130 acts of kindness for our 130th anniversary
Norland at 130
Our aim
Norland’s charitable and community engagement activities continue to be at the forefront of our strategic vision. We hope to achieve 130 acts of kindness and, to do this, we need your help!
You could be raising money for a chosen charity or volunteering in your local community. However big or small your act, we would love to hear from you. To round off the 130 acts of kindness, we pledge to donate additional funds to Children’s Hospice South West, a charity close to Norland’s heart.
Get involved
Please email [email protected] with a brief description of your act of kindness or complete our submission form, and we will be sure to include your contribution on our page.
Take a look at our list of acts of kindness below.
Acts of kindness
- Student Charity Reps Kiera (Set 43) and Maisie (Set 45) organised a cuppa and a catch up for Brew Monday.
- Norlander Allie (Set 7) continues to volunteer once a week at her local baby bank, Stripey Stork. The charity helps vulnerable and struggling families in the local community. Volunteers help with organising donations such as clothes packs, baby and new mum equipment, toys and games, cots and Moses baskets. Allie has also met another Norlander there and has been named Volunteer of the Month. She donates 3% of her placement fee made through her agency back to the charity.
- A member of the public rang Norland to say that they’d seen a student in full formal uniform sat with a homeless man on Walcot Street drinking a coffee with him. The Bath resident said it was a “scene of compassion” and they know Norland students look after children but was impressed to see a student being so kind to another adult.
- Samantha (Set 42) is skipping 15 minutes every day in February for the Stroke Association. Find out more
- Becky Gaylard-Penning, Finance Assistant is organising a shoe donation for Jolaurabi School in Kenya. Read more
- Neve (Set 42) is taking part in the Run 50 in February for Blood Cancer UK. Find out more
- Sophie (Set 32) has been nominated by her friend and fellow Norlander Hetta. Sophie’s son, Ed was born at 29 weeks and sadly died soon after. Despite this tragedy, Sophie donated all her breast milk to Southampton NICU in the months that followed. Hetta said: “That act of kindness to help other parents and babies while grieving something so awful herself is something that I will admire Sophie for forever. Sophie and Joe, her husband, although suffering themselves channelled so much energy, time and patience into giving back to the NICU unit who so graciously cared for and nurtured Sophie but also Ed while he was with us.”Sophie and Joe have gone on to have another baby, Maggie (pictured), who is now aged one. She continued to donate breast milk while also feeding Maggie.
- Els (Set 45) is running the Bath Half Marathon in May and raising money for the NSPCC. Find out more
- Head of Set 44 Harriet organised a ‘Palentines’ event for her set along with other members of the Student Staff Liaison Committee (SSLC).
- Lucy Krebs, Senior Lecturer in Early Years and Student Engagement Manager has set herself a running challenge to raise money for Stonewall.
11. Second-year student Morwenna is running the London Marathon for MS Society. Find out more
12. Norlander Ruth is taking on a charity skydive to raise money for Twins Trust. Read more
13. Norland’s HR department have launched the ‘Work Angels’ initiative where staff members are secretly assigned a colleague to carry out random acts of kindness for.
14. Heather, whose mother is Stella, a Norlander, ran two miles a day during February to raise money for Alzheimer’s Society after her mother, who trained at Chislehurst, is now struggling with this illness. Read more
15. Norland created a Just Giving page in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for the Norland community to donate to. Donations will be sent to the Disasters Emergency Committee. Find out more about Norland’s response to the war
16. Norlander Louenna has raised more than £130,000 for families in Ukraine through her app. Visit her Just Giving page
17. Norlander Georgia-May (Set 40) has launched a charity-based sensory play class for children. Each paid place funds an additional spot for a refugee child. The aim of the session is to offer children a chance to communicate and explore through playing freely regardless of their background. The sessions are taking place at The Weir Link centre in Balham and can be purchased on Eventbrite. If you’d like to donate, you can support the class on the Go Fund Me page.
18. A group of Norlanders have set up and run a charity called Multiple Milestones which supports families with higher order multiples across England and Wales.
19. Rosy (Set 42) volunteered at her local vaccination centre during a day off. Her role included supporting children who were being vaccinated by reading a story to them, chatting to them and helping keep them calm.
