A Kent-based community interest company set up to support people struggling through lockdown has celebrated its first birthday.

The Kindness Community is hosted on Facebook by Laura Cordell, a 38-year-old disabled woman living on the Bridge Estate in Dartford.

At 29 she was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) – which affects how the brain and body sends and receive signals – just two weeks after getting married.

Despite the debilitating effects of her condition Laura was keen to use her own experience living as a disabled woman to do something positive for others.

In January last year she set up the group on Facebook with the aim of encouraging people to help those in need, starting with the local community.

Kindness Community creator, Laura said: "It is essentially a Facebook group for people all over the world.

"We are people that have gone through tough times and want to help people that are going through tough times.

On its emphasis on accessibility, she added: "It is a very different set up. We are not able-bodied people running marathons.

"We are here being helpful in whatever form that can take."

Despite its global reach the vast majority of members come from Kent.

Locally it has contributed to several food bank drives, supported school litter picking groups and donated artwork to ellenor Hospice, among other initiatives.

The establishment of the group has proved particularly timely with the onset of the pandemic.

Laura explains how she first got involved with a food drive to help the Dartford Bridge Community Primary School, where more than 50 families were reported as experiencing food poverty.

"There was not a food bank before and then suddenly there was this need," she said.

Many of the families affected were not part of the "traditional set up" and had been affected by furlough, job cuts and other factors, she added.

Other members share kindness and positivity in the form of daily messages online.

Laura adds: "It is not all about us organising but encouraging and motivating others to get engaged as well."

At the start of lockdown, Laura and fellow Kindness Community director Andrea Szemkovics set up a huge balloon rainbow thanking key workers.

Each was filled with messages of hope and support for the community and it stretched along the railings of their local Nisa supermarket.

In July of last year Laura registered the group as a community interest company.

She has also been named a finalist for the 2021 Kent Women in Business Awards in the "Creative Business of the Year" category for her involvement.

The project continue to go from strength to strength and now has its own shop, selling products that raise funds for good causes such as Mind and The Samaritans.

It has even started to produce its own range of "Kindness" clothing and bags.

All sales go towards the cost of running the company and allow it to post free kindness kits to people struggling with their physical or mental health.

It recently held a raffle and a virtual marketplace promoting local businesses and crafters to mark its first birthday.

And now Laura hopes they will be able to branch out into more physical events in the future.

"Eventually we hope to put on events in Dartford, as the group started here, so anything I can put on in the area," she said.

“It’s about those little acts of kindness that can have a ripple effect and share kindness from person to person, building connections and making the world a kinder place."

To find out more about the Kindness Community click here. You can donate towards the cost of running the group here.

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