World marks International Hug Day on January 21.

Humans live in a repressed society, which has still not freed itself from the prison of puritanical prudery. Friendly hugs are not to be confused with petting and cuddling. They're a form of social signalling which can be used to express delight at meeting an old friend, or to console someone who's been bereaved. At other times they're exchanged as a sign of shared joy. Studies show that it offers human beings profound psychosocial benefits. It also triggers beneficial physiological changes, including a lowering of blood pressure and an increase in the circulatory levels of the relaxing 'cuddle' hormone oxytocin. World Hug Day is thus an easy and peaceful way of spreading peace and love. This global 'virtual' Hug for Peace celebrating World Hug Day is your opportunity to show the world that 'peace begins with me'. We want to reach millions of people in the simplest heartfelt way that is possible, a hug!

On January 21st 1986 National Hugging Day was founded in the U.S.A. The movement started in 1986 when a Michigan vicar, the Rev Kevin Zaborney, was feeling a trifle low and in desperate need of human sympathy and support. So, risking the ridicule of passers-by, he went into the local square wearing a 'Free Hugs' sign. The response to this strange offer was so wholehearted, and widely publicised, that the event quickly spread around the world and became a Global Event.

In Australia, a man known only by the pseudonym 'Juan Mann', was feeling depressed and lonely following a sequence of personal problems. He went to a party, feeling particularly dejected and forlorn, and a complete stranger sensing his mood, came up to him and gave him a consoling hug. 'I felt like a king!,' he later recalled 'It was the greatest thing that ever happened.' The effect was so dramatic, that he took up his place in the central mall in Sydney and, like the Rev Zaborney, invited strangers to give him a hug. Most people thought him a complete nutter, but after fifteen minutes an elderly lady plucked up courage and gave him an embrace. Over the next few weeks more and more people responded to his 'Free Hugs' invitation. This caused such a stir that the police tried to bring his activities to a halt. They told him that he must quit his pitch unless he took out costly public liability insurance in case he was sued for indecent assault. This was a groundless argument, for hugs can never be considered a form of sexual harassment when they're freely shared by consenting adults. Since then it has spread all over the world and is called by many names - Hug Day, World Hug Day, Send a Hug Day, International Hug Day, and even Hug a Bear Day!