Unless you were hiding under a rock in late January, you probably spotted details of a heart-warming story about how a “mystery” Cork bus driver helped a little old lady, making her day… and that of lots of people who heard the “heroic” tale.

In case you missed it, here’s a snapshot of the Facebook post that brought this little act of kindness to light…

Thanks to Clara’s post, news of this good deed spread around Cork and the entire country (and the world!) quickly… as you can see from the screengrab above, this number escalated and the post on Bus Éireann’s Facebook page has now been liked almost 100,000 times. The bus driver was quickly identified online by his sister and sister-in-law as William Harris.

Now I’m sure when William took just a minute out of his day to help his passenger it didn’t cross his mind again… after all this was just a genuine act of human kindness that I’d like to think any of us could have, and would have done.

Unfortunately though you don’t come across “William” on every bus journey, or train journey, or restaurant visit you make. But if I was “William’s” employer, I would certainly encourage all my staff to take a leaf out of his book – it’s nice to be nice, and it doesn’t cost a thing. A big message is that CSR doesn’t always require budgets!

Working in PR we see companies strive for Best Practice when it comes to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), but really if you think about it, it starts at grassroots level and is so simple. Once the foundations are in place and people buy into the idea, everything will fall into place. I’ve worked with so many clients over the years who have implemented simple, yet very effective, CSR initiatives and activities that genuinely make the staff feel good but also make a real difference.

Remember to do the little things, for one day you will look back and realise they were the big things!

Alison O’Brien

Alison O’Brien is a Senior Account Director with Fuzion PR & Marketing who have offices in Dublin and Cork, Ireland