A friendly affair – International Friendship Day 2019

Have you heard of International Friendship Day? To be fair, I hadn’t either until I started working on social media on a daily basis.

So what is it and why do we celebrate it?

International Friendship Day will be celebrated on Tuesday 30th July 2019.

This annual day of friendship has been observed in countries all over the world since 1958, when it was proposed by a doctor in Paraguay, who was having a catch-up meal with friends.

As a result of this informal meeting, the World Friendship Crusade was established, with its main purpose to promote friendship and fellowship amongst all human beings, regardless of their race, colour or religion.

After numerous lobbying attempts by the World Friendship Crusade, the General Assembly of the United Nations formally recognised the 30^th July as International Friendship Day, back in 2011.

Although the official date is 30^th July, many countries still choose to celebrate the day on the first Sunday in August, as per their original traditions.

The day was later described by former UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon as “an important opportunity to confront the misunderstandings and distrust that underlie so many of the tensions and conflicts in today's world.

“It is a reminder that human solidarity is essential to promoting lasting peace and fostering sustainable development,” he added.

Five easy ways to celebrate International Friendship Day

Of course, it’s easy to remove ourselves from the bigger picture here, and dismiss international relations as something that happens elsewhere.

But, if we strip everything back to the original sentiment of Friendship Day, there’s still plenty of ways you can get involved, especially in and around your own neighbourhood.

1. Send a text message to all of your friends, checking how they are and what they’ve been up to.
   
   If possible, try not send a generic text – the whole point is to reconnect with friends on a personal level rather than just squeezing them in to your already busy schedule.
   
   
2. Practice random acts of kindness to strangers and make some new friends – from picking up something somebody has dropped in the street, to sending a small token gift or card through to the new neighbour, it’s the perfect way to extend the hand of friendship as an adult.
   
   
3. In today’s high-tech society, it’s easy to put our head down and be wrapped up in our own little world.
   
   So next time you’re on public transport, on the school run, or in the local coffee shop, put the phone away and smile at everyone you meet.
   
   It doesn’t need to be scary or intimidating, but that person you connect with may just become your new best friend.
   
   
4. Having a positive mental attitude really is the key to having fun, and whilst it’s often easier to focus solely on any negativity in our lives, it’s much harder to remind ourselves of all the fun times we’ve had.
   
   Why not arrange a meet-up at your home for all the people in your life who make you happy? Whether it’s friends or family, invite them round, serve up some snacks and order a delicious chocolate pizza to share for dessert.
   
   Then, make a conscious effort take lots of pictures of you all enjoying yourselves – even if these pictures never get printed they will serve as a reminder on your phone of happier times when you're feeling down.
   
   
5. Finally, be mindful about lonely neighbours - how can you make them feel more involved? Is it possible to arrange a garden party for them? It doesn’t need to be expensive, especially if you can do a BBQ.
   
   Ask each of your neighbours to bring one thing, so someone brings the sausages, another person brings the bread rolls and another is in charge of desserts etc.
   
   Try to think of foods that encourage sharing, like our gourmet chocolate pizzas, as these are pre-cut into slices and make a great talking point at social occasions.

Whatever you decide to do, we at The Gourmet Chocolate Pizza Company hope you have a very happy Friendship Day!