Lent: 40 days of fasting, saying sorry and preparing to celebrate one of the biggest Christian festivals of the year – Easter. At least, this is how Christians have spent Lent over hundreds of years. But these days, many people are living Lent a little bit differently.

Stewardship is a Christian organisation which aims to encourage Christians and non-Christians alike to be generous. For some years now, they have run the ’40 Acts’ campaign. Rather than give something up for Lent – chocolate, coffee, TV, etc – people are encouraged to use the period of Lent to give something back. They spend the time being thankful for what they have, and then sharing some of that with others. Stewardship use 21st communication tools such as emails, tweets and blogs to set a daily challenge throughout Lent. People are then encouraged to share their pictures and stories via social media as a way of encouraging others.

Visit the 40 Acts site to see what happens when people choose to make a habit of being generous, or search Twitter using the hashtag #40acts.