10 inspirational charity posts and 10 ideas for Christmas

 

Christmas is coming and for many families times are tight. This month I have selected posts the majority of which help charity without you having to put your hand in your pocket at all. Enjoy and then read on for some ideas how to inject goodwill into the festive season this year.

Watch a Video

Mari highlights a video that I beg all of you to watch so that should a friend ever reach out to you and say they are experiencing domestic violence, you will be better equipped to help them. Sadly domestic violence effects millions of women and women are dying every week in this country whilst we go to work or the /nursery school gates and do not see it etched on a woman’s face. That is why you SHOULD watch this video.

Make a will

Have you made a will yet? Presumably if you are reading this, you are likely to have children so have you thought about what care and provision will be made for them should you die? Coffee Curls highlights that November is Will Aid month where solicitors encourage you to make a will in return for a suggested donation to charity.

Declutter

Are you struggling to tidy your children’s bedrooms because they have so much stuff? Frugal Mum of 3 shows us how her children took part in the Argos Toy Exchange to support Barnardo’s where you can donate a toy and get a voucher in return. Check out how her children did this but with a very charitable twist indeed

Take part in a thunderclap

Have you heard about thunderclaps, a great thing where a lot of noise can be made on social networks to promote a cause. Louise tells us how the Royal British Legion harnessed the thunderclap to promote this year’s 2 minute silence for Remembrance Day.

Grow a Moustache

It is November which means in charity terms it it Movember and lots of bloggers (mainly male) are growing moustaches to raise money for male cancer charities. One such is Tom who shows off his efforts from last year and tells us what it is all about.

Host or Co-Host a Twitter party

Kylie is always a good read when it comes to discovering what it feels like to experience premature birth. In this post, she highlights Twitter relays she helped with for the Bliss and Tommy’s baby charities. This post particularly demonstrates how Bliss helps in terms of written, telephone and forum support in the confusing and scary days following the birth of a premature baby.

Wear a Frock

Another key issue that affects so many parent bloggers is post-natal depression. So I have selected this from Avril to highlight the fun way that FrOctober can be used to raise awareness and funds for a great cause.

Blog a personal story

Mama Syder writes a post that really gets across that sense of disbelief that happens when you discover a parent is dying.
This is a bitter-sweet post that highlights how hospices help not only the dying person but their loved ones too.

Get Crafty

This blogger shows us how she learns how to make a pillowcase dress and sees children getting involved in supporting girls their own age in less privileged countries.

Think Green

A new blogger Dancing in the Rain highlights ways to make your Christmas greener in terms of helping the environment. Please do read this post partly because she is new to the blogosphere and partly because the tips are things we can all think about doing even the least environmentally aware of us out there.

So there are 10 diverse ways to show support for a charity.

Now here are 10 ways  to consider in coming weeks as we hurtle towards the big day bearing in mind that it is the season of goodwill.

10 ways to support charities for Christmas

1. Consider choosing charity Christmas cards and check what percentage of the profits actually go to charity.

2. Scrap Christmas cards altogether in favour of making a donation to charity direct.

3. Add charity shops to your places to visit when looking for presents.

4. Think Fair Trade with your food and gift purchases.

5. Consider volunteering your time over Christmas or in the New Year. Opportunities can be found at http://do-it.org.uk

6. If shopping online, by joining organisations like Give As You Live you can ensure a percentage of what you spend goes to the charity of your choice at no extra cost to yourself.

7. Donate any unwanted gifts direct to charity or drop off at the charity shop.

8. If you want to help good causes from home even without getting our of your pyjamas, check out this website http://helpfromhome.org/

9. Buy gifts that do good at http://www.goodgifts.org/how-it-works

10. If you are donating cash to charity this Christmas and are a UK taxpayer make sure you tick the Gift Aid box. This means for every one pound you donate HMRC will give an extra 25p to the charity. It is estimated that around £750m of Gift Aid goes unclaimed each year.

Please do link up your charity posts below and if you are not already a member of the BritMums Charity Connections group, we hope to see you there soon.

If you are a charity, we are always interested in hearing how Britmums bloggers might work with you so do email kateonthinice@gmail.com with your ideas.