A History of a Charity in Twenty Objects - #16
#16. The Bulletin Board of Happy Things (2011)
Whenever entrepreneurs ask us for start-up advice, our immediate response is, “Make yourself a Bulletin Board of Happy Things.”
The Bulletin Board of Happy Things was, of course, Piera’s idea.
After hanging a few bulletin boards in our office, which immediately gave homes to courier logs, calendars, postage rates, project timelines & deliverables, she decided that we also needed one that would be filled with inspiration.
That Piera, she’s a genius.
What goes on the Bulletin Board of Happy Things, you ask?
Quite simply, anything that makes us smile!
Piera installed our Bulletin Board of Happy Things right next to the door. That way, when we arrive each morning, we’re greeted by good things. It’s like watching the sun rise. No matter what happens during the day, we’ve been reminded of what we are fighting for. We start the day with a smile.
When the Bulletin Board of Happy Things gets congested, we remove everything and carefully store it in our Archive Box of Happy Things. Then we fill the board again.
Life in any small enterprise is challenging. It often feels like you’re all alone, pushing a boulder up an endless hill. It can be too easy to focus on the frustrating things – the parcel that’s missing, a difficult conversation with a funder, that upcoming VAT return – so it’s important to celebrate the little victories. In the end, they are the big victories.
Everyone should have a Bulletin Board of Happy Things.
- Cartoon portraits of our volunteers and supporters.
- A coffee loyalty card, filled with stamps.
- Letters from children. They’re our favourite, those lovely little notes and drawings, usually written in pencil, but sometimes in a glitter pen. And sometimes with stickers!
- An email from a lady in Australia whose 5-year-old loved our Economy Book so much, he took it with him everywhere he went.
- A smiley-face doodle from Sam, our UPS driver.
- A magnet quoting Winston Churchill, “Never, never, never, never give up.”
- A letter from the Governor of the Bank of England.
- Newspaper clippings.
- A photo of children enjoying resources we designed for Tower Bridge.
- A note from Dame Betty Boothroyd.
Piera installed our Bulletin Board of Happy Things right next to the door. That way, when we arrive each morning, we’re greeted by good things. It’s like watching the sun rise. No matter what happens during the day, we’ve been reminded of what we are fighting for. We start the day with a smile.
When the Bulletin Board of Happy Things gets congested, we remove everything and carefully store it in our Archive Box of Happy Things. Then we fill the board again.
Life in any small enterprise is challenging. It often feels like you’re all alone, pushing a boulder up an endless hill. It can be too easy to focus on the frustrating things – the parcel that’s missing, a difficult conversation with a funder, that upcoming VAT return – so it’s important to celebrate the little victories. In the end, they are the big victories.
Everyone should have a Bulletin Board of Happy Things.