20. Second-year student Charlotte is taking on a 100km trek across the Pembrokeshire Coast in June in aid of Coppafeel!. Find out more
21. In May, Norland launched LGBTQUIA+ community play sessions. Running once a month, students lead childcare and activities while parents and carers take the opportunity to talk, make friends and recharge. Email Emma Blythe for more information about forthcoming sessions.
22. Liam (Set 39) took time out of his weekend to return to Norland to deliver the Norlander talk at our open day in May. You can watch his presentation on our YouTube channel.
23. Kathryn (Set 11) set up a baking group during the pandemic. They delivered them to key workers, such as Gloucester Royal Hospital, Great Western Hospital, doctors’ surgeries, police stations, fire stations, hospices and schools.
24. Jenny (Set 12) and her family are hosting a Ukrainian refugee. Jenny says she and her family have learned a lot after having to apply for a travel visa, book flights, rearrange their home, collect from the airport, teach English, complete forms as well as much more.
25. From the start of the pandemic in March 2020 to May 2022, over 100 families from Twins Trust were supported by Norland volunteers. The volunteers provide advice, information and reassurance to families who are unable to find support elsewhere.
26. Norland donated to a local community jubilee event. The event is taking place on 5 June, 1-4pm in Lymore Gardens, Bath.
27. Third-year student Rebecca is climbing Snowdon to raise money for Wiltshire Air Ambulance after they saved the life of one of her charges last summer. Find out more.
28. Third-year student Aurora has been volunteering for The Nest Project throughout her studies. The Nest Project is a community group that offers clothing and equipment for families with children up the age of five. Aurora helps run a playgroup in the Twerton and Fox Hill areas of Bath once a week as well as teaming up with midwives from the Royal United Hospital to deliver ante-natal classes for mothers in the area.
29. Kate (Set 3) has been volunteering for a small charity in Cardiff called YogaMobility which helps people with disabilities to do yoga.
30. Second-year student Charlie is organising a non-uniform day and bake sale for CoppaFeel in June.
31. First-year student Eleanor (Set 45) used her first aid training while on placement when her charge got a piece of asparagus stuck in her throat and stopped breathing. Eleanor followed first aid protocol, remaining calm to save her charge’s life.
32. Third-year student Charlotte (Set 43) was at a festival when she saw a security guard collapse from heat exhaustion. She recognised the signs and used her first aid training to provide him with immediate help. The ambulance crew commended her and said the steps that she took helped keep his temperature down.
33. Third-year student Ike (Set 43) was working at an event when a nine-year-old girl starting choking on pizza. Ike stepped in and used his first aid skills to save her life. He commented that without his first aid training in first and third year, he wouldn’t have been so confident in this situation.
34. Kate Jaeger, Sewing Lecturer, made Ukrainian coloured hearts to raise money for the Ukraine.
35. Students and staff made a commemorative quilt for Children’s Hospice South West’s 3oth anniversary.
36. We received an email to inform us that two current students supported an elderly lady who became distressed and confused while walking in Bath. A passer-by drove them to the Royal United Hospital where the two students stayed with her the lady until she was attended to by hospital staff.
37. The Nest Project emailed Norland to thank second-year students Willow and Olivia (set 45) who volunteered at the charity’s Friday toddler group throughout their first year. They commented on how reliable and eager they are, creating sensory play items and baking cakes, working hard to set up and down and give incredible energy and time to the children.
38: Second-year student Willow (Set 45) is running the Bath Half Marathon for Cancer Research UK.
39. Second-year student Nicola (Set 45) has joined her local Greenpeace group.
40. Second-year student Livi is running the Bath Half Marathon for Barnardo’s.
41. Second-year student Lucy helped organise a buddy system for first-year students to help them settle into life at Norland.
42. Second-year student Nicola is walking 15,000 steps each day in October for World Wildlife Foundation.
43. Second-year student Daisy is running the Bath Half Marathon for Cancer Research.
44. Students and staff presented Children’s Hospice South West with a quilt that they’d sewn to celebrate the charity’s 30th anniversary.
