When we were putting together the reverse advent calendar box for our local homeless shelter LWS Night Shelter just before Christmas this year, the kiddos and I were talking about how we wanted to do more for charity and the local community in 2022. We planned to make a list of all the ways we could help and do one a month. I want for us as a family to be more mindful of what we have and I want to foster a strong sense of community in the children. A rather depressing conversation I had with my year 10 students this week (14-15-year-olds) made me realise how ego-centric some teenagers are and how lacking in community spirit they are.
Now we are already almost at the end of January and the list is not yet made so I thought it would be a good idea to start thinking of what we could include. Here are some of the ideas I have had so far but if you can help me out, please do so.
- Litter picking in the local area (the kids are desperate to get a proper litter picker!)
- Donate unwanted toys and clothes to a charity shop or our local community centre (this might need to be later in the year as we already did a big clear out before Christmas and the donations went to local families who are struggling so they could give gifts at Christmas.
- Volunteering at a local charity (not sure if the kids can do this)
- Make baked goods for key workers or dog treats for a dog shelter.
- Write a letter to someone in an residential care home (perhaps through the Kissing it Better charity that Evelina has been involved with at school).
- Have a recycling drive to get rid of some of those things which are not collected with our usual refuse collection.
- Decorate some rocks and leave them on neighbours’ doorsteps to brighten their day.
- Check the Wildlife Trust of which we are members to see if there are any projects in the area, perhaps one of their Citizen Science projects.
This is a start but we need a few more ideas to get up to once a month (although we can double up for some of these if needed). Once a month might not sound much but it is better than nothing and I am very aware of the limits to my ability to take on more at the moment.
Notes From My Day 
I think the RSPB want people to do a survey of garden birds this weekend – just an hour or so. On the recycling, I’ve donated stuff through Freegle, which is handy for getting rid of stuff that charity shops won’t take (a climbing frame in this case). Donate to plant a tree with the National Trust (I think you can choose where, so could make it somewhere local).
Some fab ideas here!!