Acts of random kindness brighten another person’s day – they are selfless acts, large or small, that are done unexpectedly. They are not the sort of thing that you find in a job description. They are things that come from the heart.
We created the Acts of Random Kindness (ARK) awards to recognise these small, thoughtful moments and to celebrate our colleagues who demonstrate our Cygnet values through their acts of kindness. Every month we award ARKs for each of our values: Integrity, Trust, Empower, Respect and Care.
Because we understand what a vital role people play in supporting each other within Cygnet, we also write to everyone who is nominated for an ARK award, thanking them for their contribution.
The awards have been a huge success, with almost 500 nominations in 2018 alone. We had 199 ARK award winners, with 113 of our services and central support functions participating.
One example of an ARK award winner was one of our maintenance team within a specialist residential service, who takes extra care to make sure residents’ bedrooms are themed to their preferences. The team member has created all sorts of amazing results, including a Star Wars theme complete with glow in the dark stars, and a farm-themed room for a resident who loves the farm.
Another person who won was a member of our team working at one of our mental health services, who noticed that their colleague’s car had an extremely flat tyre. They asked their colleague for the car keys and got to work re-inflating it so that their colleague could at least drive safely to a tyre shop after they finished their shift.
We are looking forward to receiving even more nominations throughout this year and hearing all the fantastic thoughtful acts of random kindness people are doing every day.