Your bank account is drained, but you still have something to give: your time. When the Christmas tinsel has settled, keep the good feeling of the holiday by volunteering in your community—and teach your kids a great lesson too.
There are plenty of child-friendly volunteering opportunities in west London, such as visiting an elderly person or spending the day cleaning the river. Christmas might feel like the ideal time to “give back”, yet the plea from charities is to hold onto our good intentions and come back in the new year. Places serving hot meals can be overwhelmed with volunteers on Christmas day; environmental charities usually close and this might be the one time of year when lonely people have visitors. Here are a few ideas for Christmas, more for later. And please comment with your suggestions.
Christmas Day, Crisis, west London day centre
If you have children over 16, you can volunteer with Crisis, a charity for single homeless people. More info HERE
Monday 23 December 2013 (4 – 5:30 p.m.) Shepherd’s Bush
St Stephen’s Church and Streetlytes offer a meal and film to the homeless and poor at 6 p.m. If you’d like to volunteer with your family, you could help set up at 4 p.m. You will need leave with anyone under 18 before the meal and film start.
Contact Chris Hatch at [email protected]
Christmas holidays, charity begins…on our street
How well do we know our neighbours? Charities are essential organisations but there are probably plenty of things we can do without them. A real “hello”; a cup of tea with a lonely neighbour; helping someone with their shopping or bins; keeping an eye on a vulnerable friend.
Supporting the elderly
According to Age UK, half of all people aged 75 and over live alone, and 1 in 10 people aged 65 or over say they are always or often feel lonely—that’s just over a million people. Most of us reading this are lucky enough to be busy with our children. At this stage in our lives, sharing our families and some of our time is probably one of the best things we can do. “Befriending” is the technical term. It can be as simple as a short weekly phone call or as big as a lunch. Find more info HERE
Monday meals and film, Shepherd’s Bush
St Stephen’s Church and Streetlytes offer a film and meal to the elderly at lunchtime (term-time only) and to the poor and homeless in the evening (all year).
Contact Chris Hatch at [email protected]
Going green in your local park, Hammersmith & Fulham
Hammersmith Community Gardens Association manages local gardens including Godolphin, Loris Gardens, Phoenix and Ravenscourt Glasshouses. On 5 January, they’re recycling trees at Loris Gardens. They have lots of activities during other school holidays. Find out more HERE
Cleaning up the Thames, Greater London
Join Thames21 to help improve the river. There are plenty of day events including during the weekend in Chiswick and the kids will probably have a great time. Find out more HERE
Google it!
Find the right project for your family using a volunteering portal, where you can search by type of volunteering and your postcode. Sites like do-it.org.uk are a great starting point.
We’d love to hear about any local charities that need support and volunteers – please let us know so we can add to the list…
About the Author:
Alex Blackie is a Shepherd’s Bush writer, mother and big fan of the portfolio career. She’s published in the broadsheets, has a weekly column on Anglo-Australian family life in London, her own blog and loves working at Kite Studios. She spends most of her spare time writing stories and playing word games with her daughter. Photograph by Clara Molden.
