This post inspiration came from my mum. You see, this evening she got in from visiting the shop and proceeded to tell me about a concept that I had somehow not heard of before. As soon as the discussion ended I felt the need to share it instantly hence scribbling down this post this evening.
The concept, if you haven't heard of it is the reverse calendar. This means that instead of opening a door to your advent calendar and having a personal treat or your chocolate you give something to someone else instead. This doesn't mean you have to give others a physical gift though. Instead, this could be doing something for charity or donating to a food bank.
Christmas for me is all about being there for others, providing gifts that are thoughtful and make your friends and family smile. Therefore, the idea of helping other incredible causes to me seems so fitting and such a nice gesture to help spread more love.
Now however fantastic the idea is, I understand the reality of being able to do something every day could be a challenge but even donating once a week could have a huge impact on those it will help.
So here is my list of great giving things you could repeat throughout the month to make things a little brighter for those around you this December:
1. Donate some festive clothing to charity.
2. Create a Christmas box for children in hospitals.
3. Buy a present from a charity shop (helping raise money for charity and helping yourself to!)
4. Sign up to give blood and if there is a collection near you go and give.
5. Donate some of your own food shopping to the food banks in the supermarket.
6. Tell someone how influential they are in your life.
7. Buy some sanitary products to donate to a local homeless charity. Periods are often a huge issue for homeless women and so donations are always useful. If you'd prefer you could offer to start a period box in your public toilets etc instead.
8. Offer to spend an afternoon at an elderly peoples home to run a quiz for the members. It's simple and easy and could be the highlight to someone's week
9. Make sure you're signed up as an organ donor and sign up to the British Bone Marrow Registry to potentially help those in need.
10. Give a pet a home. Now, I'm only putting this on for those considering getting a family pet. Don't buy one, instead head down to your local shelter, they have far more animals than you realise including rabbits and hamsters.
11. Knit a chicken a jumper. Yes you read this correctly, if you know how to knit you could donate your wool and time to help provide previous battery hens who have no feathers left on their chest from horrible living conditions a little coat to keep them warm. If you'd rather help the human form, knit a jumper for a premature babies in the hospital.
12. Sign up for a charity event. This could be a tough mudder, a volunteer for a festival or even if you want to donate your time when abroad to help with wildlife conservation or schools.
13. Invite your neighbours or friends around for a home cooked meal.
14. Try to recycle all of your rubbish for a week. This may sound silly but so many people are lazy with what they chuck away. Being careful means your giving back to the environment.
15. Drop all of those closest to you a message saying how thankful you are for them. It's bound to brighten up their day. You can even arrange a meet up to!
16. Live near a beach? Head down one day at the weekend and pick up any rubbish you see. Helping keep the beaches clear is good for us and the environment to. WIN WIN.
17. Smile at everyone for a day. It will make you and them feel FANTASTIC.
18. Support a local business, instead of shopping at your supermarket head down to the independent store and support them instead. This will be good for the small business and the community to.
19. Donate old towels to a local animal shelter instead of chucking them away as they are often looking for rags and comforters.
20. Donate those books you read over summer to charity. Books are always great for charity shops and it means you have space on your shelves for new reads to!
21. Sign up for volunteering. If you have an afternoon free one day a week why not sign up to help with a charity. Last year I volunteered with Oxfam and not only is it loads of fun, its also helping a fantastic cause to.
22. Create a box with a food item a day in for the month and then donate the whole box just before Christmas to be used for local food kitchens.
23. Pay it forward. Sometimes just doing something nice for someone else can have a huge impact, if you are near a hospital why not drop £5 off with the counter and ask them to offer a few people a free drinks. Sometimes the families of those in a hospital need a little love to.
24. Finally, treat others how you would like to be treated this month. Open doors for others, allow others to merge in when the roads are busy, and offer to help if you see people are in need instead of just passing by. Kindness is free after all.
Happy December!
Love
Erin
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