♡#40Acts Week 1 ♡

This year for Lent we are joining in with thousands of other people all over the world participating in 40 Acts.

40 Acts is run by Stewardship and aims to get us giving more and spreading a bit of love This world needs a lot more kindness and if you know me, well you know I love a bit of random acts of kindness.


I wanted to document our 40 days of giving with 40 Acts so not only am I sharing our journey on my various social media platforms (to the right!) I am also going to do weekly updates here on the blog. We are doing a family challenge chart we downloaded and Martyn and I are doing the one aimed at adults which are very similar.

So, onto week 1:


Day 1. Pledge


The first day for both challenges was to simply pledge to the daily giving challenge. The children will all keep an eye on each other and ask what they've done after school or talk about their plans and Mr K and I are giving partners. As a family though, we talk everyday about the new challenges and have great fun discussing ideas.

Day 2. People Watch



On day 2 we had to pop our screens down and look at the world around us more than we usually would. When we ventured out we did look for people we could help but sadly there wasn't any opportunity! Luckily for us however there were plenty of kind people out and about to help us with holding doors when we had the wheelchair and letting us go around the shops before them. 

We put our phones down later in the afternoon to play Scabble with Will and before bed I sat with the children and went through their own goals for Lent.

Day 3. Period Poverty



Periods suck. But they suck even more for homeless women, girls coming on and being totally unprepared and they are even worse for the young girls who are in the 137,000 missing school every month because their families cannot afford sanitary towels or tampons.

I was really shocked by this figure and it saddened me. I made a point of tweeting about all the different ways you can donate towels and tampons to various places to help make a woman or young girls life much better once a month.

First of all, donate to homeless shelters. Many shelters are given funding for free condoms but they do not get funding for sanitary protection. Secondly, donate feminine products to your local food bank. Food banks provide much more than just food and they desperately need it. Find yours by visiting here.

Finally, check out these charities: The Red Box Project (a charity donating boxes to schools with essential period products) Bloody Good Period (supplying a 'steady flow' of period products to 25 asylum seeker drop in centers in the UK with plans to reach out to food banks and more drop in centres in the future) and The Homeless Period (petitioning and supporting homeless women in the fight to get free products in homeless shelters)

We are adding ours to our local food bank box at church this Sunday.


Day 4. Cash Stash


Day 4 was cash stash which meant making an extra effort to put some pennies towards a good cause. We chose to set up an account with Give With Stewardship, an online giving account which will allow  me to save up as and when I can and donate to many great causes. My plan is to put £5 a month aside and donate it at the end of the year.

The children's idea was to make a giving jar. I washed out an old jar, Midge and A decorated it and that's all there was to it. We will pop any money we find laying around on the floor and outside the house into our jar!


Day 5. Bless The Boss


Today we had to look at 'giving upwards.' We are so used to giving to those in need which is obviously a very good and much needed thing to do. Today was about breaking that a little by giving to those above us in work such as bosses, supervisors and so on. 

Mr K and I don't work so we looked to our own boss, God, and we added some extra prayer and a Bible reading to our evening. The children had to pay a compliment to someone older than them which is a brave thing to do!

Mr K thought it would be nice to prepare one of his yummy Victoria Sponges this Saturday so we can pass it to our lovely Vicar Sue after our service this weekend.


Day 6 .Chocolate Tuesday



Everyone loves this day! Day 6 was Chocolate Tuesday. Buying some bars and giving them out to random people. Will, Mr K and I decided to buy a few packets of chocolate and pop them in the food bank. Both of us have had several parcels from the food bank over the last few years so we know that a nice packet of goodies is a real treat. 

Midge, A and James had a small chocolate box each to give to a friend or teacher at school. I think day 6 has been one of our favourite days so far!

Day 7. Joyful Joyful



Our final day was to 'spread some joy and make someone around us happy.' Will decided to make some brownies that the whole family could eat, Midge helped her new teacher with all the names in the class which really helped her, James made Mr K a lovely morning coffee and A got something out of a bush for his friend at school (covering himself in mud in the process!)

I chose to add 2 extra items to our online shop the night before so on day 7, Mr K had a Terry's Chocolate Orange (his favourite chocolate) and some chicken in a tin which reminds him of his Mum. Neither bring me any joy but make him very happy and that is what today is all about.


A very long post but hopefully you can see how much fun we are having as a family working together and independently to make the world a little better! Are you doing anything for Lent this year? Perhaps you are also joining in with #40acts? If so, please let me know in the comments below or tag me on Twitter!

*Edit*
Blogging has taken a back seat but I have continued the challenge sharing most days on Twitter!

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