A New Britain ... where Good is Valued and People & Communities Thrive
Looking to the future we believe ‘well-being’ will start to take centre stage and become a nation’s top priority. For instance, parents are now prioritising well-being over academic attainment, by an order of ten to one. At the same time, for economic/community well-being, there is an imperative to unleash the nation’s untapped talent and creativity, whilst offering everyone a path to a successful/fulfilling life, independent of academic ability, physical ability or wallet (c.f. one way to ‘level-up’).
The Good Turns Foundation is a new/unique forward-looking not-for-profit social enterprise focused on improving wellbeing and providing everyone a path to a successful future by doing good. The Foundation focuses on boosting psychological wellbeing, by helping people to find meaning/purpose and recognising and rewarding good; the good people voluntarily do for others, for communities and the planet. As social animals it is what we are naturally born to do, and what the current environment in many ways drives out (in a similar way to creativity). We have embarked on this journey by throwing the rule book away and creating a world ‘where values are valued’, more specifically where ‘good is valued’, and we are introducing a simple, unique and creative way to do this.
Our mission is ‘to create a world where good is valued and people and communities thrive’, whilst ensuring the environment thrives too, and in doing so systematically improve wellbeing. Thousands of years of both philosophy and psychology tell us how psychological wellbeing is key to a fulfilling life and long-term happiness, and is driven by having meaning/purpose, and doing good for others, communities and the planet. As we do this, we will be creating and supporting new/meaningful avenues to a successful future, and at the same time clearly demonstrating how the actions/support provided by individuals/groups/schools/enterprises is directly creating a better world ... a world where an ever-increasing number of people are demanding action, a better society and a more sustainable environment. One forward-looking entrepreneur in the area of education/wellbeing recently described our business model as truly ground-breaking in a number of areas (e.g. education, recruitment, creativity and mental health) and it has the potential to positively impact many more.
The Times Education Commission’s recent report, ‘Bringing out the Best’, refers to the seismic shift needed within education, and we are at the forefront of this. Forward looking companies such as Google see little/no value moving forward in memorising/regurgitating facts when in the real world the internet provides answers in seconds (nb they also see ‘Creativity’ as the new ‘Superpower’). The Government is increasingly moving in this direction and our work fully aligns with this, and at the same time significantly advances the recommendations made in the Commission’s report (e.g. with ground-breaking Psychological Wellbeing/Creativity/Tutoring/Volunteering programmes and Digital CV’s).
The Good Turns Foundation is focused on recognising and rewarding good, and a similarly branded enterprise in the US already has an annual revenue of $5bn a year which it puts into doing good, even without a meaningful recognition/reward system, and we foresee the possibility of far more … we are looking to collaborate with passionate forward-looking individuals/groups/organisations who are pushing the boundaries of what is possible, connecting communities together, and who are equally passionate about well-being, education, creativity and creating a better future, and boosting levels of volunteering too …
The Good Turns Foundation is directly focused on continuously improving well-being, individual well-being, community and environmental well-being, and providing hope and opportunity™ ... by uniquely recognising (and rewarding) the good people voluntarily do for others, for communities and the environment. To do this the Foundation is introducing a new measure of good, called Good Points®, with many unique and meaningful sub-categories. For instance:
- Climate Points® - e.g. planting trees / walking to school
- Environment Points® - e.g. cleaning rivers / canals / beaches
- Community Points® - e.g. helping local communities
- Volunteer Points® - e.g. helping voluntary groups / organisations
- Charity Points® - e.g. helping local / national / international charities
- Mentoring Points® - e.g. mentoring young people
- Coaching Points® - e.g. sports / exercise coaching
- Tutoring Points® - e.g. academic training / tutoring
History and philosophy highlight the power/importance of stories, and by introducing Good Points® people start to create their own unique and meaningful story! They also allow people to shout-out-loud about their thousands of good points too! The Foundation provides detailed/objective references for all the good they do too, something forward looking enterprises so desperately look for and yet is so difficult to find (many try to find this out by looking to see what people do in their spare time)! Psychology also points to the fact that the most important story of all is the one our mind tells itself every single day, and this story by itself has the unique power to transform a person’s well-being and increase their opportunity to thrive.
In one of the most motivating speeches ever given, US Navy Seals Admiral William H. McRaven profoundly stated … "If you want to change the world, measure people by the size of their 'heart', not by the size of their 'flippers' … " where 'flippers' is synonymous with things like 'academic ability', 'physical ability', 'wallet' ... and with its clear mission of "creating a world where good is valued", the Foundation new measure of value, Good Points®, is a unique and meaningful measure of a person's 'heart', i.e. a measure of the good one voluntarily does for others, for communities and the planet.
Recent reports also highlight the importance of many more areas looking into the future too; including the growing importance of character/skills, volunteering and connecting with communities, unleashing untapped talent and nurturing creativity too. These also align very well with what the Foundation has planned (e.g. Finding You®, The Creative Crew®) and in addition to the above points people also earn Character Points® too. For instance:
- Leadership Points® - e.g. leading activities / events
- Teamwork Points® - e.g. being a helpful member of a team
- Resilience Points® - e.g. facing adversity / challenges
- Resourcefulness Points® - e.g. gathering / connecting resources
- Creative Points® - e.g. creativity / entrepreneurship
- Health Points® - e.g. healthy activities for the mind / body
- Wellbeing Points® - e.g. meditation / mindfulness
- Spiritual Points® - e.g. spiritual / religious activities
- Exercise Points® - e.g. exercise / sporting events
- Nutrition Points® - e.g. healthy eating
The Good Turns Foundation is uniquely positioned to transform well-being, nuture key characteristics/skills and to help people and communities to thrive ... the Foundation recently submitted the above into the Government's 'Call for Evidence: Mental Health and Wellbeing Plan' ... in order to help shape mental health and well-being provision into the future, and to provide hope and opportunity and continously improve well-being ... and on World Mental Health Day we signed the UK government petition to bring education about mental wellbeing and suicide ideation into schools in a safe and age-appropriate way in order to build resilience and to help young people, who feel they can no longer cope with life, to learn how to better deal with the many challenges we face in life and how to seek help from the many thousands of amazing and passionate people out there who are there to help ... who are there out of kindness, personal experiences and a natural desire to help ...
In the future the Good Turns Foundation plans to help a lot more, for instance by recognizing/rewarding all the support people provide alongside activities which boost people's wellbeing (e.g. Volunteer Points®, Charity Points® and Wellbeing Points®) ...
... and this week we are attending Anthropy at the Eden Project, spreading this message of hope, and joining other forward-looking leaders passionate about creating a new 'Vision for Britain' for the next 30 years ...
David Clift, Founder of the Good Turns Foundation
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© Good Turns Foundation 2022
