Woman’s random acts of kindness on anniversary of Arena attack go viral

A woman’s incredible gesture to mark the anniversary of the Manchester Arena bombing went viral over the weekend.

Known only as ‘The Afternoon Tea Lady’, the woman, who was born here in Manchester, decided to do twenty-three random acts of kindness to commemorate not only the twenty-two lives lost in the bombing, but to also remember Lee Rigby, the soldier who was murdered on the same date four years prior. 

Her ‘random acts of kindness’ incentive actually started during last year’s lockdown, where she would gift random yet deserving people with afternoon tea boxes.

The Afternoon Tea Lady

Speaking to Proper Manchester, she said: “At the start of lockdown, I made three afternoon teas for local older people just to say, ‘hey you’re not on your own.’ One person put it on Facebook and here we are today!”

The mysterious good Samaritan – who wishes to remain anonymous – now does around forty afternoon tea boxes per week for anyone who she thinks deserves one. 

She added: “I randomly stop people in the street with a Random Act of kindness. Also if I see a news article or hear of anyone who may benefit, I will endeavour to find out their details and deliver some goodies.

“In the past month there have been gifts to an elderly lady who has been burgled, a lady with terminal cancer, a family who had been threatened at knife point – the list goes on.”

So, as the anniversary of the Manchester Arena bombing and Lee Rigby’s murder approached, she decided to do something that extra bit special to remember those who had lost their lives on the fateful date.

The Afternoon Tea Lady

On the morning of May 22nd, the anonymous woman made up twenty-three afternoon tea boxes consisting of scones, clotted cream and strawberries, each with a list of the names of those who had died on that date and a heart with an individual name.

“Each box commemorated one life,” she told us.

Then, the woman went into her local community and gifted twenty-three random people with a box.

The news of her selfless act spread like wildfire online: “Hundreds of people acknowledged this on Facebook… In fact, the first person I randomly stopped said she had read about it that morning. 

“She sent me a message later on saying she had donated to the Megan Hurley foundation, so I’m guessing her box had Megan with the heart by it.

“Each person received two scones with jam, clotted cream and strawberries, along with the commemorative note and a message about the random acts of kindness (as some people don’t know of it, yet!)”

A beautiful way to commemorate one of Manchester’s darkest days – you can follow The Afternoon Tea Lady on Facebook here to see more random acts of kindness from her.