45. Third-year student Morwenna ran the London Marathon for MS Society.
46. Second-year student Els ran the Bath Half Marathon for the NSPCC.
47. Third-year student Charlie has created a Norland UniBoob team to support Coppafeel!
48. Students and staff took part in a wear pink day to raise money for Coppafeel!
49. A number of Norlanders continue to volunteer with Twins Trust and support families with multiples.
50. Norlander Emily (Set 40) emailed to praise her friend and fellow Norlander Ellie for going above and beyond to support her nanny family.
51. Norlander Maysie (Set 40) does a lot of work supporting a charity called Choices Islington who support women and their partners through unplanned pregnancy.
52. Lydia (Set 42) ran the colour run to raise money for Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
53. Lydia (Set 42) donated her hair to the Little Princess Trust for children who have suffered hair loss.
54. Norland staff and students wore pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month to raise money for Breast Cancer UK.
55. The Norland Uni Boob team carried out a range of fundraising activities throughout Breast Cancer Awareness Month raising £215 for CoppaFeel!
56. Rosy (Set 42) has been volunteering in her spare time for Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal in her local community.
57. Lydia (Set 42) has been organising coffee mornings to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support.
58. Norlander Anita has been volunteering at Great Ormond Street Hospital during weekends for the past seven-and-a-half years.
59. Daisy (Set 44) is organising a Christmas shoebox donation to support Operation Christmas Child.
60. Staff and students wore Halloween costumes and had a bake sale to raise money for Children’s Hospice South West.
61. We received a letter from a young girl sharing that she wanted to be a Norland Nanny when she grows up.
62. Students and staff dressed up for Halloween and raised money for Children’s Hospice South West.
63. First-year student Jessica helped a lost person to get to the bus station. Rather than giving her directions, she walked her to the station instead despite it being in the opposite direction.
64. First-year student Juliette went to Medika, a small village at the boarder of Poland and Ukraine, one of the main points where Ukraine has been evacuated. She helped people carry their bags, helped with children, provided food and support while people were waiting to cross the boarder.
65. Norlanders raised over £500 for Children in Need by doing a sponsored walk with their charges.
66. Students wore spots and stripes to raise money for Children in Need.
67. Third-year student Charlie is organising a Christmas candy cane delivery to raise money for Coppafeel!
68. The Norland Choir performed at a remembrance concert at Bath Abbey which raised over £1,000 for the Royal British Legion.
69. Lucy Rogers, NQN Consultant, has been busy baking which has helped keep colleagues fueled!
70. Norland has contributed babysitting vouchers as raffle prizes to support fundraising activities at local primary schools. Each voucher offered the winning parent/carer a babysitting session worth £50 by a trusted Norland student through the Marvellous Babysitting app.
71-76. Dr Janet Rose has delivered a six webinars/keynotes on emotion coaching and self regulations to support other early years professionals and organisations which she does free of charge.
77. The Norland Choir performed at the Bath Christmas Market for the general public in December.
78. Students and staff took part in Movember to raise awareness of men’s mental health awareness month.
79. Second-year student Lucy volunteered at Santa’s Grotto at St Stephen’s Primary School’s Christmas Fair.
80. Norland staff have been participating in a ‘Work Angels’ scheme, where staff are anonymously paired up and complete random acts of kindness for their partner.
81. Student Lucy Fox (Set 45) worked along side Alexia Jones, Student Services and Wellbeing Manager to set up a ‘buddy scheme’ for new students, which is about to go into its second year.
82. Every Tuesday morning, Alexia Jones hosts virtual ‘Tune In Tuesdays’ offering 15 minutes of calm and meditation to begin the working day.
83. First-Year students Holly and Jess (Set 46) made bookmarks to sell at Norland’s May open day. They made over £200 for Level Water, which provides 1-1 swimming lessons for children with disabilities in the UK.
84. Norland students took time out of their busy training schedules and placements to volunteer at the May Open Day.
85. Students organised a bingo night in aid of Coppafeel.
86. Dan, Norland’s Digital Marketing and Student Recruitment Manager is running the Amsterdam Marathon in aid of Blood Cancer UK.
87. Student’s put their diploma work on display and raised money for Save the Children‘s Turkey and Syria appeal on 3rd March.
