Feel Good Days Of The Year: The UK Calendar
Feel good days of the year
Beyond the birthdays and the bank holidays there is a second calendar of days built entirely around being decent to each other. Most cost nothing to mark.
Here they are in date order, with what each one actually is and one easy way to take part.
Cards for the days that matter
Blank inside, designed in house, posted first class.
January to March
- Blue Monday, third Monday of January - invented for a travel company PR campaign and with no scientific basis, but a fine excuse to check on someone.
- Random Acts of Kindness Day, 17 February - do one unprompted kind thing.
- World Compliment Day, 1 March - say the specific nice thing you have been thinking.
- International Women's Day, 8 March - a card or message to someone who paved the way for you.
- Red Nose Day, Comic Relief, usually March in odd-numbered years - laughter as fundraising.
- International Day of Happiness, 20 March - a UN day since 2013.
April to June
- April Fools' Day, 1 April - pranks traditionally end at midday in Britain.
- World Laughter Day, first Sunday in May - started in 1998 by Dr Madan Kataria of the laughter yoga movement.
- Mental Health Awareness Week, usually May - a good week for the harder conversations.
- International Day of Friendship, 30 July - text the friend you keep meaning to text.
July to September
- International Day of Friendship, 30 July - one message, one friend, no occasion.
- International Day of Charity, 5 September - give time rather than money if money is tight.
- World Gratitude Day, 21 September - write one thank you card by hand.
- Macmillan Coffee Morning, late September - the most British fundraiser there is.
October to December
- World Smile Day, first Friday in October - created in 1999 by Harvey Ball, who designed the original smiley face in 1963.
- World Mental Health Day, 10 October - check on the person who never asks for anything.
- World Kindness Day, 13 November - broader international sibling of the February day.
- Children in Need, usually mid-November - the other great British fundraising night.
- Christmas Jumper Day, early December - fundraising dressed as bad knitwear.
- New Year's Eve, 31 December - the annual reset nobody quite believes in and everyone tries.
How to actually mark them
- Pick two days a year rather than trying to mark twenty.
- Post a card. It is the one gesture that survives the day itself.
- Do the private version - the kind thing nobody sees works better than the posted one.
- Use the day as a prompt to contact someone specific you have been putting off.
- Put your two chosen days in the calendar now, with a name attached to each.
How to write it so it lands
- Two days marked properly beats twenty noticed on social media.
- Attach a person's name to each date in your calendar, not just the day's title.
Where to shop next
- Why laughter matters
- The science of smiling
- A short history of British comedy
- Best British sitcom one-liners
- Feel good days of the year
- World Smile Day
- International Day of Happiness
- April Fools' Day
- Random acts of kindness ideas
- Gifts to make someone smile
- Upcoming dates
- Thinking of you gestures
- Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
- How to make a balloon arch
- Photo booth prop ideas
- All guides
Frequently asked questions
When is World Smile Day?
The first Friday in October. It was created in 1999 by Harvey Ball, the American artist who drew the original smiley face in 1963.
Is Blue Monday real?
No. The 'formula' behind it was produced for a travel company's publicity in 2005 and has no scientific standing. It survives because it is convenient.