Doing good does you good!

Each and every one of us I’m sure does whatever we can to make us feel good about ourselves… whether it’s one less cream cake with your afternoon tea to help keep your weight down, a walk in the woods with your partner enjoying the glorious sunshine, completing that jigsaw you’ve had for years in the cupboard or even taking up a musical instrument that you have been meaning to learn for sometime now. Whatever it is you will each have your own thing that makes you feel good!

But I suspect for many of us what makes us feel good is not necessarily what we do for ourselves but what we do for others to help them feel good about themselves. When we do good… the rewards are amazing! There is nothing better than seeing the smile on other people’s faces, the joy, the laughter, and their expressions of gratitude knowing that what you did is what made them feel that way.

For me it has been my involvement in charitable organisations for nearly 30 years, which has given me the wonderful opportunity to bring so much good into other people’s lives, which in turn makes me feel good… and that keeps me going and wanting to do more.

It all really started when I joined Canterbury Round Table at the age of 23 – an association where you get to meet people, get involved in some great experiences and above all you get the chance to make a huge difference to those around you doing charitable things. Although to be fair initially it was sold to me on the basis it would make my weeknights as good as my weekends… and they were not wrong!

I had such a great time, was involved in lots of various charity events, dressed up in some ridiculous costumes to help raise money, helped design and build numerous gardens, painted, decorated and furnished a number of classrooms, organised a number of boxing events, darts competitions, cycled miles, built go-karts… so many things I can’t even remember all of them but I did it with a sense of real purpose knowing I was doing it to help others less fortunate than myself. Whilst I never got to the dizzy heights of Chairman, I was privileged to have held several senior positions at such a young age including Sport’s Officer, Media Officer, Honorable Auditor and yes of course Entertainment’s Officer!

At the age of 30 I decided to leave Round Table and form my own charitable organisation, bringing together a smaller group of friends, who like me still wanted to have loads of fun and raise monies for local charities but no longer wanted to be governed by club rules and regulations. So in November 1998 I founded The Meet, Eat and Drink Club (aka The MED Club) with 9 friends and the purpose was simple… get together once a month, have fun and once a year put on a massive event to raise money for local charities… but above all it was to Meet, Eat and Drink!

For nearly 22 years the 10 of us have had an absolute ball and have become lifelong friends… but this pales into insignificance to what we have achieved and how we have helped so many different charities over the years, raising over £150,000 for great causes. What is also so wonderful isn’t just the money we have raised but we continue to be amazed and are always overwhelmed by the generosity of others who help to make our events such a success… their good deeds help us to help others feel good which then makes us feel good as well… no brainer!

Over the years we have helped so many different charities in all shapes and sizes helping those with all kinds of disabilities, hospices, children’s charities, supporting parents & carers and so many more. Sometimes our donations end up being the single largest donation they have ever received and the letters of thanks and appreciation not just from the trustees but also from the very people the money is being raised for… words cannot express the fulfilment you feel inside… and all we did was get a group of people together for a fun night of eating and drinking and we made a world of difference to so many people.

But for me it isn’t just The MED Club… when I can I like to do what I can to help others… my Wife says I just cannot say no! I also organise an annual bike ride with a difference raising money for the Kent, Surrey, Sussex Air Ambulance. We spend 6 hours cycling 25 miles to 5 pubs (one every 5 miles) and have an absolute ball… all cycling is done off-road as you can imagine towards the end it can get a little bit tricky especially if you have had a pint in each pub!

And at the beginning of this year I was lucky enough to be asked to become a Trustee and Board Member of Tree of Hope, a charity which helps children and young people with a disability or illness by supporting their families to raise the funds they need to pay for specialist care not freely available through the UK healthcare system. I didn’t need any persuading!

By now you should see a pattern emerging… to help others, I do things that I enjoy (it makes it so much easier) but by doing what I do, I help others to feel good and that in turn makes me feel good and that makes me want to do it all over again.

We are seeing so much good being done at this time… and the appreciation being given by us all to those who are doing good to help us and our families just proves the point. Whatever makes you feel good please keep doing it, especially at this time, but if you can spare a moment to help others to make them feel good, trust me you will feel so good about yourself you might just be allowed that extra cream cake at afternoon tea!