The spur: Standard

A periodical of what we're up to, our thoughts on social change, and everything else.

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

― Fred Rogers

The last couple of years, while particularly hard by many standards, have been an example of this.

In the midst of a pandemic, people have sought out ways to help each other. The last couple of weeks have brought catastrophic floods to the east coast of Australia (including my home suburb of West End, Brisbane) and war to Ukraine. Its easy to feel overwhelmed, and heartbroken.

Yet in both cases, even when calamity and cruelty appear - kindness comes with it. The 'Mud Army' volunteers snapped up slots to help their fellow Brisbanites clean out the mud and tears, and citizens around the world rallied to send donations and support to Ukraine.

Last month we announced our new flagship project Sticks & Stones, an effort to create a kinder internet, with a US$1m grant from Google.org. Key to the philosophy behind this project is that people are generally not evil, and if given the right information and resources, will be kind to each other.

And maybe this belief that kindness is endemic is a naive one. But, it certainly helps me feel more calm in a world that seems so chaotic.

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The International Red Cross is already operating in the Ukraine and can take donations here.

The Australian branch of the Red Cross is taking donations for the flood disaster here.

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Stay safe, keep dry, and be kind.

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Will, and the spur: team.

Case study

Co-designing a national mental wellbeing strategy

BDO Australia · Wellbeing Strategy

Re-design the entire employee experience to support and improve mental wellbeing.

Implementation of a comprehensive employee wellbeing program, covering six key domains for wellbeing and more than thirty detailed actionable solutions.

BDO Australia has since rolled out the strategy nation-wide, including receiving a global award for wellbeing initiative.