Christmas time, it’s not just a time for receiving, it’s a time to help those less fortunate than ourselves and to appreciate what we have. Teach your students the gift of giving, with some amazing charities,  causes and actions below.

Donations and Fundraising

Donate to the Salvation Army’s Christmas Present Appeal, donate new, unwrapped toys and gifts for children who might not otherwise receive a Christmas present.

The Children’s Society are working to support vulnerable children in England and Wales, they have fantastic ideas for fundraising events and shows .Your donations this Christmas would help them support children facing poverty.

Join in on Christmas Jumper Day  Friday 14th December with Save the Children.

Plan UK runs a range of projects to assist some of the world’s poorest children.

Via Oxfam, you can buy someone a flock of chickens or a camel, or textbooks or dinners for a third world school. For these and many other life-changing or life-saving gifts, see www.oxfamunwrapped.com.

Good Gifts is a means of getting suitable gifts to people who really need them, endorsed by a range of worthwhile charities. Buy a goat for Rwanda or a bicycle for a midwife in Cambodia, or help turn weapons of war into farm implements via www.goodgifts.org.

The environmentally conscious can adopt an animal from an endangered species via www.wwf.org or a whale or dolphin via www.wdcs.org. You can protect an acre of rainforest at www.worldlandtrust.org, or www.rainforestfoundationuk.org. Closer to home, you can sponsor a tree through www.woodland-trust.org.uk. All these send certificates to mark the gift.

Other ideas

If you work or attend a school which is looking for an alternative, you might want to link your school with one in South Africa, Ghana, Uganda or Malawi! Visit www.lcdinternational.org/school-linking to find out more.

Gift boxes

If the school wants to use gift boxes, one option is the shoebox scheme run by the Christian charity Link to Hope at www.linktohope.co.uk/shoebox-appeal.

The Aquabox scheme at www.aquabox.org is a popular charity amongst many schools. Welfare items from a recommended list are collected to fill a water treatment box, which costs £50.00. This then becomes a useful kit that can be sent quickly to disaster areas. Each box is numbered and linked to the donor, so that you can find out where your box went.

Women’s Refuge runs a parcel scheme targeted at women and children escaping domestic violence, including children’s parcels and emergency parcels to help people rebuild their lives.

Volunteering Your Time

Alternatively you could organise volunteering for yourself and your students to help local causes:

• Help to feed and cloth local homeless people with Crisis or give food/clothing to homeless people directly.
• Help pack and distribute food at foodbanks for people struggling to buy food
• Work with your local churches to distribute hot meals and sanitary/cleanliness products
• Spend time with elderly/vulnerable people who may have no family and could be facing a lonely Christmas period.
• Write appreciation letters to those around you, let them know your are thankful for all they do.

Remember:

To follow instructions of the charity/cause when donating items or raising funds.

Be safe and have clear boundaries when undertaking volunteer work or organising events.

A smile and some understanding go a long way when working face to face 🙂

You are teaching your pupils about kindness, moulding them into thoughtful human beings.

Whichever way you and your pupils decide to give back this Christmas, we want to say well done!