World Kindness Day to be marked with a walk on the Bathers Way in Newcastle

Ooh, that was cynical, wasn't it. Not very kind, either.

We don't want to be killing people with kindness, but we do want to spread the message that kindness is a very good thing.

Not just on Friday either.

Michelle Boundy also wants to spread this message. She's on a quest to encourage more kindness in everyday life.

Michelle has created the Stay Kind Bathers Way 50 Challenge. She'll walk the Bathers Way on Friday on a circuit from Merewether Beach to King Edward Park until she clocks 50 kilometres. Which isn't very kind to her feet. But hey, it's for a good cause. And we're pretty sure she has sturdy shoes.

Newcastle and Hunter Community Health nurses will join the challenge.

The aim is to raise awareness of the importance of kindness and raise funds for the Stay Kind foundation, a movement that [obviously] encourages more kindness.

If none of this convinces you to be more kind, research does show that a person's wellbeing and happiness increases every time they do an act of kindness. Be a guinea pig and try it for yourself.

Newcastle and Hunter Community Health managing director Alison McQueen says being kind to others is one of the easiest ways to make a difference in someone's life.

"A simple smile and a friendly hello costs nothing but can mean the world to those on the receiving end," she said.

We couldn't agree more.

Speaking of kindness, Wallsend's David Brown said a relative in a shop during the lockdown in Victoria overheard a conversation between a lady and two policemen buying their lunch.

The lady offered to pay for their lunch.

"The police said there's no need, but she said she'd like to give them something because they've been under a lot of stress in the last few weeks," David said.

Merewether's David Stuart said this photo we ran on Thursday of Pacific Park jogged his memory.

"During the 1970s, I was with a contingent of police in Pacific Park standing by for a demonstration that was scheduled to take place that afternoon," he said.

"A young constable said to me, 'I think the rescue squad is here with our lunches'."

He had heard a message on the police radio, saying "the portable tucker is here".

"I glanced around the park and saw Senior Sergeant Aub Tucker speaking on his radio and realised he had been contacting the communications centre with the call sign, 'portable Tucker here'."

David introduced his colleague to Sergeant Tucker, but lunch never did show up.

I'm not so much grumpy in the morning, as selective with my kindness.