This weekend, Hub and I got in early with two of our favourite Christmassy things to do. I was on book duty; Hub was on food…..
The Blackwells’ Children’s Giving Tree project is a wonderful initiative. It provides an opportunity for children in difficult or unfortunate circumstances to receive a book of their choice – either one they have specified, or if they prefer, an age-appropriate surprise. You can read more about it in this super student-paper article.
We love to support this each year and I went on Saturday to select my gifts. I like to choose something for a girl, something for a boy, and something to support one of the sponsored charities. You pick selections via tags on the christmas tree in the store and the brilliant booksellers help you to decide what to buy.
Here is a picture of my three tags, with the requests on the other side…
And here are the books I bought. I love the idea of all these children opening up their surprise parcels on Christmas day and am so pleased to be able to support this brilliant cause.
Meanwhile, Hub was doing his bit in our local supermarket. At this time of year, Tesco runs a neighborhood food collection project. They invite you to purchase a variety of food which can be distributed to people in need. It works in parallel with the FoodShare initiative, which makes sure that fresh food does not go to waste, through a redistribution system to charities such as womens’ refuges, children’s breakfast clubs and homeless shelters. This is why they encourage shoppers additionally to provide store cupboard essentials. Tesco pledges to top up all donations by 20%.
Here is our stash just going through the till….
Helping others is one of the most important aspects of Christmas and we are full of gratitude for being able to make even a small contribution. 🙂
“One is not born into the world to do everything but to do something.”
~ Henry David Thoreau
Wonderful initiatives! It is so sad that they are necessary. We have food banks in all our local towns now and all are needed the year round. I like the Giving Tree idea very much!
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Completely agree – it would be great not to have to think about this kind of support at any time of the year. I suppose it has always been necessary to support those in difficult circumstance – I am thinking of the poor house/work house set up of times gone by – and we should at least be grateful that there are organisations to help us help those most in need.
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Very true. There always will be people who are unable to manage and who cannot afford to eat enough or heat their homes.
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Fantastic. Does this tree exist in every bookshop around Great Britain? Such a great idea! Great choices and you will make some children really happy!
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Glad you like it, Ute. I’m not sure about the reach of this particular project, but I think similar things happen around the country. 🙂
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This gives me shivers! Such good initiatives and I love sharing about how you support them!
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Thanks Kerry 🙂
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I love your book choices. The best gift to receive is a book. Always an adventure embedded in the pages. Books change the course of a person’s life and open the doors to unlimited possibilities. A wonderful idea.
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It’s such a fabulous thing to do, isn’t it. I can remember the joy of receiving books when I was a child. These days, I am fortunate to be able to buy pretty much any book I want and it is great to be able to share bookish love all around. (Am loving the advent calendar, by the way – thanks so much again for this fab gift xxx) 🙂
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Love the Giving Tree initiative. Today we were buying for our City Mission Christmas needs, and also on the lookout for gifts for the children who will be in hospital this Christmas.
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that sounds brilliant 🙂
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I may end up buying books for the children in hospital. I am so out of touch with what little ones like or want.
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Go with what you know – children’s classics never go out of fashion. Alternatively, have a peek at some websites which might help – here’s a possible starting point… 🙂 http://booknotes-unbound.org.nz/50-new-zealand-books-every-kid-should-read-by-age-12/
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Oh there are some great books on the link you sent. Some of them I know but others are new to me. Some I would like to read myself. A book hunting we must go.
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Completely agree – the list looks delicious! I am sure you will have as much fun book hunting as the kids will reading your generous gifts. 🙂
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