The charities I support monthly with direct debits increase annually at Christmas. I don't send any cards. I don't give presents, other than to immediate family. I start a new charity instead. I've been doing it for years now. So the list of charities grows. I try to give to smaller niche charities which empower people in the developing world to be able to feed themselves, make an income & access education & healthcare.
I particularly like charities like Tree Aid www.treeaid.org.uk & Re-cycle www.re-cycle.org I also give to medical charities. Charities like the Micro loan Foundation https://www.microloanfoundation.org.uk & Camfed https://camfed.org help women to set up businesses & access education.
It doesn't really matter what the charity is, it's just really nice to feel that I am helping, in a very small way, to redress the imbalance between the haves & the have nots. It seems appropriate to think about this at a time when we spend ridiculous amounts of money. People who have very little can do an awful lot to become less dependent on aid with small amounts of money. It counterbalances my negative feelings about the excesses of Christmas in the UK.
People in the UK are really good about giving to charity when there are big disasters, or to something like Children in Need & Red Nose Day. People are generous & respond quickly. What we are not quite so good at is regular giving so that Charities know that they have money they can rely on to meet day to day need.
Check out all the quotes on Google about giving. It's the best Christmas present you can give to yourself as well as others.
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