CAF research shows more than half give away unwanted Christmas gifts
Melanie May | 29 December 2017 | News
More than half of people surveyed by the Charities Aid Foundation give away unwanted Christmas presents, either to charity or to someone else, with 51% of these saying that giving them to a charity made them feel happy.
The CAF study was carried out online by YouGov and surveyed 1,005 people at the end of November. It found that 58% had given festive gifts away, with items including:
- A Scottie dog cookie container
- A slow cooker
- Slippers that you heat up in the microwave
- Cleaning cloths
- A globe
- An ironing board
- An indoor fountain
- Candle wick scissors
- A 12 inch plush animatronic Spider-Man that sang Itsy-Bitsy Spider
- A book about dogs for someone without a dog
In addition, the survey found that more than three-quarters of people (78%) feel that Christmas in the UK has become too materialistic, and that 44% of people agreed that they had “too much stuff”.
Sir John Low, Chief Executive of CAF, said:
Advertisement
“Everyone loves getting presents at Christmas but it’s also a time when we think about making a new start in the new year. As we count the pile of presents that we’ve enjoyed receiving from family and friends, we can also think of ways to help those less fortunate.
“Donating items to charity that we’ll never use is a great way of raising much-needed funds for a good cause.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.