Christmas charity donations

Throughout the year I make small charity donations, for example in response to specific sponsorship requests from friends. However, it's in December in the run up to Christmas that I make the biggest donations. Since 2007 I've been asking readers for charity suggestions (see Christmas charity donation posting category), and just because I'm now a retired blogger, I don't see any reason not to do a post here asking for suggestions. So all suggestions still welcome. I won't get round to making the donations before Friday 16th December 2016, so any comments made before then will be taken into account :-).

Update 21-Dec-2016: charity donations.

In the end, I decided to support some of the charities that I supported last year. Coming from a medical family, I guess Médecins Sans Frontières (UK charity number 1026588) is my favourite charity, so this year I gave them £1k. Apart from that, I also gave £0.5k to each of GMFA (UK charity number 1076854), Food Cycle (UK charity number 1134423), Against Malaria Foundation (UK charity number 1105319) and Shelter (UK charity number 263710).

As I was making these donations, it occurred to me that much of the work that these charities do relates to addressing the symptoms of problems rather than their causes. For example, MSF works in war zones and with refugees, but who is working to prevent the wars and the refugees that accompany them? Addressing the causes of problems would be better than treating their symptoms, but I guess that's a much harder thing to do :-(.

Anyway, a very Happy Christmas to everyone :-). Big kisses, GB XXX

Suggestions for Christmas Charity donations please

I can't believe that Christmas will soon be here! Looking back over the past twelve months, I feel that it's been a good year for me. My relationship with boyfriend K is going well :-), and we've been on quite a few interesting holidays together.

Many years ago now, I agreed with my family that instead of buying each other Christmas presents, we should donate the money to charity instead. And to help with the process, for the last 8 years I've been asking readers for suggestions regarding who do donate money to . This year there's more than £1000 to give away, so as usual, please leave a comment and tell me who you think I should be giving to? The one rule is that because of the way I do my donations, I can only donate to charities that are registered with the UK Charities Commission. I'll make the final decision about who to donate to on Sunday 13th December (or shortly after), so please leave your comments before then. All suggestions welcome :-).

Update 22-Dec-2015: charity donation result.

I've finally got around to making my donations for this year, about a week later than originally planned. But the good news is that I was able to give away more than I had anticipated :-).

Over the years, whenever Kenski has left a comment on my blog, it's always been useful and insightful. So it was no surprise to me that all his charity suggestions seemed very sensible. Consequently I gave £200 to Food Cycle (registered charity number 1134423), £200 to Food Chain (registered charity number 1003014), and £100 to the Ministry of Stories (registered charity number 1138553).

As I said in a comment, the video that the commenter "P" mentioned led me to a web site called Give Well. Unfortunately though, it turns out to be quite American in focus, so a lot of it's suggestions aren't registered charities in the UK. But it did suggest the Against Malaria Foundation which does have charity status in the UK (registered charity number 1105319), so I gave them £500. Another commenter suggested a Shelter (registered charity number 263710), which is a charity for homeless people. For many years I gave to a charity called Crisis which has similar goals, but I have no reason to favour Crisis over Shelter so I gave Shelter £300.

Finally, I gave some money to a couple of my old favourites. As I said last year, I come from a medical family, so I gave £500 to Médecins Sans Frontières (Charity number 1026588). And lastly I supported GMFA (charity number 1076854) again with a donation of £200.

Anyway, a very Happy Christmas to all my readers, wherever you are. Have a good one! GB xxx

Christmas charity donations

Christmas comes but once a year, and for the past 7 years (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013), I've asked readers for suggestions for the charity donations that I always make at Christmas. This year there's about £1000 to give away, so don't be shy, leave a comment and tell me about your favourite charities :-). The one rule is that because of the way I do my donations, I can only donate to charities that are registered with the UK Charities Commission. I'll make the final decision about who to donate to next Sunday 14th December, so don't delay, leave a comment today!

Update 16-Dec-2014: charity donation result.

Thanks for the comments :-).

One reader suggested Ben Cohen's Stand Up Foundation. I had a look, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to be a registered UK charity. Because I donate via an account that I have with CharitiesTrust.org, I can only donate to registered UK charities, so the Stand Up Foundation isn't eligible.

The information provided by another reader about "diseases we donate to versus diseases that kill us" was fascinating :-). That web site suggests that cancer charities get more than their fair share of donations. Nonetheless, two other readers suggested that Cancer Research (charity number 1089464) would be a worthy beneficiary, so I've given them £200.

For the rest, I've mostly gone back to charities that I've donated to in the past. Last year typhoon Haiyan had recently devastated the Philippines so I gave to the British Red Cross Philippines Typhoon Appeal. However, this year it's all about Ebola, so I've given £300 to the British Red Cross Ebola Crisis Appeal (charity number 220949) and £500 to Médecins Sans Frontières (Charity number 1026588). I come from a medical family, so the work of Médecins Sans Frontières has always seemed like a particularly worthy cause to me. I've also supported GMFA (charity number 1076854) again with a donation of £200, and as a result of a request from my sister I've given £100 to Fight For Sight (charity number 1111438).

Happy Christmas everyone :-). GB xxx

Christmas charity donations

A very long time ago, I agreed with my family that instead of giving each other Christmas presents, we should all give money to charity instead. We're not a rich family, but it's true that we're not a poor family either, and the annual Christmas present buying exercise where we all spent money giving each other stuff that we probably don't really need starting seeming a bit gross to me. Giving money to charity instead seems much more sensible. Although I'm not really a Christian, I was brought up as a Christian, so I know that in many ways this idea is very much in tune with the Christmas spirit.

