charities to support at Christmas

These are all the little ways you can give back and help others this Christmas

Since you can’t spend £3 on a shot in a club, buy a refugee an emergency blanket


Christmas feels like the only thing getting us through what has easily been the worst year in a long time. But for some people this year has been more than just a bit of a rubbish time. People have lost their jobs, homes and even loved ones.

2020 has seen tens of thousands more people turning to food banks, and the Trussell Trust estimates they will give out nearly a million food parcels between September and December.

And it’s not just food banks that need support this Christmas and beyond but children’s charities, women’s refuges, mental health charities, refugee camps and many others.

The pandemic has meant things you would usually be doing at the end of the uni term such as night outs, flat Christmas meals and the society ball just aren’t happening. And so with the money you would have spent on a pint, secret Santa or ball ticket, why not consider donating that money to a much needed cause?

And even if you can’t donate any money there’s always an opportunity to help others.

Here’s our guide to the little ways you can support charities, whatever your budget:

Donating your £3 – £5 drink fund would provide:

– An emergency blanket and life saving supplies for someone in a refugee camp with Choose Love.

– Develop straightforward information and tools that help people look after their mental health every day with the Mental Health Foundation.

– Drop off a new and unwrapped gift like a colouring book, nail polish etc to any Wickes, Benson For Beds and other locations for children who could be facing poverty, in association with Cash for Kids.

– Help Stop Hate UK with the cost of providing their services.

– The travel costs for a young person to attend training at the Stephen Lawerence Charitable Trust.

– Donate food and hygiene items to the Trussell Trust, check with your local food bank to see what items they urgently need.

Donating your £10 – £15 fund for a Christmas house meal, secret Santa and decorations would provide:

– Enough food for 40 meals for families in need with FareShare.

– Mobile and internet access for a vulnerable child or young person whose life has been turned upside down by Covid-19 with Give Hope.

– A book for a child in care experiencing their first Christmas away from their family with Book Trust.

– Hot food for families in a refugee camp with Choose Love. 

 

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– A toy for a child who will otherwise get no gift this Christmas with Family Action.

– A teddy and pyjamas for a child escaping abuse who arrives at a refuge centre, with Refuge.

– Help pay for therapy for a woman or child recovering from trauma with Solace Womens Aid.

– Pay for a social worker to support a family, helping to navigate extra worries of coronavirus on top of cancer with CLIC Sargent.

– Allows a young person to attend a week’s work experience with The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust.

Donating your £30 – £50 Christmas ball ticket fund would provide:

– A Macmillan nurse providing essential medical, practical and emotional support for one hour with Macmillan.

– Answer at least four potentially life-saving calls with CALM.

– Legal support for refugee families who have been separated from their children with Choose Love.

– A personal care kit for a homeless young person that includes clothes, shampoo, toothbrush, clean towel with Centre Point.

 

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– Six weeks of life-saving therapeutic food for a malnourished child with Action Against Hunger.

– Keep vital phone lines open for five minutes with Samaritans.

– Specialist support to help a child recover from the trauma of sexual abuse, with Barnardos.

– A visit to a school or work place from CoppaFeel to teach people to get clued up on checking their breasts, with CoppaFeel.

– One session of a support group for people newly diagnosed with HIV with Terrence Higgins Trust.

If you can’t afford to donate, consider:

– Donating blood, right now the NHS urgently needs blood from male donors, black donors and people with the blood type O Negative.

– Donating your time at a food bank such as the Trussell Trust or FareShare.

 

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– Donating your quality chat with Age UK by becoming a Telephone Friendship Service volunteer, providing 30 minutes of conversation with an older person once a week.

– Donating your time by becoming an NHS Volunteer Responder where you could collect shopping and medication for a vulnerable person or become a Check In and Chat volunteer.

Featured image via Joel Muniz on Unsplash

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