It seems some higher power might have been at work when Maidstone Community Acts of Kindness was set up in December 2019; just a few months prior to the devastating lockdowns.
The group, set up by local resident Tan Goldfinch, was created to help support those in need financially with the idea being that items could be donated by members of the public to help those in their local area.
We caught up with Tan to find out a little bit more about the group, which has over 3,300 members, some of the wonderful work they carried out in the local area, and how local residents might be able to get involved.
Tan explained more about Maidstone Community Acts of Kindness telling us: “I started this group about three years ago with my brother Russell Roberts, we felt that some of the residents of Maidstone weren’t getting much support from authorities and the help they did get was on a temporary basis, so I created a group to help those in need feel like they could ask without judgment.
“This group is to help support those in need and struggling for items that would kindly be donated by members of the public, this could be a family or sole person that has fallen on hard times and needs a little bit of help.
“We advise not to send money, and if you feel you cannot ask on the group, please private message myself or another Admin as we understand some people feel embarrassed to ask, we will not judge you and will try to help as much as possible.”
Tan must have seen something coming as only a few months after the group was created the country was sent into lockdown and this group was more vital than ever.
Speaking about the group during lockdown, Tan explained: “I feel that the members felt more at ease over lockdown knowing that my group would be able to help with items if that person was in isolation, I personally collected and dropped off items as did some of the members of the group.
“I think it’s very important for the public to know that there are groups out there that will help any way they can and to seek these groups out if they are finding times tough.”
Tan was brimming with pride talking to us about the help she’s been able to provide, explaining how some of the most memorable moments were arranging a Secret Santa to drop presents off to families that were struggling at the time, as well as delivering a van full of toys to social service for a day centre at a prison.