It’s not uncommon to get lost in a shopping frenzy and commercial madness over the festive period. We all want to celebrate, forget our troubles, and have fun. But if you’re wondering how you can give back at Christmas, here are a few ideas.

As a start, instead of buying gifts for people that you know they won’t use, consider giving back in their name. Here’s a bunch of inspiration for you…. 

1. Dedicate a tree, Woodland Trust

When summer comes round, we’re blessed to have such luscious green areas to explore in this country. Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the UK.

You can dedicate a tree, or entire areas of woodland to a loved one from £20. Choose the woods their tree is in, and even add a bench or marker.

Upon your dedication, you’ll receive a map, information on the woods, and a certificate you can gift to the person. Bring tree-hugging to a whole new level.

For more information, or to donate visit Woodland Trust

2. Donate a Book, Book Trust

(Image: Book Trust – Illustration by Kate Hindley)

Bring some Christmas magic to a vulnerable child, or a child in care. Donating to the Book Trust will help them gift books to children who need them. And you’ll receive a certificate you can personalise in honour of someone.

For more information, or to donate go to Book Trust

3. Donate for a homeless person, Crisis

(Image: Crisis)

We know it’s a struggle for homeless people to stay warm in the winter. It’s true that you can help out at various Crisis centres over the season – helping to cook and serve Christmas lunch, volunteer on Boxing Day etc. But often these volunteer slots get filled up quite quickly.

Don’t despair if you aren’t able to help in person. Donating to Crisis will help provide a place to stay for a homeless person, and go towards all the food and festivities that are organised.

For more information, or to donate visit Crisis 

4. Buy Christmas dinner for a dog or animal, Miracle’s Mission

(Image: Pexels)

For dogs and cats waiting for their forever home, donating to Miracle’s Mission can provide them with a meal or toy. There’s loads of ways your donation can help.

It’s not just people who love to celebrate! Miracle’s Mission is a UK registered animal welfare charity working to provide safety and support to animals in need worldwide. Working predominantly in the UK, Borneo & Egypt, the charity is ever expanding to help animals in need worldwide.

Fore more information, or to donate for an animal in need, visit Miracle’s Mission

5. Buy a meal and someone will get one for free, Frankie and Benny’s in partnership with Feeding Britain 

(Image: Frankie and Benny’s)

Frankie and Benny’s has partnered with Feeding Britain this festive season. For every turkey meal they sell, they’ll donate £1 to Feeding Britain. The charity helps provide access to good, quality food to those in need. We’d say eat out to help out, but that slogan, ahem, has been taken. 

For every dinner bought, Frankie and Benny’s donate £1 to Feeding Britain – which is the cost of a meal for one person in need, according to the charity.

Sasha Storey, Frankie & Benny’s Head of Brand, said: “Frankie & Benny’s is a restaurant brand with families at its core, so it’s really important for us that we support other families in need at this time of year.

“The cost of living crisis will be hard for so many and we must remember to try to help others now and in the future as best we can.”

For more information, or to donate visit Feeding Britain

6. Send a child a secret Santa, Action for Children

(Image: Action for Children)

Send a present to a vulnerable child with Action for Children. Not all children will experience a magical Christmas with plenty of presents under the tree. 

However, you could change this for one child. Donate £25 to Action for Children, and they can provide a vulnerable child with a Christmas present this year.

For more information, or to give, visit Action for Children 

7. Jelly drops for dementia, Jelly Drops

(Image: Jelly Drops)

Not a charitable donation, but Jelly Drops can be gifted to the elderly or those with dementia. They are sugar free sweets designed for water intake, for those who struggle to stay hydrated. Made of 95% water and full of electrolytes, but consumed in a solid form. Provide a way for independent hydration to those who otherwise struggle.

Purchasing some for your own elderly family members or even donating to a local dementia care home would be a perfect way to give back to the older generation of society.

For more information, or to purchase Jelly Drops visit their website

8. Donate a shoebox, Samaritans Purse

(Image: Samaritians Purse)

Buy a shoebox gift for a child through Samaritans Purse. You can choose the gender and age of a child you’d like to gift to. Then pick the items – soft toys, a ball, or music instrument, along with an essentials kit. Samaritans Purse will pack and send the shoebox you created. 

For more information, or to create your Shoebox visit Samaritans Purse

9. Gifts that give, Macmillan Cancer Support

(Image: Macmillan)

Unfortunately cancer now effects 1 in 2 of us. Many people and families are still living with cancer, which can make Christmas an unsettling time, and harder to enjoy.

Macmillan has plenty of gifts you can donate, to help provide a security and support to someone facing cancer this season.

You can also make donations in someone’s name. Starting from £10, which would help pay for supporting a child’s grief, or £32 which would pay a nurse for an hour to support a cancer patient. 

To donate a gift visit Macmillan’s website

10. Send a gift, Unicef 

(Image: Unicef)

For children living in areas of disaster, where hunger, disease, and violence is part of daily life, Unicef ensures as many children as possible are protected from these threats. 

Send a gift in a family member’s name through Unicef to help protect these children. You can pick gifts from 200 bars of soap, measles vaccines, or even delivering a baby. 

Unicef will post a card for free, to the person you’ve dedicated your donation to. 

