The quiet gift – a short story
The quiet gift – a short story
4 August 2025
I was flicking through the calendar, half-looking for a deadline, half-distracted by everything else on my to-do list, when a date caught my eye.
5th September. The International Day of Charity.
I stared at it for a few seconds longer than I needed to. And suddenly, a question arrived: What does it really mean to give?
At first, my mind went to the big stuff. The well-known campaigns. The headline-grabbing donations. The official partnerships with matching logos and hashtags. The polished videos, the structured press releases, the social media carousels. But then, I started spotting something else.
The coffee shop down the road with a hand-drawn poster in the window for a local fundraiser. The van pulling up outside with a food bank’s logo on the side. An offhand line in a consultancy’s newsletter, mentioning some pro bono work for a struggling charity.
Small things. But real. Not done for show, just...done.
I hadn’t been paying attention until then. Not properly. But once I did, I noticed it was everywhere. Not the noise of giving, but the rhythm of it. A gentle undercurrent beneath the day-to-day.
It was there in the software company that’s quietly donating licences to a non-profit. The team offering their time, not for coverage, but because someone asked. The retailer rounding up purchases at the till, collecting pennies that become food parcels.
The kind of quiet everyday generosity that isn’t waiting for a thank you.
And it got me thinking that maybe, this is what giving back really looks like… The finance company investing in green initiatives, not because it looks good, but because it wants to help shape a better future. The creative studio offering design support to a charity because it knows how. The local shop that says yes when the school asks for a raffle prize.
It’s easy to dress this up in ESG language - call it social impact, stakeholder trust, long-term value. And yes, that’s important. But when a business gives in a way that fits who it is, it doesn’t feel like a campaign. It feels like alignment. A natural extension of its values, not an effort to prove them.
Because businesses aren’t made of strategies. They’re made of people. And people, most people, want to help and feel like they’re part of something that matters.
Giving back connects us. To our communities, to our teams, to ourselves. It reminds us that generosity doesn’t always shout. Sometimes, it barely whispers. But it leaves an echo.
Later that day, I closed the laptop and walked to the shop. On the way, I passed the local business with the fundraiser posters. A man was taping up a new one, something about a local hospice walk. He smiled. I smiled back. I couldn’t tell you why, exactly. But it felt important.
And maybe that’s what this September is for. Not to start something big. Not to make noise.
But to notice. To listen. To recognise the space we hold and quietly consider how we might fill it, generously.
This blog is part of Purposeful Reflections, a series of thought pieces from our team, sharing honest, personal perspectives on ESG, sustainability, and purposeful living.
This article was written by Gail Titchener, Content Manager at ESGmark®
Gail brings over 25 years of experience in writing, editing, and proofreading for various media to the team. She supports the ESGmark® community by creating written content, thought leadership pieces, and communications to spotlight the stories and achievements of members on their ESG journey. Gail has collaborated extensively with purpose-driven organisations, particularly in the health and wellbeing sector.