So this week, there are two big events coming up in the calendar which are all about giving and making a difference.

Giving Tuesday 
28 November 2023

This was created back in 2012.  The idea is simple:  it’s a day that encourages people to do good.  And today, millions of people join in to give something:  their time, money, their skills, their voice, organising an event, cleaning up a local area – the choice is yours.  You could just even check on an elderly neighbour.  Please find out more and take a look here. 

And there’s lots of information about participating here.  There are plenty of ways to get involved, and they've got logos you can download to help spread the word. 

Global Giving
Global Giving had a match fund taking place on 28 November 2023!  Animals, conservation, ecosystem restoration are all here.

Also, the Snow Leopard Trust has a fundraiser (with a Giving Tuesday donation match to $80,000), as do Polar Bears International.   

The Big Give’s Christmas Challenge 
From mid-day on 28 November to 5 December 2023

The idea behind this one is to donate to one or more of the charities taking part in the Big Give's Christmas Challenge – but the good news is your donation is doubled at no extra cost to you!  The Challenge offers supporters of those charities taking part to double their donations for seven days, so this is a big chance to really make your donation go further.  vBack in 2022, £28.5 million was raised for 1,021 participating charities.  79,658 people donated, some twice.   

One thing you could do is to ask people to donate to a chosen charity for your Christmas gifts, instead of giving you an actual present that you may not want or need.   We do this in our family, rather than acquire more and more stuff we just don’t want or need, we prefer to do something which can be of real help.

The charities taking part in the Big Give’s Christmas Challenge are listed here.   They cover all sectors as you can see, but we particularly want to raise the profile of those helping animals and conservation and the environment.

Animal charities participating in the Big Give’s Christmas Challenge.

Otters, monkeys, elephants, cats and dogs, deer, water voles, oceans, beavers, bats, badgers, tigers, cheetahs, rhinos, red squirrels, wild cats, butterflies, turtles, orangutans are just some of the animals the Big Give’s Christmas Challenge will help.

Conservation and environment charities participating in the Big Give’s Christmas Challenge

Rivers, meadows, trees, forests, hedges and edges, rainforest, small woods are just some of the types of habitats included.  Some of the charities’ appeals may be listed in both the Animals’ and Conservation/Environment sections.

How much do you know about the participating charities?

Whilst you’re browsing through the lists, if there are charities you haven’t heard of, or know very little about, it’s a great opportunity to find out about them – what they do, what their aims are, how they help etc.  Visit their websites too, and increase your knowledge of what’s being done to help and make a difference.

 
Please do something, just one action will make a difference

Even if you don’t donate, please take a look at your local animal charities and see if you can help them in some way or another.  This could be as simple as taking old towels along to them that you don’t need any more.  

Whatever you do, please do something. And remember, every little helps. Thank you for making a difference.