Christmas shoeboxes

[Eliza9917]

Already posted this in the charity section but no responses.

Just had a quick google to look up places I can send Christmas shoeboxes to.

The armed forces would prefer we didn't send them any - www.gov.uk/government/news/generous-public-urged-think-twice-before-sending-unsolicited-christmas-gifts-to-troops

I'd like to do four boxes; adult male & female, child male & female.

Google is also full of reasons why we shouldn't support The Samaritans charity drive so I was wondering what other charities I can donate them to?

Samaritan's Purse not The Samaritans surely, please don't confuse the two.

Lots of negatives for sending them abroad, ranging from them not being a really useful form of aid (taking up valuable shipping space for more useful things) to them forcing children to engage with Christian literature before giving them out. The school where I work makes up shoeboxes for homeless people with essentials. They are given our locally as part of a range of support over the Christmas period.

There is a thread on the Christmas forum called £20 present ideas for a 14-year old boy They are talking about a Met Police drive for presents for DC in care. Looks like a really worthwhile cause.

I am not doing shoeboxes anymore.

My local foodbank is accepting boxes so i'll probably make some up for them.

Is there any reason why you particularly want to do shoeboxes? There are lots of other ways of giving, Christmas-specific or otherwise, which don't involve putting a random collection of items in a shoebox and are often much more help. If you ask the food bank, they might well prefer a donation of specific items they can distribute as needed, or a cash gift they can put to the best use.

One of the local homeless charities I support locally is asking people not to give them any clothes or food this winter, just cash, as the donated items are often not what they need, and require a lot of space, time and effort to sort and store.

People I know who work in the homeless sector just tend to sigh wearily when some well-meaning person organises a local campaign for backpacks or shoeboxes or clothes for the homeless as a lot of the stuff is not helpful, does not reach those in need, and ends up in a big pile waiting for someone to volunteer to go through it and find a use for everything.

www.met.police.uk/applyregister/met-christmas-appeal/

This is the Met scheme, in case you are in London