Random Acts of Kindness Day: Building Community Through Active Travel
February 17th is Random Acts of Kindness Day. For local authorities and companies working to increase active travel uptake, kindness isn’t just a nice gesture – it’s essential community and colleague infrastructure that makes sustainable transport accessible and welcoming.
Why Kindness Matters for Active Travel
Research shows that acts of kindness can help improve mental wellbeing by creating positive feelings, reducing stress, and building stronger relationships (NHS, 2024). The NHS identifies giving and kindness as one of five key steps to mental wellbeing.
But for behaviour change programmes, there’s something more: one person’s kindness can give someone else the confidence to try cycling for the first time, or feel safe walking a new route. That’s very powerful for modal shift.
What Citizens and Colleagues Tell Us
In 2020, we asked BetterPoints users: ‘what have you done today to be kind?’ We received over 1,000 responses (BetterPoints, 2020):
“Smiled at a stranger in queue for doctors.”
“Delivered groceries to family unable to go out.”
“Picked up some medication for two neighbours.”
“Said “thank you’ to a colleague”
“Helped someone fix their bike chain on my walking route.”
“Showed a new cyclist the quieter roads through the neighbourhood.”
These everyday moments remove barriers to active travel and build the social networks that make sustainable transport sustainable.
How Kindness Supports Active Travel Goals
Citizens helping citizens and colleague helping colleague creates inclusive active travel. When someone shares a safe route, helps with a bike puncture, or walks alongside a nervous first-time cyclist, they’re removing barriers and building confidence.
Practical Applications
Just do it. Random Acts of Kindness Day provides an opportunity to engage your citizens and colleagues on the day but the principle applies year-round: small acts can make a big difference. Enable them, reward them, celebrate them.
The BetterPoints Approach
Since 2020, we’ve gathered thousands of kindness stories across our local authority and corporate programmes. They’ve become powerful evidence of programme impact that goes beyond journey counts and carbon savings. In 2020 BetterPoints call for Random Acts of Kindness generated a community spirit beyond words…if only we could have bottled this for ever!
Today, on February 17th 2026, BetterPoints is, once again, throwing out the gauntlet to BetterPoints users to perform just one single act of kindness. We are inviting users to send in their stories with a small prize for the winner. We know, though, that all these acts of kindness, no matter how small, can generate a chain reaction and have real impact in our lives – be it at home, in the community or the workplace.
Behaviour Change Science in Action
