As winter sets in the days get darker and gloomier, and it’s becoming so much easier to be grumpy. However, there’s one society here in Durham that’s working hard to brighten up the day: Grey College Random Acts of Kindness Society (GRAKS). The group does exactly what it says on the tin, with members dedicating their time to making someone else’s day, an activity they’ve coined ‘GRAKking’. Members are matched with an ‘angel’ then, in turn, become someone else’s angel. A simple but efficient way to make people smile.
GRAKS is a relatively new club, yet in the two years since it was started it has already become the biggest society in Grey. At the moment, there are 53 angels actively spreading the love by anonymously leaving gifts for their partners. Anything from chocolate to cupcakes to colouring books is exchanged, then a thank you message is posted on the page. Whilst the majority of the presents bring actual happiness through the endorphins they release, I think members will agree that GRAKS also restores your faith in humanity a little bit each day and it cheers you up to see people helping each other in this altruistic way!
The society was founded by Sara Halliday, after her experience as a frep introduced her to the idea. To help them endure what I would consider the most stressful job around, the freps were given anonymous partners to cheer up. Clearly Sara’s angel did a good job, because when Freshers’ Week ended she decided to continue it on a larger scale. Today GRAKS is currently headed by her best friend Ryan West, whose smile alone convinced me to join the society.
The colossal task of pairing up the angels took him more than a week due to the fact that he made sure everyone was given a partner who lived close to them, recognising that good intentions are often inhibited by laziness. These selfless and thoughtful gestures, done to make everybody else’s day better, pretty much sum up the general gist of the society. There’s no demand to buy presents necessarily – in fact, there have been some creative DIY pieces – but it’s impressive that members (i.e. poor students!) are spending their money on brightening up the day of a stranger.
Although coming home to a present is exciting in itself, I think the community feel that GRAKS fosters is the most important element of the society. Last month the Office for National Statistics found the UK to be the loneliness capital of Europe, and the Mental Health Foundation discovered that this loneliness is the biggest concern amongst young people like us. As a member of GRAKS, you’re part of a larger group of like-minded people and the small presents remind you that someone cares, making university seem a little less lonely. GRAKS also does a great job to lower stress levels too. In a study conducted on 1000 students nationwide, YouthSight found that 65% of them had personally experienced stress while at university, demonstrating the need for efforts like this. As part of the sign-up form, angels were asked to write down times during the term when they knew they would be buried under summative deadlines or worried about trials, for example. This approach ensures that the presents bring a smile to your partner’s face and adds a personal touch. Grey College Random Acts of Kindness is a unique society doing a great job to spread the love!