Refuge John Lewis gift list - donate here

[JackThePumpkinKing]

Re-posting from the Christmas topic, hopefully the thread police won't bite me



//www.redonline.co.uk/news/sam-baker-s-daily-letter/john-lewis-refuge-gift-list

"Every year, Refuge try to ensure that every woman and child in their refuges receive a minimum of two to three presents each to unwrap on Christmas day. As Refuge say, 'The Christmas gift initiative is vital to ensure that refuges became places of joy on a day that has the potential to very bleak and hard.'
The charity have a gift list at John Lewis for the appeal so it could not be simpler. You can go as small as a counting block for £2.99, to as big as a pair of roller blades for £40. Whatever you pick, you will know that there?s a child in a refuge somewhere who will have a present to open on Christmas morning ? thanks to you.
Surely, this is the best reason to start your Christmas shopping early this year?
Go to Johnlewisgiftlist.com and enter list number 522953. ( The gift list has to close on 6th December 2012 so that there is time to get the presents to each of the Refuges )

[stinkinseamonkey]

Mosman you can spend the JL vouchers in Waitrose on cosmetics, treats or books!

I always choose my charity gift based on something my child(ren) would love for themselves that particular year. So this year I got the spiderman costume from DS1 and the baby bath from the bump. I considered the walkie-talkies from DS1 as he'd love them too but I never give electric gifts without including batteries and I'd hate for a kid to have something they can't play with on the day they open it.

I thought there were good choices in the age ranges I was looking for. I liked that there were NEW babygros, they were a condender, as it would be nice to have something new for your baby in a refuge when all that's available is seconds

[jetstar]

Done! I think its a great idea!

[Dozer]

Would still like to know if JL is donating too, or just profiting.

[JackThePumpkinKing]

It's not anything to do with John Lewis though. Refuge set up the list, and the people at the refuges get the donated gifts.

From what I can glean from internet searches and what people have said on here, they do make a contribution. Also, if you set up a gift list on JL you get an additional amount sent to you in vouchers on top of what is on the list.


If you don't want JL to profit (which I very much doubt they are in the instance) then donate direct to Refuge (or any other charity that you deem worthy).

[JackThePumpkinKing]

and Dozer feel free to email and see if you get a different email response to me.

[stinkinseamonkey]

when I bought to bring gifts direct to the office for the local refuge, the shops I bought from made a profit.. and I brought stuff that wasn't necessarily what they wanted

[JackThePumpkinKing]

Could everybody, possibly just stop looking for a reason not to do this.

If you don't like it, or you hate the fact that there is a small chance that JL will be profiting in your random act of kindness to donate a gift to a family that has had to leave everything.

It doesn't fucking matter!

Refuge have set up this list. People buy from this list. People at Refuge shelters get presents at the darkest moment of their life.

Who gives a flying fuck who profits. Just donate if you want to, or STFU.

thanks, x

[jetstar]

Ignore the naysayers Jack It is a good thing you're doing and plenty of people agree with you!
There are always some people who can't see the good. Hopefully they show kindness elsewhere in their lives. There but for the grace of God go we...

[Mosman]

I don't think it does any harm to ask for clarification and seek to understand how best to apply charity. Id be suspicious of the motives of anyone who wants others to just do as they are told or bugger off actually

[Patsy99]

Great idea. Have bought something. I can think of a lot better things to start undermining than this.

[petitepeach]

Brilliant idea! Everybody is struggling at the moment.....but to just spend a tenner or so on one of these gifts will make a big difference to a Mum or child who will be having a very difficult Christmas......
Thank you for bringing this to our attention

[WelshMaenad]

But if you buy material gifts of any description then a shop somewhere is profiting.

I'm fairly sure JL will donate at least the standard amount that gift lust owners get back in vouchers, if not more. Of the 'bigs ' they are pretty good on the charitable front.

It is a lovely, lovely thing that will bring so much joy to people at their lowest ebb. That's the most important thing, really.

