3 Ways to Give Back this Christmas

Christmas is often nicknamed "the season of giving".

A lot of us are incredibly spoilt at Christmas time, receiving lavish gifts from our friends and family. We gorge on all of the festive food, spend time making happy memories with the our nearest and dearest and have an all round lovely time. Most people would argue that Christmas is the best time of the year.

Sadly, not everyone is so fortunate. Many children wake up with nothing on Christmas Day. Many people wake up on the street, with no roof over their head and no food in their bellies. Many people, particularly the elderly, spend the day alone.


So what can you do about this? 


You can give back! At one of the most charitable times of year, now is a better time than ever to have a look at how you can give back to those that truly need it most. Here are some ideas of things you can do...

Donate Toys to Disadvantaged Children
My towns local radio station runs a 'Toy Appeal' every year, where they ask members of the public to bring in gifts to be given out to disadvantaged children at Christmas. These children might be in care, they might be in hospital, they might be sick or from abusive backgrounds. If you're from Buckinghamshire, donating to the Mix 96 Toy Appeal can really help, and there are several drop off points across the county. You can find out more information here: https://www.mix96.co.uk/toyappeal.php

If you're outside of Bucks, have a quick look on Google to see if there's something similar going on in your area. My place of work is hosting their own toy collection, why don't you see if yours is too? If it isn't, why don't you start one? Ask around at your local hospital and children's charities and see if they would appreciate the donations. If they would, start up your own collection! No child should wake up to nothing on Christmas Day- just one gift could make all the difference.

Help the Homeless and Disadvantaged
Crisis, the national charity for homeless people, released information that for just £26.08 this Christmas, you can...

- Provide a homeless person with a Christmas dinner
- Advice on things such as housing and finances
- Healthcare that includes a number of screenings
- Dental treatment, eye tests and glasses
- Hairdressing and massage treatments
- Internet cafes, IT workshops, learning and skills workshops
- Specialist centres for people sleeping rough, women and people with dependency issues
- Access to Crisis' year round services for training and support.

When you read that long list, £26.08 really doesn't seem that much in the grand scheme of things. Give up some of the expensive Christmas food and drink, or maybe buy less presents for people, and spare £26.08 to help a homeless person find their feet and get their life back on track.

If you want more information, you can find more here: Reserve a Place at Crisis at Christmas

There are plenty of other charities that will help the homeless and others who are disadvantaged in terms of being unable to afford food or shelter in similar ways this Christmas, including Step By Step, CentrePoint and FareShare. A lot of big chain supermarkets have year round collections of food, such as Tesco, but if you really can't find anything just have a quick look on Google- there's guaranteed to be something close by.

Volunteer on Christmas Day
Be it by spending time with a lonely, housebound elderly relative, friend, neighbour or stranger, or helping out at a charitable Christmas meal at your local church, find out where and when you can volunteer on Christmas Day to help make someone else's Christmas just that little bit more special.

A lot of churches host Christmas meals for the homeless and the disadvantaged, and they're always looking for volunteers to help out, be that with bringing food, preparing it or serving it up, or just being their to speak to people and celebrate the day with them. Again, Google really comes in handy for finding out what's going on near to you, but ask at your local church, youth centres, charities and so on to see if anything is going on that you can get involved with.

If there isn't, why not run something yourself? Get your friends and family on board and host Christmas dinner at your local church for the homeless (or similar). Not only will you be making someone else's day, but you'll be able to have fun whilst you do it!


Of course, there's so many other things you can do to give back this Christmas- purchase an animal, such as a cow or a goat for a family in a poverty-stricken country for some of your friends and family, send a shoebox of toys to children in countries like Libya, Syria and so on, participate in sponsored events such as Christmas Jumper Day...the list goes on!

I am always incredibly spoilt at Christmas, I can't deny it. I also love celebrating from mid-November to December 26th, eating too much food, watching all the films, singing the songs and wearing comical Christmas jumpers! It breaks my heart when I think about people who don't get to have a Christmas as magical as mine always are- this year I'm going to be donating to two different charities for children to give them presents and will be reserving a spot at Crisis for a homeless person, as well as encouraging my friends and family to as well.

How will you give back this Christmas? Let me know in the comments below!

Love from,

Florence Grace