Lorraine Kelly CBE, Natalie Campbell MBE and Louise Pentland share what kindness has meant to them throughout Covid-19.

We didn’t think it would be possible to find a silver lining in a global pandemic, but there is one small shred of light amidst the darkness: we’re all being a little bit kinder to each other, and to ourselves. From big acts to small gestures, stories of kindness have punctured the general gloom that has taken over our news feeds since Covid-19 first started to spread. We’ve seen footballer Marcus Rashford successfully campaign for free school meals for children during lockdown and half term, and small businesses step up to help. We’ve seen people in Italy gather onto their balconies to sing together to ease loneliness, and the term “caremongering” spread in Canada as people joined together to provide food and medicine to those in need.  The acts of kindness have been so widespread across the past few months that Covid-19 has even been dubbed the “pandemic of kindness”.

Happily, there is huge power in kindness. While checking in on a neighbour or reaching out to a friend can seem like small gestures, these acts can have a huge impact, on both our own mental health and that of others. Studies have even shown that being kind to others gives us a "helper's high", releasing the feel-good hormone dopamine into our brains. As Lorraine Kelly CBE said during HELLO x AllBright’s kindness summit: “Kindness is like a ripple – you pass it on to other people." Here, we share how three panelists from the summit believe kindness has changed throughout the pandemic.

"It’s OK to not be OK. It’s all about being kind to yourself"

Lorraine Kelly CBE is a TV presenter, author and journalist. “It’s more important to show kindness to each other than ever before. This doesn’t have to be anything huge; it can be the small things. My gran always said, ‘do as you would be done by’. If everyone took that on board, the world would be a kinder place. "The kindest moment in my life happened when I’d just had my daughter and someone stopped me to say what a beautiful baby she was. And then she told me that I was looking really well. It was one mother to another in the high street, but just hearing her say that made me feel so much better. So now I always make a point to tell people when I think they’re looking amazing, or to compliment them. And people almost seem to grow taller. "I think people have more empathy with each other now than before the pandemic started. Remember that it’s OK to not be OK. It’s all about being kind to yourself. Go to someone that you trust and say, ‘I’m struggling, how about you?’ It’s so important. We’ve all been there and felt that."

"Being able to pause gave us the ability to think about others"

Natalie Campbell MBE is an award-winning social entrepreneur and CEO of Belu Water. "Throughout the pandemic, we’ve all started to wonder about our neighbours. Do they have enough food, and has anyone checked to see if they’re OK? And with half term we’ve been mobilised to make sure that school kids have the meals they need. The business of life means we don’t always think about what other people need, but being able to pause gave us the ability to do so.  "In the hospitality industry, everyone was doing as much as they could. The industry has had to completely adapt to how it operates, embracing the European outside dining culture with outdoor terraces and tables. I think everyone from a supply chain perspective has been kinder. People have had very honest conversations about money and finances to make sure that suppliers have been paid on time. "Personally, I've found comfort in the familiarity of doing the same thing every day. Finding those moments, such as hearing birds singing in the morning when we open our windows, mean our lives have become beautiful and kind. "For example, I've lived in Kensal Rise for eight or nine years and I've heard someone playing the violin every morning at 7.30am. I cursed them on the weekends! But during lockdown they did a performance outside the house and some of my neighbours joined in. I sat outside on a stool with a glass of wine and listened to this beautiful performance. Now I can appreciate it."

"The pandemic has levelled everyone"

Louise Pentland is a vlogger, blogger, YouTube personality and bestselling author. “I learnt that I was going too fast in 2019. I was commuting to London two to three times a week, where I’d work a whole day and then do an event in the evening, getting home at around midnight. I thought being exhausted meant I was successful – if I had a weekend where I just chilled and wasn’t working, I felt like I hadn’t had a high value day.  "Then the pandemic happened. Success for me is different now - my heart isn’t racing, I’m not exhausted. I’ve been really happy, my children are really happy, and my relationship with my partner is strong. I’ve learnt to put value in different areas of my life, and I think that maybe this is success what looks like. "From a business point of view, the pandemic has leveled everyone. There have been less people on set at the shoots I’ve done recently – there’s a lot less fanfare, but everything still works. No one is more special than anyone else, and we’re all just making it work together. I felt uncomfortable with the unspoken hierarchy that was there before.  "Now that I’m less exhausted, I’ve also had more time to chat with my neighbours. We’ve created a WhatsApp group for our street, which is so nice. I’ve spent 11 years building up a digital community, and now I have an actual community. Plus, now that I’m happier, I’m giving my best version of myself in my career."

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