At the heart of our Online Community is the incredible support and connection that members offer each other. Every day, we see individuals going above and beyond, sharing their experiences, offering a helping hand, and making our space a positive and encouraging place to be. To celebrate these acts of kindness and dedication, the Online Community team offer badges to recognise and honour the contributions of our members.
In this blog, we’ll introduce you to the different badges we award and explain how they highlight the amazing impact our members have. Whether it’s a thoughtful post, a story shared, or consistent support in our discussion groups, we want to celebrate it all. If you feel inspired to get more involved or know someone whose efforts deserve recognition, we’d love to hear from you. You can even nominate fellow members who have made a difference in your experience.
Read on to learn more about our Special Contribution, Guest Blogger, and Community Champion badges—and how you can help make your Community even stronger!
This badge is our Special Contribution badge. It is given by us here on the Community team to members of the site we feel have gone above and beyond to provide support. It could be for a specific act of kindness, an inspirational blog or post, or for helping another member through a difficult time.
This badge is awarded as a way of recognising the special contribution a member has made to our Community. Here on the team we see every day the amazing support our members give one another, and we wanted to celebrate and recognise this with our Special Contribution badge.
If you’ve seen a member make a difference for others, we’d love for you to nominate them for a Special Contribution badge. Whether it’s a kind word, an inspiring post, or support during a tough time, these small acts can make a big difference. Let us know who’s stood out to you and helped make our Community a better place! Email the team at community@macmillan.co.uk
The "Guest Blogger" badge is awarded to members who contribute their stories to our Community News Blog. We believe in the power of shared experiences. Hearing from others who have faced similar challenges or emotions can make you feel less isolated, knowing you're not alone in what you're going through.
If you would like to share your story more widely to help others, let us know by emailing the team at community@macmillan.org.uk If you think someone else's story could help others, encourage them to get in touch with us—it might make a real difference.
This next badge is for our Community Champions. Community Champions are Macmillan volunteers and Community members who dedicated their time to providing support in our discussion groups. They respond to questions, welcome new members and help keep the Community a safe and supportive place. All our Community Champions will now have this badge, so you can more easily see when a Community Champion has responded to your post.
You can read more about our Community Champions in our recent blog 'So grateful to the Champions on this forum'.
If you're interested in giving back and helping others, becoming a Community Champion might be the perfect opportunity for you. As a volunteer, you'll provide support in our discussion groups, welcome new members, and help create a safe space for everyone. If you’d like to get involved, we’d love to hear from you—reach out to us to find out more about how you can make a difference!
If you are using a laptop or computer to access the Community, you can see if a member has been awarded a badge by hovering you cursor over their username. Once you are hovering over their username, their profile card will then appear. At the bottom of the card, you can see the icons of the badges the member has achieved.
If you are using a mobile or tablet to access the Community, you can see if a member has been awarded a badge by going to their Community profile, clicking on the ‘More’ button and then selecting the ‘Badges’ tab.
If you have any questions about our Community badges, want to nominate yourself or another member, why not get in touch? You can email the Community team at community@macmillan.org.uk
