This photo is by Nadia Lee Cohen, she is a British photographer and filmmaker who lives and works in London. I love the prom queen over-the-top-ness of it. We should aspire to be as good as beauty queens, giving back to our local communities... but how to do we do this? What are some ideas for the lazy souls like me? Ok so here is a list. Close your eyes and pick one!
Shout out to other local businesses and credit them when you use their imagery.
Buy locally from your local farmers market, find out where the markets are in your local neighbourhood and support them rather than buy everything from big chains.
Donate blood, this might not work for you but if you can, donating blood on a regular basis is a way you can quite literally save someone's life.
Join a community garden. Its been proven to be able to combat depression and other ailments. This guardian article shows even more evidence of why gardening and being in green spaces can have a huge range of social and psychological benefits.
Give advice to younger people in your industry. Its an activity a bit closer to home, but you can make a huge difference to someone's life and career by offering them some mentoring. It can be unofficial or more formal.
Join a community clean up, if you are an editor, photographer or creative, you can use your work talk about issues such as plastic waste or other issues close to your heart. This image is by Reto Schmid. His work shines light on the plastic waste problem and the impacts it has on our beaches. You can read more about the shoot here on Its Nice That.
Donate no longer needed clothing and items. You can donate them to specific charities or you can just take them to your local charity shop. Its even better if you can donate items that are in good condition.
Take time to chat to your neighbours. Sometimes we spend so much time rushing in and out of our houses that we forget to take the time to check in with people who are literally the closest to us.
Tidy up around your street and house. Keeping outside your house and your street tidy is a great way to connect with neighbours and also build pride and community spirit.
Give genuine positive comments to small brands on instagram. This also goes for being positive to your friends, families and people who you follow on social media. Its one thing to look at people's profiles and be nosy, but its another thing to actual positively interact with them.
Pay it back Pay It Back UK is a fund that allows people to set up recurring donations to multiple Black-led and anti-racist organisations in the UK. The money Pay It Back UK receives will be split and shared evenly between these 11 organisations (this list will grow as the fund grows): African Rainbow Family, Bail for Immigration Detainees, Black Minds Matter, BLAM Charity, Choose Love, Community Action on Prison Expansion, Creative Humblebee, Free Black University, Freebooks Campaign, May Project Gardens, and Sistah Space.
So in summary here are some relatively easy ways you can give back to your community.
- Shout out to other local businesses and credit them when you use their imagery.
- Buy locally from your local farmers market
- Donate blood
- Join a community garden
- Give advice to younger people in your industry
- Join a community clean up
- Donate no longer needed clothing and items
- Take time to chat to your neighbours
- Tidy up around your street and house
- Give genuine positive comments to small brands on instagram