Written in Spring 2020
In May 2019, we set off on a journey, just a totally ordinary family desperate to make a difference and no longer able to sit back and do nothing. It began as a challenge to raise money for one incredible charity called CatZero and has become a journey filled with hope, discovery and human connection.
Our eyes have been opened to the reality of the issues that we’re all facing, but we’ve also found solutions that every single one of us can be part of.
One Life Share It has become who we are, what shapes our story and what we live our lives by as a family because we’ve learnt that you reap what you sow in life. We each only have one life, but when we share it with others, people share their lives with us and the potential is endless. Whether we share our time, our conversation, a cuppa, a meal or anything else, it can only make our world a kinder, more connected, less lonely, more hopeful place.
On our travels we’ve met people from every walk of life and what we’ve discovered is that the large majority of people are hugely generous and they do care. An innumerable amount of people have gone out of their way to be a part of our journey, saying that ‘we’ve given them the opportunity to be part of something that makes a difference’ and yet there are still huge social divides, not enough of these amazing people are connected and our society is falling apart because of it.
One Life Share It is all about rebuilding community, but what exactly does that look like? It begins at the point where anyone in society can meet as an equal, no matter who they are and what they’re able to contribute. Our mission is to try to bridge the gaps and create that point of connection.
Not long into our travels and quite by accident, we started stumbling upon ordinary but incredible people transforming their own communities for the better. Nine months and 7,500 miles in, we’ve met tons of groups, individuals and projects all around the UK and the thing they all have in common is that they’re bringing people together. We see that this is a hugely powerful solution and so we decided to create ‘CommuniTea’ – our own way of bringing people together in an environment where everyone is welcome and equal. CommuniTea events are all about sharing food and tea, breaking down the barriers, bridging the divides and planting a seed of connection.
Because of what we’ve experienced on this challenge, we’ve decided to continue sharing everything and encouraging others to do the same. It’s an experiment of sorts, the opposite of the lifestyle society leads us to believe in, but here’s our logic – if you have a cake and you eat it all yourself you are guaranteed to get all the cake and probably enjoy it. However, if you share that cake with others, a million opportunities open up – opportunities for conversation, for other people’s lives to be touched by your generosity and the opportunity for friendship, all just from sharing a slice of cake.
Round The UK On A Tenner A Day may be over, but our journey is certainly not. We plan to stay on the road and everything we do, including our CommuniTea events, visiting projects and just daily life, will be about promoting One Life Share It and the ways we can all put it into action .
In conclusion, welcome to One Life Share It. Follow along and see where our sharing journey takes us as we attempt to restore the magic of something absolutely necessary, but that seems to have become lost. Please have a look around and definitely take a moment to say hi. We hope you’re motivated, inspired, encouraged, hopeful and connected … and that you become part of our journey too.
The Chick family x
One Life Share It 