A recent study in kindness revealed New South Wales to have the most patient and encouraging population in the country, and stories from our locals are fitting the bill.

In hospitals around the Western Plains, sightings of random acts of kindness from the public have been at an all-time high, with no shortage of evidence of the goodwill at the heart of our communities.

Nursing Unit Manager of the Coonamble hospital Jeanette Ryan says the community has been overwhelming in appreciation of hospital staff, and the list of kind acts is long.

“In the last week, we’ve had free newspapers, a voucher for 40 free coffees from Al’s coffee shop, someone anonymous has donated cupcakes and brownies from Mink & Me,” Mrs Ryan said.

“Even the ambulance service has given us treats, though they’re frontline workers themselves, and the fuel centre were the ones to kick it off with a donation of drinks and snacks.”

The appreciation, she said, has been overwhelming to hospital staff who have gathered their best efforts to protect the community.

“When someone does something nice, it really does make a difference,” said Mrs Ryan.

• Coonamble MPS staff conducting covid tests. Local staff have seen little acts of kindness increase in recent weeks.

Not all acts of kindness, however, are made of giving and receiving.

Researchers acknowledged that simply saying hello in the street or holding the door for someone counts as a good deed for the day.

The study was the first of its kind to examine the kindness levels in Australia, pitting states against one another in gauging how welcoming, encouraging and patient they are.

Local Dubbo musician Katie Thorne says that encouragement from her audience is what has kept her going through the setbacks of the past two years.

The artist has recently traded her live gigs for live-streamed music performances, providing entertainment to get her community through their lockdown woes.

 “This has kept me working, kept me inspired, and connected me to my audience…the real act of kindness is from the people who tune in to listen,” says Ms Thorne.

Australians are most likely to show kindness through words (73 percent) while the top three most commonly performed acts of kindness are holding the lift door open for someone (72 per cent); giving someone a compliment (68 per cent) and asking if someone is ok (67 per cent).

Food is a popular way to show kindness, with almost four in five (78 per cent) believing that sharing a meal with friends and family is a powerful way to display kindness. Meanwhile two thirds (62 per cent) of Aussies believe that helping out our neighbours is something we should do more of.

Social researcher, author and kindness consultant, Hugh Mackay says kindness is our natural state of being, “We are a social species that relies on kindness for harmony with one another. It is these kind interactions that sustain and nurture us."

"During times of turmoil, which Australia and the world has experienced over the last 18 months, we often reflect on life and use it as a chance to reset. Kindness helps us deal with these tough times and heal.”

While the nation measured up at a positive index score of 74, research says that Australian’s are capable of much more.

According to surveys, some Aussies are hesitant to perform random acts of kindness in fear of leaving their comfort zone, or that it won’t be received well.

Without these barriers, researchers predict that we could be on the receiving end of an additional 2.37 billion acts of kindness each year.

It goes to show that regardless of the state of the world, a little kindness goes a long way. 

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