A Dartford community group that has spent the last five years helping people through illness, disability, poor mental health and isolation is celebrating a major milestone and inviting local people to be part of what comes next.
The award-winning Kindness and Wellbeing Group has marked its fifth birthday with a special celebration joined by Mayor, Peter Whapshott and Councillor, Kelly Grehan, who met members, heard their stories, and helped cut the birthday cake.
This was more than a celebration. It was a reminder that at some point, many of us need exactly this kind of support.
Whether it’s poor mental health, loneliness, chronic illness, disability, grief, burnout, or simply feeling overwhelmed by life, the Kindness and Wellbeing Group exists for people who need somewhere safe, welcoming and understanding to turn. For just £3 a week, members can come along for a cuppa, friendship, creative activities and access to practical wellbeing support in a space where nobody is judged and nobody has to put on a brave face.
Founded by Laura Hope Cordell, the group was created from lived experience. After facing her own mental health struggles for around 30 years and being medically retired at just 29 due to a rare incurable condition that left her disabled, Laura built the kind of community she knew was missing; one where people could feel seen, supported and less alone.
In the past five years, that vision has grown into an award-winning community project with seven awards and a reputation for genuine, life-changing support.
“If I’d handpicked every member, I couldn’t have picked a kinder group of people,” said Laura. “It’s a team effort. Everyone helps each other because we all know how tough life can be. We are a multi-generational, compassionate, caring bunch of people who really do look out for each other. People often tell us, we are the highlight of their week and coming to the group gives them hope to keep going.”
Sessions now offer more than 30 activities, including crafts, puzzles and games, alongside free mental and physical health resources. What members receive is simple but powerful; connection, understanding and the chance to feel like themselves again.
The group’s fifth birthday celebration was made even more special by a cake donated by Milly’s Cakehouse in Dartford, the same local baker who generously made the cake for the group’s launch five years ago.
As the group looks to the future, the birthday event also marked the launch of Your Community Lottery fundraising for Kindness Community. It gives people a simple way to support work that is making a real difference close to home.
For just £1 a week, supporters can enter for the chance to win up to £10,000, while helping Kindness Community CIC continue its vital work supporting people facing some of life’s hardest moments.
Every ticket sold helps keep sessions running, supports outreach projects, and helps ensure more people can find comfort, kindness and community when they need it most.
At the Kindness and Wellbeing group, Laura runs a fundraising stall selling her uplifting handmade gifts, with all proceeds going back into the community work. These funds help support both local services and the group’s wider outreach. This includes Kindness Kits, small parcels of love through the letterbox to nominated people going through some of life’s toughest battles. They also send Mental Health Packs for free to people across the UK and beyond. These have already reached nearly every UK postcode, as well as people in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and even tiny islands like Puerto Rico and Guam.
Kindness Community CIC also runs the Online Market for Kindness Community, helping small UK businesses connect with more than 7,000 potential customers. Held four times a year, the market features between 100 and 200 stallholders each season. For just 24p a day, virtual stall holders can sell unlimited amounts with no commission or subscription. All proceeds from stall fees go back to fund the vital work they do to support people. Often businesses involved in the Online Market get featured in Kindness Kits and even donate items for our raffles.
“It’s incredible to see how far the ripples of kindness have spread,” Laura added. “What started as a small local idea has become something that helps people not just here in Dartford, but far beyond. It shows what can happen when kindness leads the way.”
At a time when more people than ever are struggling quietly, the group hopes the local community will see that this support matters, because it helps ordinary people through extraordinary challenges. The people being helped are neighbours, parents, carers, workers, friends and families who are having a tough time. In other words, people just like us.