For more information and to send a gift, visit Unicef

Lana Hall

Lana can usually be found spinning her collection of records, or writing odd poems in her phone notes. Her mixer of choice is a ginger beer, and you’ll never find her away from the sea for more than a few weeks.

The post Ideas for ways to give back this Christmas appeared first on Silver Magazine.

Voluteering at Christmas is nothing new, but often local community Christmas lunch schemes are actually overwhelmed with volunteers. Or charities might prefer if you simply made a financial donation. Whilst that’s still supportive of course, you might want to roll up your sleeves and do something practical. So how to volunteer at Christmas?

Lots of charities work with children, young people, and the homeless to help them have a better Christmas. But as we get older, Christmas can also be a depressing time for lots of people. No one wants to be alone, and no one wants to be out in the cold with no warm meal.

We’ve put together a list of charities, organisations, and ideas to help put a smile on some faces out there this Christmas.

So how can you as an individual help?

1. Donate your old phone

O2 have teamed up with HUBBUB to create Community Calling, a way to donate your old smartphones to someone in need. You post your old phone, it gets data-wiped, delivered to someone without access to the internet, and then O2 provides them with 12 months free data and access to free digital skills training.

With internet access, things like finding a job, finding a local food bank, or being able to contact friends and family is important, and many people don’t have access to this.

Learn how to donate your old phones and where to send them here

2. Get some ethically-made socks

One thing people may not think to donate is socks, but shelters are crying out for them. As many cold homeless people will attest to, a new, clean pair of socks can be the difference between a good and bad day.

For every pair of socks bought from their site, Stand4Socks donates another pair of socks to homeless people. So far, over 150,000 socks have been donated already.

Maybe this year, you could get some ethically-made socks for your loved ones that’ll provide someone on the streets with warm feet!

Buy some stylish socks and support the homeless here

3. Spend time rather than money

Many people tend to think about just giving homeless people money, but human compassion can be huge. To do something different yet kind, maybe get them a hot drink or some warm food, sit with them for a bit, and listen to what they have to their story. Many homeless people have said their loneliness can be overwhelming; why not make a new friend and provide them with company? They spend a lot of time being invisible.

4. Volunteer this year

Nursing homes are full of elderly people who don’t have family to spend time during the holidays and for most of them, it can be get miserable. This year, volunteer at your local nursing home. Get in contact and ask if there’s anything you can do to help.

Your local council can help with finding places that need support. You can also check your local Facebook community groups to find contacts and opportunities.

5. Give a helping hand

Alternatively, if you know of someone spending Christmas alone, like a neighbour, invite them round. It seems like a small thing, but it could make their year.

There may also be vulnerable people in your area who just need a little help this year; it could be as simple as helping them with their shopping or putting the bins out for them.

6. Support food banks

The Trussell Trust has been providing emergency food to people locked in poverty around the UK for years. Their food banks provide emergency food and parcels containing a mixture of necessary things. They ‘advise for people to check their local food bank’s website for what items they are most in need of’.

You can check where your local drop-off points are and what items they are most in need of here

7. Period poverty

Period poverty is a very real thing that some women in our society are battling as result of lack of access to sanitary items.

Every woman should have access to sanitary products, no matter their circumstances, which is why Freedom4Girls are fighting against period poverty in the UK and worldwide.

Help the cause, get involved, and donate here

What help is out there for young people and children?

8. The Children’s Society

The Children’s Society looks out for kids who are threatened by abuse, exploitation, and neglect , they help them to break free from their cycle of abuse and crime and your donations can offer amazing things from finding a homeless child somewhere to live, to help providing counselling.

Donate to the cause here

9. Book Trust

Book Trust is an organisation that helps gift special books to vulnerable children, giving them an escape from their lives and lets them get lost in a world of fiction and fun.

Give a child some escapism here

10. Centre Point

Centre Point focuses on young homeless people, helping them learn life skills to live independently, provide them with a warm and safe space to stay, and more. Young people these days are faced with homelessness frequently and while things are getting back to normal, the effects of the crisis are still active and the outlook for young people is still precarious.

Donate to help a young homeless person here

Things to take away

Be aware of people’s pride

Not everyone feels comfortable asking for help. When offering assistance to someone, try to avoid using patronising terminology. Our advice? Don’t make it a big deal, just ask.

If they say no, don’t be offended. At least they know you’re there for them.

Not everyone is visibly struggling

You might have a couple of friends who say they hate Christmas, or maybe a family member who says they’d rather be alone. This is completely fine if it’s the truth, but we know people don’t always admit to struggling.

Make it your quest this year to just check in and see how some of your friends and loved ones are doing. Christmas can be a depressing time for some, and a conversation may do the world of good.

Alcohol at Christmas – are you struggling?

Are you affected by any of these issues?

Crisis at Christmas
Samaritans
Shelter
Childline
CALM – Campaign Against Living Miserably
Mind – mental health charity

Lili Lowe

Lili works across all the channels; writing articles, taking photographs, creating content, and designing eye-capturing imagery. She’s an animal-lover who cries just seeing a picture of a baby sloth.

The post Giving back – 10 ways you can volunteer or help at Christmas appeared first on Silver Magazine.