insideKENT Magazine Issue 56 - November 2016 | Page 165

CHARITY
‘TIS THE SEASON FOR GIVING cont.

Online Shopping For Charity
You may want to do all your Christmas shopping
online this year – it’s quick, easy, and you can
really make the most of your free time by logging
on for a few minutes during the day or evening
and picking up a couple of gifts. For a lot of
people, online shopping is the best way to get
their festive presents. But did you know that
when you are buying online you can also be
giving to charity?
There are a number of different websites that
you can choose from to do this. Some excellent
ones include www.giveasyoulive.com,
www.thegivingmachine.co.uk and a range of
individual charities too. Once you sign up and
log in, you can then click through to a wide range
of big online retailers – and you’ll probably find
at least some of the ones you would have used
anyway. These include Amazon, Boots, Dorothy
Perkins, Tesco, John Lewis, eBay, Expedia and
thousands more. Every time you buy something
this way, a percentage of your purchase cost
will be given to the charities – and it won’t cost
you anything extra. The only thing you need to
do is remember to log in to the website before
you go shopping, and the magic of IT will do
the rest!

Cancer Research, Oxfam and The Red Cross
sell brand new items as well as second-hand
ones, and one shop could solve all of your
Christmas gift problems as well as giving back
to those in need.
Many charities also offer you the chance to buy
charity gifts that go directly to the person that
they need to help. A gift from Unicef, for example,
is sustainable, waste free, and ongoing, meaning
that one Christmas present can last for many
years to come; what other gifts can truly be that
useful and that thoughtful? Once you have
chosen your gift, you can create a personalised
card or e-greeting to give to the recipient so that
they know exactly what you’ve bought, and who
it’s helping.

Christmas Cards
Pop into any charity shop or search online and
you’ll soon discover that almost every charity
offers special themed Christmas cards each
year. A percentage of the money (usually 40 to
60 percent) you spend on these cards will go
directly towards helping those in need.

Give Your Time
Or why not use a cashback site such as
www.giveortake.com? This site offers cashback
on various purchases, and you can give that
‘extra’ money to charity through the site.

Shopping With Charities
If you would rather not sign up and log in every
time you want to go shopping, then why not
purchase your Christmas gifts directly from charity
shops and websites? Many shops including

Money is one thing, but not all of us spare much,
especially at Christmas time. However, charities
can always use a donation of your time, and by
volunteering to help over the Christmas period
you could be giving someone the greatest gift
of all – somewhere warm and safe to spend the
night. Crisis (www.crisis.org.uk) helps the
homeless at Christmas, and you can choose to
be a general volunteer at one of their many
centres which would involve serving food and
talking to the people who come into the centres

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amongst other things. Alternatively, you can
volunteer a particular skill – Crisis is always on
the lookout for drivers, hairdressers, and cooks
to name just a few requirements.
Perhaps you want to care for the elderly at
Christmas? So many older people are on their
own at this festive time, and volunteering with a
nationwide charity such as Age UK
(www.ageuk.org) will show you exactly how you
can help in your local area.
Children also need a Christmas to remember,
and across Kent and Sussex you will find a variety
of different charities that will be looking for
volunteers to ensure the little ones get the
Christmas they deserve. Contact Dandelion Time
(www.dandeliontime.org.uk) or Demelza
(www.demelza.org.uk) in Kent or The Rainbow
Trust (www.rainbowtrust.org.uk) or Chestnut
Tree House (www.chestnut-tree-house.org.uk)
in Sussex – amongst many others you can
choose from – to see how you can help.

Have A Clear Out
You know that you are about to receive a haul
of brand new items from your family and friends,
and if you have children those gifts seem to
multiply hugely. The question of where to put it
a