Chris Samwise and Geraldine Gunning from Limerick Animal Welfare at the Limerick Festival of Kindness family fun day 2018 event on Bedford Row, Limerick. March 10, 2018. Picture: Sophie Goodwin/ilovelimerick

PHOTOS Limerick Festival of Kindness Family Fun Day 2018  Kick-Starts 4^th Annual Festival of Kindness

The fourth annual Pay It Forward Kindness Festival kicked off with a free Family Fun Day on Bedford Row, Limerick. From 11 am to 2 pm there was face painting, children’s crafts, printmaking, animal petting, music, medical and physio consultations, kayaking on the River Shannon and more for all to enjoy.

The Festival of Kindness takes place in Limerick from March 10 – 17 with a number of free events and activities designed to highlight the kindness in every part of Limerick city. 

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From Sunday 11^th to Friday 15th, Community Unity Days have been organised to encourage volunteers, local businesses and the people of Limerick to carry out intentional acts of kindness. This programme of activity will include little gestures such as children baking buns and delivering them to the unsung heroes of the community, handing out flowers on Mother’s Day, showing the Pay It Forward movie, free pampering, and massage and talks at local schools.  People who receive these acts of kindness will then be encouraged to carry it on in return to someone else, creating the ripple effect.

Niamh Murphy, a member of Pay It Forward Board of Directors, explained the concept behind the Kindness Festival, “Pay It Forward harnesses the positive momentum and energy of carrying out kind acts.  Our aim for the Kindness Festival is to create a ripple effect that will develop into a wave of kindness where people will continue to carry out acts of kindness for the duration of the festival and throughout the rest of the year.”

“We arranged a series of interactive experiential activities – where kids, families, people from all backgrounds could get involved and enjoy the opportunity to slow down, have the space to be together and embrace kindness,” she continued.

Pay It Forward Limerick is a community based, voluntary run, charitable, non-profit organisation working to promote Limerick as a city of kindness through policy, education and community initiatives.

PIFL do not fundraise but rely on the kindness of patronage and philanthropy.  PIFL is without personal, political or religious agenda.

Being kind to one another acknowledges our own capacity for kindness and also has the benefit of ‘feeling good’ for both giver and receiver.  In promoting kindness, PIFL hopes to change attitudes, build self-esteem and mental health resilience creating a sense of community cohesiveness.

For more stories on Limerick Festival of Kindness Family Fun Day, go here.

For more information on Limerick Festival of Kindness Family Fun Day 2018, go here.

Pictures by Sophie Goodwin/ilovelimerick