World Happiness Report: Readers share acts of strangers' kindness

BBC News told of kind acts following UN report that found strangers' helpfulness was underestimated.

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In an experiment by the University of British Columbia, researchers deliberately lost wallets to see how many would be returned. Almost twice as many were handed in than was predicted by people who had been surveyed for the World Happiness Report.

Athena Rowley, 40, who lives in Ipswich with her four-year-old son Robert, was among readers who got in touch to say they'd benefitted from a random act of kindness.

During Halloween last year they went trick or treating in the Suffolk town and filled up a small bucket with sweets. Robert – whose cheery demeanour means he "makes friends everywhere he goes" – went dressed as the CBeebies character Hey Duggee.

After returning to their home, groups of older children came knocking asking for sweets. The last group, Athena tells us, were six teenagers who had dressed up and "looked very scary".