The Reverse Advent Calendar
Alongside opening traditional Advent calendars, put aside a box and on each day of Advent pop an item in the box. You can usually do it for various causes and charities including Leeds Baby Bank, the Leeds North and West Foodbank, St George’s Crypt or you might want to use it as an opportunity to sort through toys before Santa arrives and donate to your local Children’s Centre.
My two enjoyed decorating the box “Christmassy’ last year, children could also make Christmas Cards and put them in with the donations.
The Leeds North and West Foodbank are part of the #foodbankadvent campaign, more details of the campaign and where to drop your boxes can be found here
Ideas of what to put in your Foodbank parcel could include: (ring pull cans if possible)
Non-food items are also welcome:
Ideas of contents for a reverse advent calendar for Leeds Baby Bank could include
A lot of charities also run Shoebox Appeals, local ones include Streetwise: Leeds Homeless Christmas Shoebox Appeal
It’s always wise to visit an organisations website or Facebook page first where you’ll find lots of information on the types of donations they can and can’t accept for Health & Safety reasons.
Cash for Kids Mission Christmas
With 1 in 4 children across the UK living in poverty this December, for many families, Christmas is simply a luxury they can’t afford. And sadly some children in Leeds and West Yorkshire will go without a present full stop.
Which is why, every year the Cash For Kids ‘Mission Christmas’ appeal invites people to buy one extra gift alongside their Christmas shopping, that can be given to a disadvantaged local child to make their Christmas morning special.
They need as many people as possible to take part, to make this the best year yet for disadvantaged families in our region. To help you simply need to:
**Texts are charged at your standard message rate and 100% of the donation will come to Cash for Kids. Please obtain the bill payer’s permission first.
Yorkshire Bank Bike Library
Anyone with an old bike they’re not using any more can take it to a local Yorkshire Bank donation station, where it’ll be spruced up and used in one of the bike libraries throughout the region to help change the life of another child.
Full details of the bike libraries across Leeds visit bikelibraries.yorkshire.com/locations/
Stoneacre Raise a Festive Smile this Christmas
Since the formation of the Charity ‘ Homeless Street Angels ‘ in 2017 Stoneacre Properties, with the help of staff, our clients and people in the community have supported their fundraising activities. The previous two years fund raising involved us promising to donate £1000 to the charity if 250 chocolate bars of any description were delivered to either of our offices in North and East Leeds and thanks to the generosity of the people in Leeds this target was easily achieved.
Due to COVID-19 they need to minimize the number of people visiting our offices but at the same time continue to raise some funds for the charity which in these difficult times is needed now more than ever before. For each property that is placed with them ‘ For Sale ‘ in November and December 2020, and is subsequently sold by them at any time in the future they will donate £100 each time to the charity.
Support Crisis at Christmas
Government street counts estimate that more than 4,000 people sleep rough across England on any given night. This is a devastating, dangerous and isolating situation, made even worse by the cold temperatures and festive celebrations.
At 13 centres across the country, Crisis at Christmas gives homeless people good food, friendly company, healthcare and clean clothes – and is a vital first step towards leaving homelessness for good. You can help by reserving a place for a homeless person at Crisis at Christmas, donating a gift or even volunteering your time.
The above are just a few ideas of acts of kindness you can do as a family to give back to others over the festive period.
Why don’t you join our North Leeds Mumbler Chat Group and share your ideas with others.
