The impact of kindness

As some readers may know, for the past few months I have been working on producing a cookbook for Sobell House. It’s been such an enjoyable project to work on alongside Meze Publishing, and I am delighted to tell you that it is now available to purchase both on our online shop at bit.ly/Food-And-Kindness and in local bookshops.

We decided to call it Food & Kindness: The Sobell House Cook Book, and although I am proud to say I led the project, it’s been a great example of teamwork both internally here at Sobell House and externally too. It has also been such a fun project to work on.

But why are we calling it Food & Kindness? Of course, the word ‘Food’ in the title doesn’t need an explanation, but I’d like to spend some time speaking about ‘Kindness’ and why it has a particularly special connotation with Sobell House and our community.

Like many, I spent a lot of time as a child reading the great works of Roald Dahl and I came across this quote from him recently:

“I think probably kindness is my number one attribute in a human being. I'll put it before any of the things like courage or bravery or generosity or anything else. Kindness - that simple word. To be kind - it covers everything, to my mind. If you're kind that's it.”

Every day, myself and my colleagues in the charity team are told incredible stories of kindness and compassion from people who have had loved ones cared for by the team at Sobell House, and it’s true when I tell people that Sobell House runs on kindness. But the team at Sobell House wouldn’t be able to provide their care without the support and kindness from our local community. It’s a cycle that never breaks thanks to our community’s sheer generosity and commitment to the hospice that we are truly humbled by on a daily basis.

From what I’ve seen at during my time working at Sobell House, and when speaking to members of our community about what we do, here are a few of my thoughts on what kindness has the power to do…

·      Kindness improves our quality of life and has a way of bringing people closer together.

·      It makes you feel good! Showing kindness to others is just as rewarding as receiving it from someone else. It’s even scientifically proven to lower people’s blood pressure.

·      A simple act of kindness can have a very big impact on someone – no act is too small.

The final event I attended before lockdown was an incredible dinner at Oxford Town Hall put on by my friends at Oxford Fine Dining as a showcase event for their business contacts. How did I get an invite? Oxford Fine Dining are members of the Sobell Business Club, and over the past two years have provided so much support to the hospice in lots of different ways. That evening, I was given the opportunity to speak about the work of Sobell House and we managed to raise over ￡1,000 in the process which was fantastic.  

Oxford Fine Dining and many other local food businesses have shown incredible kindness to Sobell House over the years. During the lockdown Oxford Fine Dining also supported the local NHS here in Oxford. But for Oxford Fine Dining and many others in the hospitality sector the last six months have proven very difficult, and sadly for some impossible. So, by including local businesses in our cookbook, it’s been our way of giving back and thanking them for all they have done for us, and to highlight how lucky we are to have these businesses in our community.

In addition, we were delighted to receive sponsorship from I P Asset Partnership, Smeg and Oxford Economics which covered the cost of producing and publishing our cookbook, so that all of the money raised will go directly to the hospice. Another great example of local businesses supporting our community.

I hope I have given you more of an insight into the direct link between food, hospice care, and kindness and why we decided to call our cookbook Food & Kindness. It’s an opportunity for us to raise money to support Sobell House, a very kind place. And also, an opportunity for us to show kindness to others who do so much for us.

A few final notes…

For the past 44 years Sobell House has provided incredible care thanks to the unwavering support from our local community. If you can do anything to support us now that would be fantastic. And if you can’t at this time I fully understand.

To have a chat about our cookbook, sponsorship opportunities, or other ways to get involved, please call me on 07527849748 or email [email protected] – I would love to hear from you.