The month of festivities is upon us and most of us will soon be taking some precious time off work to enjoy the holiday season with loved ones and to overindulge in good food and gifts.  Unfortunately for others, this is a desperately sad time of year as they struggle to make ends meet and be able to afford clothes and foods for themselves and their families.  Christmas is a time of giving, not just for ourselves and our families, but also a time to remember those less fortunate than ourselves who need our help.  Of course, we should support those in need all year round, but whilst we are busily splashing our cash on gifts and food shopping, it’s a great time to also splash some of our cash on worthwhile causes too.

Here are three ways you can help those in need this Christmas:

1.     Support the homeless with a sock subscription

Society Socks is helping put an end to the homeless crisis by offering a handy sock subscription service with a social cause.  With every pair of socks sold, they will donate a pair to charity.  Why socks?  Because socks are the least donated item at homeless shelters, yet the most needed.  Shelters are only able to accept new socks and so they rarely receive donations, yet for obvious reasons they are very much needed by the homeless.  Society Socks aim to change this by donating a brand new pairs of socks every time they sell a pair.

There’s nothing better than a fresh pair of socks, so if you’re looking for a unique subscription that saves you the hassle of buying new socks each month and that also supports a great cause, you’ve found it right here.  It’s also the perfect unique Christmas gift with a difference – the socks that keep on giving!

2.     Support the food banks with a reverse advent calendar

My little helper!

We have just handed in our reverse advent calendar donations to the food bank at the weekend.  You can still help others this Christmas with your own reverse advent calendar – it’s never too late to start.  It’s organised by the UK money bloggers and aims to bring awareness to the food banks who so desperately need donations of suitable food and hygiene products all year round, but particularly in the weeks leading up to Christmas when they see a 40% rise in their services. 

Help local people who desperately need food donations by donating an item of food each day for 24 days.  Instead of receiving something from an advent calendar each day for 24 days, the idea is you give each day instead.  We started ours in November and handed it in at the weekend so as the food banks have time to sort and distribute the items, but they are always in need so don’t feel like it’s too late to start.  Donate as much as you can and there’s no need to do one item a day if you want to just give a lot in one go.  We saved ours up each day in November and took it all in to our local Tesco drop off point when we had filled two carrier bags full.  Even if you don’t want to take part in the reverse advent calendar idea, please do pick up an extra item with your supermarket shopping when you can and donate it in the food bank collection area.

3.     Support those in poverty with unwrapped charity gifts

These are a great gift idea for anyone, but especially for those who say they want nothing or older family members that you simply don’t know what to buy.  They are also the perfect gift to ask for yourself if you don’t want a gift and instead want to help someone less fortunate than yourself.  The Oxfam unwrapped charity gifts start at only £5 and you choose which cause to give your donation to.  You’ll be sent a card explaining where the donation has gone which you can write out to your recipient so they know you have donated on their behalf.  It’s the perfect way of giving at this time of year.

Final word

There are lots of ways to give to those in need this Christmas.  Hopefully this blog post has inspired you to think about ways you can give back this Christmas, even when doing your Christmas gift shopping.