happywiseowl /

Thinking of Others

It’s that time of year where Christmas is slowly creeping upon on us and the Christmas Wish List / Shopping Expeditions are about to begin.  We all know that we’ll probably spend WAY too much on gifts for loved ones and then during the festive season we’ll have a brilliant time eating and drinking WAY too much.

But what about those that aren’t as fortunate as us?  Those that will be on their own on Christmas Day or those that won’t receive any gifts – what will they do?

This year I want to give something back to the community and I’ve seen several different ways we can support our local area.

Presents

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There’s a community group on Facebook called Shout Out Melksham that are looking for gifts for older teenagers (17 & 18) who are leaving the care system and will be unlikely to receive any presents at Christmas.  This lovely lady wants 100 items so that she can make a difference – she’s looking for a box of chocolates, or some smellies, or a £10 gift voucher for Amazon or suchlike, or a set of nail varnish, or a football, or a Spotify code for music, or socks!! Anything ‘generic’ aimed at a teenager you don’t know personally!  For those in my area who know Melksham, the Co-op Travel shop next to Lloyds Bank in the High Street have kindly agreed to take any donations. No cash donations please. Deadline is the 20th November.

The Samaritans also run Operation Christmas Child at this time of year whereby you pack up shoeboxes with gifts and these are sent abroad to children.

Food Banks

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Food banks are popping up all over – there are even trolleys available in supermarkets now where you can add your donation if you don’t have time to go and visit your local station.  Food needs to be non-perishable so that it can doesn’t go off before it is distributed.  Food parcels are then put together by local volunteers and these are delivered or handed out to those in need.
I quite often add an extra packet of pasta or cereal to our weekly shop and pop it into the collection trolley on my way out.  An extra pound or two isn’t going to make a lot of difference to our weekly shopping bill but knowing that it can help someone else is priceless.

Christmas Lunch

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Our local Town Mayor has announced that he will be arranging a ‘Calne Christmas Day Lunch’ in the Town Hall, to support people in the community who would otherwise spend Christmas Day on their own or young families who may find the cost of Christmas lunch too much of a burden.  Donations can be made to the council from as little as £5.

There are probably loads of other initiatives going on that I haven’t stumbled across as yet.  No doubt there are similar projects in your area – why not have a look and see what’s happening where you live?

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