Mary Jane Roberts, CEO of Doctors in Distress, argues that in an era of online hostility and moral injury, the charity sector’s greatest strength lies in its grassroots traditions of reflection, kindness and civil action — starting with a simple cup of tea.
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You may have seen pictures of inflatable frog outfits on various American streets in recent No Kings Protests. What has a frog to do with democracy? It’s almost irrelevant to answer that question. What the frogs have done is catch our eye. It’s a visual marker, and more than that: fun, emphatic. It stands in contrast to the moral injury we’re experiencing daily.

“What is moral injury?” you cry! Moral injury is psychological distress resulting from actions, or lack of actions, that violate an individual's moral or ethical code. Us in charities will know this all too well. Large swathes of Charity Leaders’ motivation is drawn from it: we take action because society is not. We call out for the people our charities help.

What can we learn from the frogs? Those of us running charities are currently affected by the wall of noise from groups on the internet. For various reasons unpleasant and unkind messaging can dominate. One effect of this is to crowd us out – and charities are working hard to be seen online. Many marketing departments are brainstorming and doing a great job of trying to create a ‘frog’ for their cause and cut through to reach donors and policymakers. Another effect is that those we help often feel persecuted by people online, and affected by the ‘vibe’ this spreads across the land.

But it is not the ‘vibe’ in the land. It is just the loudest shouting. So it’s time for a ground-up campaign: exactly what us grassroots Charity Leaders are experienced in and good at. We’re the right people for the job. What are we asking for? Quite simply, thoughtfulness and positivity. What do we pick? Teapots.

Tea is like water running through the charity sector. We welcome people with tea, we think through problems over tea. Tea provides time for reflection, consideration, kindness. It’s a fair representation of what we stand for. Tea is civil society’s national treasure.

The teapot is an emoji, rather helpfully. It can be added as a comment to a post just on its own. You may have a craftivist movement: when charities use knitting or other crafts to make a point. People may wear teapot pin badges, or put flags with teapots on them out. You may have a tea party as a counterpoint of civility and charity when there is a rally. Any location works: just raise a mug!

A final message for all of you out there fighting in the headwinds of bad vibes and financial strains. I, and all your other Charity Leader counterparts, see your work and thank you: envisage a warm sympathetic smile from us as we hand you a virtual cup of tea.

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