It’s the most wonderful time of the year but it can also be the toughest season to get through for those less fortunate which is why Christmas is the perfect time to spread the Christmas cheer. Kindness goes along way especially during the holidays.
From something as little as buying a coffee for a homeless person, anything can really help at this time of year. Here’s a few meaningful ways you can spread some festive cheer this Christmas.
Support your local high street
I always love buying from independent stores so why not support your local businesses this year by remembering to buy your Christmas gifts from them! It means so much more to them and you could be helping them buy presents for their children etc. They appreciate it so much.
Buy charity Christmas cards
Supporting a charity by buying their Christmas cards is something little but will help support them. It’s such an easy way of supporting the organisations that mean the most to you and when people notice that it’s a charity Christmas card maybe that’ll make them think to buy them next year? Sometimes it’s the little things that matter the most.
Donate a small gift
There’s a lot of people struggling right now, wether that be homelessness or just financially, I know Christmas is such an expensive time and if your in a position that you are able to pick up an extra gift and donate it then please do so. The Salvation Army do some amazing work or maybe just donate to a local charity, it will make such a difference to someone’s life at Christmas.
Just contact your local Salvation Army centre or take a look on their website.
Volunteer
Volunteering is free and you could spend the whole day or just a few hours, it’s completely up to you. Why not volunteer at a local soup kitchen for homeless people or support someone with dementia. The Alzheimers Society runs a year round initiative called side by side which you can spend time with people living with dementia, you can help them out with doing activities that they love, this could be a walk in the park to a shopping trip and won’t cost you anything. I just think it’s something so little which will make such a huge difference & they would appreciate it so much.
Grab a couple of extra food items
Did you know you can donate non-perishable food items directly to your local food banks and also quite a few collection points in supermarkets? Just picking up a extra couple of items on your food shop which you probably wouldn’t notice anyway would make a huge difference to someone battling hunger. Just pick up cereal, pasta, rice or a tin of soup which you can get for relatively quite cheap and donate.
Find out where your nearest food bank is on the Trussell Trust website.
Spare change Christmas jar
Throughout the year (start in 2020 obviously) why not start a spare change jar and encourage everyone in your family to chuck in their spare change in the Christmas jar and just let it build up. Then when it gets to the end of the year take a vote on which charity or cause you would like to donate to. I think this is such a lovely tradition to have and it will remind you to think about giving all year round.
These are great ways to give a little something back at Christmas! Donating to charity is such a kind and thoughtful thing to do, especially at Christmas when times are hard for a lot of people! x
I think donating to charity at anytime of the year is great but especially at Christmas 🙂 Thanks Lucy x