From chocolate to calendars – Christmas products that give back
Melanie May | 19 December 2022 | News
From chocolate to calendars and cards, charities and companies are all raising money for good causes through a range of festive items and gifts. Here’s a selection.
Perennial Grubby Gardeners calendar
This festive season, Horticultural charity Perennial has been busy raising money to help those working in the horticultural industry by selling its ever-popular Grubby Gardeners calendar. The Grubby Gardeners are a group of volunteers who formed in 2014 to bare all for the charity and not only raise money for the charity, but also highlight the work that Perennial does for those involved in the horticultural industry. Available for £10.
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Chococo Charity Milk Chocolate Christmas Tree
Every one of Chococo’s Milk Chocolate Christmas Tree that is purchased results in one tree being planted with the charity Just One Tree. Each tree is 18cm tall, handcrafted from 47% Colombia-origin milk chocolate, and has inside two Chocolate Orange Gems and two Gingerbread Caramel Gems. The trees cost £19.50 each.
FatFace Winter range
FatFace has once again partnered with Shelter and is donating 10% of sales from its special winter range to the charity. This year, it features a Christmassy Highland cow, and includes pyjamas, socks, a bag, t-shirts and more. Back in November for #GivingTuesday, the brand doubled this to 20%.
Advent of Change Christmas bauble
Available on the Advent for Change site as well as at Waitrose and John Lewis, the Advent of Change Christmas bauble raises funds for 10 different charities including Toybox. Each one is represented by a star on the bauble, which was £11.95 on the Advent for Change site. Advent of Change has also been selling its charity advent calendar once again, which retails for £32.95. Each of the 24 doors represents a £1 donation and how this contribution may be used by each of the charities represented.
PDSA reveals customisable Christmas cards
PDSA is selling customisable charity donation Christmas cards. By gifting a card from the animal-themed range, shoppers help PDSA deliver treatments to hundreds of thousands of pets nationwide, keeping families together this winter. Not only are there several card designs to choose from, but people can also decide how much they wish to donate, with gifts starting from £10. Check out ‘It’s Christmas’.
Political chocolate gifts support the Trussell Trust
A creative team is making chocolate in the shape of Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss and Boris Johnson in a campaign calling out the Tory government’s handling of the cost of living crisis in Britain. The online store, Eat The Rich, aims to criticise the actions of the three most recent Prime Ministers, with all profits going to the food bank charity the Trussell Trust. Agatha O’Neill and Sarah Lisgo produce the chocolates themselves from moulds of the three politicians’ heads, selling them on their website for £5.99 each. The campaign name is borrowed from the quote by Jean Jacques Rousseau, who proclaimed that ‘when the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich’. In the lead up to Christmas, the team hope that people will consider buying a chocolate as a gift. The funds will help the most vulnerable families in the UK get through this winter.
Thortful teams up with RSPCA on Christmas cards & recipe book
This Christmas, greetings card marketplace thortful has teamed up with the RSPCA, to create a collection of charity Christmas cards. To raise awareness of the partnership, and to help raise money, thortful has teamed up with digital marketing agency connective3 to create a Christmas cookbook filled with a selection of pet-friendly festive recipes. The 52-page book is available as a hard copy and will be received by celebrities and influences, along with a brief to make some of the recipes and share them with their followers. The book is filled with hand-drawn illustrations by the in-house design team at thortful, and filled with Christmas treats and snacks for furry friends – from Festive Veggie Wreaths for guinea pigs to tasty Kitty Christmas Cookie bites for cats, and safe Mini Festive Puddings for dogs.
Nerdle Add-vent calendar raises funds for Save the Children & Plan International
Nerdle, the daily numbers game, has created a nerdle ‘add-vent’ calendar challenge in support of two charities that support educational causes. The nerdle add-vent calendar has 25 festive words of the day providing a clue to the tricky nerdle calculation behind each door. The add-vent calendar is free to play but all profits from advertising on the festive game will be donated to the two supported charities – Save the Children and Plan International. The more that people share and play the games on the calendar, the more funds will be raised.
Baubles raise funds for Make 2nds Count
Secondary breast cancer charity Make 2nds Count aims to raise £15,000 through the sale of Tree of Hope baubles, plus further funds from specially commissioned Christmas cards and charity partnerships with Dalkeith Country Park’s festive Spectacle of Light and McLarens on the Corner in Edinburgh. The Make 2nds Count Tree of Hope initiative gives people the chance to donate by buying a Christmas bauble. Supporters donating to the Tree of Hope pay £25 for a bauble, featuring the name of the person they are honouring, in return for a virtual bauble with a personalised message on the Make 2nds Count website and delivery of their personalised bauble keepsake in January. There are also standard Make 2nds Count baubles available for £15. Dalkeith Country Park will showcase its own Tree of Hope as part of its Spectacle of Light event where visitors can add a ribbon to commemorate a loved one, and all donations will come to the charity. They are also providing collection tins for any spare change, at till points in its Fort Douglas and Restoration Yard’s store and eateries, and signage around the park with a QR code.
Together for Short Lives partners with John Lewis on Christmas cards
John Lewis & Partners will donate £200,000 (incl. VAT) shared equally between FareShare, Together for Short Lives, Home-Start UK and NHS Charities Together from its own brand Christmas cards. The cards are a variety of designs and retail for £5 for a pack of 10.
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.