Giving Tuesday – an hour for your community
What are you doing on Tuesday 29th November between 1pm and 2pm? You could be joining thousands of other people across the planet by giving an hour of your time to your community.
Phil McGrath, Centre Manager at The Cornerstone in Lancaster, has teamed up with Giving Tuesday, the largest and most trusted world movement raising support for grassroots leaders, to launch Giving Talents, a global campaign to encourage people to give just one hour of their time this November to make a difference to someone else, an individual or a community.
“It’s about reframing old narratives,” explains Phil. “This global network thrives upon the ethos of helping a neighbour or stranger in need, giving to those who need our help, realising that every act of generosity counts, everyone has something to give, and that everyone has value. It’s essentially a new call to global action.”
And global it is. Lancaster is joined in this initiative by communities from Uganda, Canada, Poland, Brazil, the United States of America, and more.
The idea behind Giving Talents is to bring as many people as possible together in the same hour (at least in local time) to do something to benefit someone else. “Our aim is to make the world a better place,” says Phil. “We’d love you to get involved – who knows what difference your one hour can make when added to the hundreds of thousands across the globe?”
And don’t be put off by the word talents; this isn’t about juggling or riding a unicyle (although if you can do those things, you might spend that hour teaching someone else how to do it). Your talent might be listening, shopping for someone, or picking up litter along your street. Everyone can do something, even if they think they can’t!
One of the challenges to becoming a volunteer is the time commitment, but Giving Talents encourages people to contribute just one hour. Ideally, you would be part of the excitement 1pm til 2pm on 29th November, as millions of people around the world also give an hour of their time, but your hour could be any time that is convenient to you. You can register your commitment at the official website – www.givingtalents.org – and help to ignite the power of outrageous generosity!
