How To: Celebrate community champions

How to... celebrate community champions

#KeepTheChange

With everything that we’ve been through over the last few months, arguably all of us deserve some praise. Whether we’ve suddenly had to home-school our kids, adapt to working from home or cope with much more serious things like illness and bereavement, it’s been a difficult time. And during this period, there have been some folks who have seriously stepped up for their communities.

Keep supporting local businesses

You know who’s definitely a bona fide community champion? The bloke who runs your local grocer. Not to mention the cafe owner who’s managing to keep her business afloat by running a takeaway service. During lockdown, shopping local became a necessity – so make sure you keep supporting all the unique businesses that make your neighbourhood the vibrant place it is.

Get involved in a group you care about

Those legends collecting and distributing food, visiting the elderly or supporting key workers during the crisis could always do with an extra pair of hands. Support them in whatever way you can, whether that’s by volunteering your time or donating money or goods. You can find a list of great initiatives across London here.

Nominate someone you know for our competition

As part of #KeepTheChange, we’re encouraging Londoners to nominate a community champion. No act of kindness, generosity or bravery is too small: we want to hear about them. Did your neighbour sew scrubs for NHS workers? Did your mate deliver food to vulnerable people who were unable to leave the house? Do you know a key worker who, day after day, puts themselves at risk to serve others? Nominate them! We’ll choose ten winners at random, and each will receive a luxe picnic pack, which includes tasty treats from Pique plus a picnic blanket and wicker hamper. Oh, and £150 worth of PayPal digital gift cards. Each person who nominated them receives a delicious Pique hamper, plus £150 worth of PayPal digital gift cards. Nice!

#KeepTheChange

Written by

Time Out

Paid for by

Written by

Time Out

Paid for by

How to... maintain a work/life balance

Want more?

Organise your own neighbourhood meet-up

Why not become a community champion? By now, you’ve probably heard stories about people who have set up socially distanced work-outs for their street, or sing-alongs from backyards. You don’t have to do that, but you could see if the folks in your surrounding flats want to have a cuppa in the nearby park sometime (ensuring you’re sticking to the guidelines, obvs). You never know who could be in need of some company.

Set up a Money Pool

Heard of PayPal Money Pools? Basically, it's a way to securely and simply collect money. It's easy to set up your online kitty, which you can then share with your friends and track your goal. It could be for a freelance-worker friend who’s doing it tough, a neighbour who has lost someone they love or a local business owner struggling financially. You can find out more about Money Pools here.

We’ve teamed up with PayPal to create #KeepTheChange: a campaign that’s all about recognising the positives that have arisen during lockdown, and asking whether we can bring them into the ‘new normal’. Here, we’ve put together some thoughts on how we can celebrate the community champions who have gone above and beyond.

How to... stay connected to loved ones

How to… be more green

How to... maintain a work/life balance

How to… look after your mental health

With ways to shop, pay and chip-in, PayPal is here for you

Discover more

With ways to shop, pay and chip-in, PayPal is here for you

Discover more