88. Norland staff and students all wore red to raise money for Red Nose Day on Friday 17 March 2023.
89. Students have been volunteering once a month to support the Norland LGBTQUIA+ Parents Group.
90. Norland’s Here to Hear team organised a Valentines day event where students sent kind messages to each other.
91. Norlander Harry (Set 39) returned to Norland to speak at the May open day about his career since graduating.
92. Third-year student Millie gave a talk on her Norland training at the May open day.
93. Chief Finance Officer Emma Lloyd is a qualified personal trainer and has been running free fitness classes for students to promote wellbeing.
94. Several second-year students have signed up to be ‘buddies’ to students joining Norland in the next academic year.
95. Library Manager Kathryn Aveyard has set up a ‘Baby Book Club’ alongside third-year student Millie.
96. Norland students have been creating a quilt in aid of victims of the Grenfell Fire, overseen by Sewing Lecturer Kate Jager.
97. Jess (Set 46) volunteers by teaching young children how to communicate using Makaton, after growing up with selective mutism herself.
98. Holly (Set 46) has been involved with Girlguiding for 14 years, and volunteers with them every month at the Bath Rainbows group.
99. The Norland Educare Research Journal has been launched as the world’s first home-based childcare open-access journal offering free-of-charge access for readers and publishing for authors. The Norland Educare Research Journal is fully funded by The Norland Foundation.
100. Norland pays for all students to be a part of the Bath Spa Students Union, so they can easily integrate with other students around bath and make use of a huge range of societies and clubs.
101. Norlander Margaret Willis set up a group to help mothers cater to their childrens developmental milestones by teaching them songs, games and stories in the USA in the 1960’s.
102. Daisy (Set 44) won the Patsy Taylor award at Norland’s Heratige Day. This award is voted for by peers, for the person who they believe to have shown kindness and consideration to others, who is sensitive to the needs of others and is kind in thought and deed. Daisy was voted to win the Patsy Taylor award by 35 members of her set, which is over a quarter.
103. Library Manager Kat always ensures students who require different coloured paper (which helps them read easier if they have dyslexia) always have their preferences on hand.
104. Norland has paid for their staff and students to have free premium headspace accounts to help with their mental wellbeing.
105. Elizabeth Robertson wrote a letter to the Christmas 1945 Quarterly describing her and fellow Norlander Edna Gotobed experiences working in the Belsen Concentration Camp only four days after its liberation by the British Army. “We consider it to be a great privilege to be here”, she wrote, “Edna is a Health Visitor in Camp 4 —the show place of Belsen—with over 2,000 Poles. I am in mothers and babies camp 111 which has a more varied population of 6,000.
106. Norlander Ivy Crewe was placed in a prison camp with her employer family during WW2. Nurse Crewe was known within the prison camp to take care of ailing prisoners, entertain the children and support their mothers, even though she was an ailing prisoner herself.
107. In August 1914 the War Refugee Committee was set up, to which Emily Ward, Norland’s founder pitched her coastal Sussex home, Little Hallards Estate, as a haven for shellshocked families. Her proposition was initially rejected. Undeterred, she sent a high-powered representative to petition the committee directly, and soon Belgian refugees were welcomed into the farmhouse on her property.
108. Nurse Mabel Lister took an interruption in her Norland studies in 1915 until 1917 to join the VAD, where she worked caring for injured returning soldiers in two hospitals and received a certificate from the British Red Cross for her dutiful service. Ever in the spirit of care and compassion, Mabel then cared for her sister for several years. Her testimonial book shows the unwavering dedication of the Norland nurse.
109. Nurse Grace Taylor, who worked for the countess de Borchgrave in Brussels, took her charge back to England with her to care for him in her own home during WW1 until war was over and he could be safely returned to his family.
110. 1917 saw Nurse Marion Burgess, who worked for the Grand Duchess Kiril of Russia, flee the palace alongside her employers and three charges. As members of the Russian aristocracy, Marian’s employers were exiled to Poland in the first years of the Russian Revolution. Burgess’ obituary in the June 1920 Quarterly states “it was six years since Nurse Burgess had a holiday, and when she might have come in 1918, she would not leave her post of duty while her employers were having such anxious times”. Weakened and starving through exile, Marion died in 1920 after contracting influenza while nursing her small charges through the illness to full recovery.
