How to give a helping hand to others during festive season
‘Tis the season to make a difference – Jessica Walford suggests 10 useful and practical ways to help others this Christmas
Give to a food bank With the rising cost of food, food bank usage is at an all-time high. According to the Trussell Trust, more than a million people each year are using food banks for emergency food.
Food to donate are cereals, soup, pasta, rice, pasta sauce, tinned food and biscuits.
But donations can also include toiletries, laundry detergent, washing up liquid, feminine products and baby supplies – but not formula milk due to Unicef regulations.
Volunteer at a soup kitchen To take it one step further, why not help feed those who at Christmas may not have anywhere else to go.
Volunteers are always welcome, said Claire Jones from The People’s Kitchen in Merthyr Tydfil.
She added: “We have had a great response with our regular volunteers for Christmas Day and people have come forward to join us as soon as they realised we were opening.
“By all means people can inquire or join us but we may over-run – the more the merrier!”
Check on an elderly neighbour There were 1,800 excess winter deaths last year with the majority of those being people aged 75 or over.
For charity Care & Repair Cymru, that simply isn’t good enough – and they say popping round for a cup of tea could save a life.
Chris Jones, chief executive of Care & Repair Cymru, said: “With the darker evenings and colder weather at this time of year many older people feel trapped in their own homes.
“But we can all help, if you have an older neighbour or friend, especially over the Christmas and New Year period, why not pop in to have a cuppa and chat or pick up the phone to say hello.”
Buy a homeless person a hot drink With winter here, it’s never been so important to keep warm. But for those sleeping on the streets, that’s easier said then done.
Helping out doesn’t have to be expensive – if you have a Waitrose card you can grab a free tea or coffee with any purchase.
Ceri Taylor, from The Wallich, a homeless charity based in Cardiff, said giving a rough sleeper a coffee would do more than warm them up – it could be the first time in days they’ve spoken to someone. Do you like sports? Cooking? Dancing? Gardening? Children play activities? Are you a computer whizz? Or maybe have a passion for teaching English? Maybe you just want to hang out and drink coffee with interesting people from across the globe?
Oasis Cardiff helps refugees and asylum seekers integrate into their local community.
You can also check out what Refugee Action are doing and donate or volunteer with them.
Donate a showbox for homeless pets Dog-walkers in Newport are collecting shoeboxes of treats, toys and food for pets with no home this Christmas.
The volunteers are dropping the wrapped gifts at three charities across South Wales. Boxes are separated by animal (cat, dog and rabbit) and should include a few treats as a special gift for animals who are homeless. Boxes will then be donated to various charities and shelters in time for Christmas.
Shoeboxes for dogs will be taken to Newport City Dogs Home on December 10, boxes for cats will be given to Mittens Cat Rescue, a local charity, and shoeboxes for rabbits will be taken to Friends of the Animals RCT.
Go carol singing and donate the money to charity You can use the money from a festive sing-song to help others in need, so you know when you’re belting your heart out to Jingle Bells it’s for a good cause. Help out stressed parents and offer to look after their kids so they can pop out and pick up some gifts.
This act of kindness would go down a real treat for mums and dads who may not otherwise get some well-needed time for themselves. Buy a Gingerbread Latte from Starbucks to help local charities. As part of the chain’s #RedCupCheer campaign, 5p from every festive drink sold – or Red Cup as they’re known – will go to help good causes. This year, money raised from sales at Cardiff stores will go to two charites: Autism Puzzles, a charity that supports hundreds of children and parents living with autism and related conditions in Wales, and Pride Cymru, a charity which aims to work for the promotion of the elimination of discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender, race or religion in Wales. St David’s Shopping Centre in Cardiff is running a toy appeal for children this Christmas for six charities across Cardiff, Newport, Bridgend and the South Wales Valleys.
Drop by the shopping centre’s Donation Station where you’ll be given a candy cane with a Hamley’s voucher which you can use to buy your gift.
Every time you donate you’ll be entered into a prize draw to win one of thousands of thank-you prizes including Krispy Kreme doughnuts, a free day’s parking at St David’s in December and Cardiff City tickets in January.
The centre is accepting toys until Thursday, December 22.