[JackThePumpkinKing]

You do seem very suspicious generally Mosman

[WineGless]

Jack,
Thanks for creating the thread and raising awareness. I donated a couple of weeks ago and mentioned it on the MN Xmas thread.
As well as doing this our box this year will be delivered on Xmas eve to our local refuge rather than OCC but that's a whole other thread which has been done to death.
I don't see this in AIBU- raises awareness and those who chose to donate, will.

[Wheredidmyyouthgo]

Thank you Jack, what a great thread, I would never have known about this initiative otherwise. I have a DD who's two and I've donated something that I would want for my DD if we were in that situation.

As an aside, the vast majority of the list seems to have no one who's bought any of the stuff - eg refuge has put 17 of something on the list and there's still 17 to be bought. Does it need more publicity? If so how best to do it?

[AudrinaAdare]

I have been shamelessly plugging the link on Facebook comments whenever someone posts about the cute JL snowman

[Sarahplane]

Mosman quit being so negative. It's a lovely idea but if you don't like it then just don't buy anything. There's no need to keep trying to put other people off donating.

[QueenofWhatever]

OP thanks for starting the thread and I've also posted it on my fb page. I am taken aback by the people looking to find fault, especially Mosman. I bought a hair dryer because I figured everyone could use it - teenage boys in particular!

Sadly this thread shows someof the prejudices around abuse. You will be poor, you don't deserve anything fluffy and your low morals mean you will sell on your kid's iPod. Very depressing.

[Mosman]

Unless you've been in one of these establishments do not be so fucking naive as to believe an iPod will remain with the recipient one way or another for five minutes. The hair dryers not a bad choice.

[bigsnugglebunny]

Mosman making an assumption that a refuge will be full of crack-whores who will hot-foot it down to cash converters with their child's ipod is hugely flawed and incredibly insulting. (Also, cash converters will be closed on Christmas Day - so it'll be longer than 5 minutes.)

As I said earlier in the thread - I HAVE been in one of these establishments. On top of that, I've been in one in a very deprived area of the Northeast where substance abuse, crime and violence go hand in hand. (A family three doors down from me were shot dead in their beds one night due to a drugs related incident) I was there as an adult and as a parent and have very clear memories. Not that I'm suggesting that your memories are any less clear, but a child's understanding of a situation and surroundings are sometimes very different from the truth. (I have vivid memories of my bicycle actually being a pony at times)
Yes, there were women there who had been through addiction, there were also very strict rules about substances and even alcohol was banned from the premises. If there was a sniff of anti-social behaviour, then the place in the refuge was forfeit and on top of that - all of our rooms had locks and keys.

[NormaStanleyFletcher]

Marking place to buy something once the bastards at sky finally sort out my broadband.

[Mosman]

So imagined all our stuff getting trashed and stolen ? And we had nothing worth nicking lol

[likelucklove]

I don't know if this could be done but I can't afford to pay the full £35 for a Moses basket but could afford £10. Does any more people want to go in for one? If not ill definitely buy one before the list closes anyway. Having an 8 month old baby, it makes me so sad that a baby might not have a nice place to sleep

[stinkinseamonkey]

Mosman, I don't doubt your experience

however at any given time a refuge could be filled with 100% thieves, or 70 % thieves, or 50% thieves, or 20 percent thieves, or 0 percent thieves

just like your average hospital ward! we don't say "don't bother bringing your rellies a nice pair of slippers" when in hospital just because there MIGHT be a thief in their ward at the time. Yes there might be, its a service that serves the whole community, like refuges! All kinds of people come through the doors!

Assuming that the majority of women who end up in refuges are low lives is wrong, any of us could find ourselves there with any sort of cross section of society, could be a good bunch, could be bad 'uns

But even if they are bad 'uns, they'll never change if society decided that they'r e never worth trusting with anything, why would they?

[Mosman]

I'm just pointing out the bleedin obvious that a) ipods will need additional money that the recipient may not be able to afford, b) there's a good chance that they may get nicked or sold on if not by the recipient then people the receipent will be in contact with, the friggin staff stole some of my mums clothes ffs. The digital camera will require some sort of computer access no ?Lego and toys with lots of pieces aren't ideal to be playing with in limited space where people will be living in something the size of a hotel room, the list could have been better thought out. That's all.

I appreciate people want a warm fluffy feeling from giving.