Initially I asked my family to suggest worthy charities, but for the last six years, I've been asking readers to give me suggestions for Christmas charity donations instead (see 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012). This year there's around £1200 to give away, and all sensible suggestions are welcome :-).

Update 13-Dec-2013: charity donation result.

This year I decided that I really shouldn't donate to charities that generally have an income which is higher than their spending. This information is readily available from the Charity Commission website, and it was interesting assessing the charities that I donated to last year using this criterion.

I've supported Crisis (charity number 1082947) for many years now, however I decided to drop them this year. For the last couple of years their spending has been at least 10% below their income, e.g. spending £19.3m in the year to June 2012 against income of £21.5m, so I don't think they need any support. It's the same story for the Albert Kennedy Trust (charity number 1093815) who've had surpluses every year for the last five years, e.g. income of £690k against spending of £543k in the year to June 2012. Diveristy Role Models (charity number 1142548) is a relatively new charity that was suggested to me last year, however they're also in surplus, spending only £59k against an income of £95k in the year to August 2012.

My good friend Close Encounters had a couple of suggestions. The charity www.allout.org looks excellent, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to be a registered charity in the UK. I always donate via my Charities Trust account, and that means that I can only give to organisations that are registered as charities in the UK. And Close Encounters's other suggestion www.savevandyck.org seems a much less worthy cause to me, because at Christmas I'm really looking to support people in need, rather than help buy paintings that will continue to exist while people all around the world starve.

However, I have found a few charities to donate to :-). Last year and this year, a reader asked me to support Papyrus (charity number 1070896), so I've given them £300. The suggestions of 'Christmas Spirit' look sensible too (the first two of course!), and the Philippine Red Cross seems a popular choice at the moment for obvious reasons. Hence I've given £300 to the British Red Cross Philippines Typhoon Appeal (charity number 220949), and £200 to World Vision (UK) (charity number 285908). For the rest, I've gone back to a couple of charities that I've supported in past years. I've always thought that GMFA (charity number 1076854) does good work so I've given them £200. Finally, a few years ago there was a reader who always used to ask me to support Médecins Sans Frontières (Charity number 1026588) and I always thought that that they seemed especially worthy so I've given them £200 as well.

Happy Christmas everyone :-). GB xxx

Suggestions for Christmas Charity donations please

Where has all the time gone? It seems like it was only yesterday that I was writing last year's version of this post!

For the last five years, I've asked readers to give me suggestions for Christmas charity donations (see 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011). This year there's around £800 to give away, and all sensible suggestions are welcome :-).

Charity donations at Christmas

For the last four years, I've asked readers to give me suggestions for Christmas charity donations (see 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010).

In connection with this, a few weeks ago I received a direct email request from a charity called Positively UK for a donation, so I've already used my charity account to give them £100. But there's still an excess in that account of around £1000, so if anyone has any suggestions for the rest then please leave a comment. The only condition is that the beneficiaries have to be registered UK charities :-).

Christmas charity donations

For the last three years, I've asked readers to give me suggestions for Christmas charity donations (see 2007, 2008, 2009). This year an excess of £2k has built up in my account with the Charities Aid Foundation, so it's time to give it away to good causes. All suggestions welcome, the only condition is that the beneficiaries have to be registered UK charities :-).

Giving to charities at Christmas

I've been giving a bit of money to charities at Christmas for many years now. Each month throughout the year, I put some money into my account at the Charities Aid Foundation. If a friend asks me for sponsorship during the year then I take the money out of that account, but this usually means that there's spare money in the account at the end of the year. Last year the excess in the account was £1.3k, but this year the excess is £1.6k, which is the same as it was in 2007. So it's time to give it all to good causes :-).

In connection with all of this, for the last couple of years (2007, 2008) I've donated some money to charities that readers of this blog have suggested. This year I've already had one email about this, from a reader who wants me to donate to a charity called Help for Heroes. But if any other readers have any requests I'd be happy to take them into account too, as long as the suggestions are registered UK charities :-).

Charity suggestions welcome again

This year, like last year, a bit of an excess has built up in my account with the Charities Aid Foundation. Since it's almost Christmas again, I reckon that now is a sensible time to empty the account and give the money to good causes :-). Last year there was an excess of £1.6k, and taking into account the suggestions that I got from readers, £400 was donated to each of The Terrence Higgins trust, Crisis, The Albert Kennedy Trust and Action for blind people. During the course of 2008 I've sponsored a few more friends than last year, so this year there's only an excess of £1.3k. None the less, if any readers wants to make sensible suggestions in terms of who to give some money to then I'll try and take their thoughts into account. All suggestions welcome, as long as they're registered UK charities :-).

Charity suggestions welcome

For a while now, I’ve had an account with the Charities Aid Foundation. Each month, a fraction of my pre-tax salary gets siphoned off into this account, which means that I can make donations to any registered UK charity in a tax-efficient manner. This is the account that I used to write the cheque for czechOUT recently, when he asked me to sponsor him to raise money for Leukaemia Research.

Throughout the year, I use the same account whenever friends or family ask me to sponsor them, as long as the end beneficiary is a UK charity. However, a bit of a surplus has built up in this account, and since it’s Christmas I think it would be best to distribute the money to worthy causes. Left to my own devices, I’d probably donate to charities like the Terrance Higgins Trust, the charity for homeless people Crisis , and Oxfam. But does anyone have any better ideas? I’d also be willing so sponsor any other bloggers if they’re involved in any events to raise money for UK charities. All suggestions welcome :-).