second place in the league table with 51% of Yorkies showing a random act of kindness every day. With the most popular gestures including: holding the door open for someone, letting someone go ahead in the supermarket queue and offering directions to someone who is lost.
Mancunians take third place in the UK’s kindest league table with 48% residents from Manchester performing a daily random act of kindness. The most popular acts of kindness include: holding the door open for someone, giving another driver the right of way and giving a stranger a smile.
The UK’s kindest and unkindest cities:
| Rank | UK’s kindest cities | % of daily kindness acts | UK’s unkindest cities | % of kindness acts |
| 1 | Liverpool | 55 | Coventry | 12 |
| 2 | York | 51 | Chelmsford | 23 |
| 3 | Manchester | 48 | Norwich | 24 |
| 4 | Aberdeen | 40 | Portsmouth | 25 |
| 5 | Plymouth | 384 | Aberystwyth | 26 |
| 6 | Wolverhampton | 37 | Leicester | 27 |
| 7 | Leeds | 35 | Bristol | 28 |
| 8 | Cambridge | 341 | Sheffield | 29 |
| 9 | Glasgow | 32 | Southampton | 30 |
| 10 | London | 31 | Oxford | 30 |
Shakila Ahmed, Travelodge, Spokeswoman said:
“A random act of kindness can be something very small, but it can have a major impact on someone’s life. Every day we see random acts of kindness being performed from our hotel teams across our 542 UK Travelodge hotels. Our receptionist, at Doncaster M18 Travelodge, helped a distressed pregnant woman to deliver her baby in the hotel car-park and saved the baby’s life during the process. This research highlights that we certainly are a nation that likes to dish out random acts of kindness, which is a powerful force as receiving kindness not only improves our happiness and physical health, but can also improve our general well-being.”
For further information, please contact:
The Travelodge Press Office
T: 01844 35 8703
E:pressoffice@travelodge.co.uk
