The Givey Community podcast
A sonic space for empathy and kindfulness
What is kindfulness?
Before I talk about the new podcast, I should first define kindfulness and explain why I’ve partnered it with empathy. I was a bit confused when I first heard the term at Givey, but soon I understood why it is one of their core values.
“When we add kindness to mindfulness we get “kindfulness.” Kindfulness is the cause of relaxation. It brings ease to the body, to the mind, and to the world. Kindfulness allows healing to happen. So don’t just be mindful, be kindful.”
Ajahn Brahm
Kindfulness is being mindful when you are being kind. For example, a kind act may be seen as giving money to charity, but you could do this mindlessly. I know I’ve put money in a pot for a charity I know nothing about. Kindfulness is when we put meaning behind why we are acting kind. This exercises our empathy as we think about what these acts mean to us and the people receiving them.
Givey are champions for small charities which are naturally kindful. Their aim is normally tackling one specific issue with a small team. This requires a great deal of focus, thought and empathy to get things right. They cannot be mindless in their pursuits.
Givey’s purpose is to aid the charities and organisations we support kindfully with the internet. We want to get our charities’ messages across as clearly as they see them. And what better way to do that then with their own voice in a podcast.
The Givey Community podcast is a sonic space in which people can visit places and listen to conversations with people that are acting from kindfulness and thinking empathetically. Kindfulness has a multiplier effect, and I know that our listeners will come out of this space reflecting on how they would like to be more kindful with their energy, money and time.
Turning into The Givey Community podcast
Formerly known as Givey Connect+ the podcast started as a project during lockdown, by one of Givey’s volunteers, Fiza Surhiyo. She had conversations with the charities Givey supports over zoom, putting the spotlight on their projects and initiatives.
Fiza went into her busy final year of university, so I took over at the beginning of my internship. However, this is not the end for Fiza. She is still very much part of our community and Givey’s podcast, and we will be seeing her again soon.
I got off to an amazing start with Givey in the interview for my internship. Neil, the founder of Givey, had read my MA dissertation on how radio is a great tool for developing empathy. We talked about how well it lined up with Givey’s values of kindfulness, empathy and adamance on transparency.
I wanted to build on the ideas of Givey Connect+ using Givey’s core values. Givey Connect+ was an extension of the Givey Connect Coffee Mornings. As a way to get to know the individual charities and organisations within the community more deeply. I thought the best way to build on this was to explore the human stories within these organisations.
Which is why I changed the name and tagline to The Givey Community podcast, “A sonic space for empathy and kindfulness”. Inviting the listener into an immersive experience where they can sonically visit our charities and organisations, hear the stories behind their causes and the reasons why they do what they do.
Get involved!
We realised we didn’t have to limit our guests and visits to those within the Givey community. This is chance to take our listeners along with us as we find others who share our philosophy. Our guests are now current members of the Givey community and those we are finding along the way.
If you would like to feature on the podcast email me, Ruby@givey.com. The choice is yours how you would like to feature: I could visit your organisation on a day of action, or have a conversation with you about an issue or a story that you think belongs within this space.
Written by Ruby Illing
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