[This blog was posted in 2019! Find out how to get involved this year: search our database or email our team at [email protected]]
It is that time of the year again! Want to make a difference in the community this festive season? There are many ways to volunteer in the run up to Christmas and on the day itself and beyond. Check out our list below and get involved!
If you’re short on time but want to help, Marie Curie gives you the opportunity to spend just a few hours of your time to help raise money to help people get the care and support they need at the end of their lives. Collecting is lots of fun. You can do it on your own or with friends, and under 16s can take part too. Sign up here.
The festive period can be a difficult and isolating time for many people. The Food Chain provides a friendly, relaxed and nurturing environment to help make Christmas a joyful experience. If you are available on Christmas Day, hold a valid driver’s licence and like the idea of spending your day driving London’s roads at their quietest, then this is the role for you! All drivers are invited to join for Christmas Dinner too. For full details and to apply, click here.
Crisis at Christmas offers immediate help for homeless people at a critical time of year. There are lots of volunteering roles to fill so have a browse and see what suits you best here.
The Yes Group London Basket Brigade gives Londoners the chance to make donations all year round, and to come together on 23rd December to put donations to good use, providing food hampers to families who may struggle to put food on the table this winter. Drivers and Last Minute Angels needed! Register online, or find out more about how to donate here.
Become Santa’s little helpers across a range of roles at GOSH’s famous Santa Dash on Sunday 8th December. The proceeds will benefit Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital to keep families of children receiving treatment together over the holidays. Email [email protected] for more info. You can also donate and take part in the race itself!
Help out at St John’s Hospice popular annual Christmas Fayre on Sunday 1st December (11:00 – 18:00) in St John’s Wood. You can choose between three shifts – or all day if you like. This is a fabulous opportunity to volunteer with friends and loved ones. Find out more and apply.
Cards for Good Causes pop-up shops raise money for a range of causes, and are seeking volunteers across their London shops including Islington, Covent Garden and Piccadilly. Find out where your nearest shop is and get involved!
Join The Rotary Club and help create a fantastic Christmas party in Battersea Park. Volunteers are needed for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day — you can do just one, two, or all three days. Jobs include preparing the venue, helping with transport for the guests, serving food and clearing up afterwards. Read more and register online.
As a Salvation Army volunteer at Christmas you can get involved with everything including sorting donated presents during their Christmas toy appeals, serving festive meals to people who might otherwise be alone and helping at their winter night shelters. Contact your nearest Salvation Army church to find out more. If you’re unable to volunteer over Christmas, but still want to help there are lots of ways you can offer support such as making donations, helping with their Christmas Present Appeal, by volunteering in one of their charity shops or simply by shopping with the Salvation Army.
HAVEN’T GOT MUCH TIME?
Save the Children is looking for volunteer promoters to help them spread the word and get people signed up to their Christmas Jumper Day. On Friday 13th December, they are calling on woolly-lovers to get together in their favourite festive knitwear and donate! Find out more.
Whilst you’ve missed your chance to donate your coat at a tube station for Wrap Up London, there are still plenty of places to drop off coats to help vulnerable people keep warm this winter including Safestore, the QEII Centre – and you can even use Yodel/Colllect+ to get your coat sent to the team or organise a collection in your community. Everything you need to know is here. All coats must be donated by 24th November 2019.
Buy a festive parcel with Refuge, who operate a parcel scheme targeted at women and children escaping domestic violence, including children’s parcels and emergency parcels to help people rebuild their lives. Find out more about supporting refuge here.
Donate a present to someone who is staying in hospital this Christmas – Barts Hospital Charity website offers a range of ways to help make someone’s festive stay a happier one. Or if you’d like to give a bigger gift, why not check out Homerton Hope’s wishlist . Find out more here.
VCH receives new opportunities every day – bookmark this page to see our updated Festive and New Year roles across London and in Hackney.