Sponsor a goat? (or what is the best charity gift for children)

[RaisinFlapjack]

DS (8)’s Christmas List includes “medicine for sick people” (I remain uncertain as to whether this is a genuine desire to help others or whether he think it’ll get him in Santa’s good books!).

So I’d like to do a charity donation/gift in the ‘sponsor a goat’ style - something that feels tangible to DS/comes with a clear explanation of how the donation helps.

Any suggestions for charities that do this kind of thing?

You can twin your toilet, that might be something he would enjoy.

I sponsor 3 young orphan elephants fron the Sheldrick wildlife Trust in Kenya.
You get a certificate and monthly updates.
Also there's often live feeds online so you can watch them drinking milk and in the mud baths.
If you feel like it you can go and visit and put the babies to bed......bit of a long trip though, but amazing.

You can sponsor a donkey at the Donkey sanctuary which you could visit , or a seal at the Seal sanctuary ( Gweek ) .

Sponsor a guide dog in training.

I like lendwithcare. You can buy a voucher and the recipient gets to choose a business to lend it to in the developing world. If/When the loan is repaid you can either have the cash back or lend it again.

It's a long time since I had an 8yo though so not sure if they'd "get it".

Oxfam have a range of charitable gifts. The sponsor a guide dog is a minimum spend of £120 (I think) but it is lovely. What about adopting an animal from a zoo. Chester zoo does it and the money goes towards conservation work plus you can get a package that includes entry tickets and a cuddly toy. I’d definitely encourage a philanthropic 8 year old

Thanks for the suggestions. The ‘adopt an animal’ things are the closest to what I’m looking for (eg WWF do adoption packs tailored to children). I might consider that for another time but he’s really specifically asked to give ‘medicine to sick people’.

UNICEF do gifts like vaccinations but it’s not very clear what the gift recipient receives.

Oxfam do a range of gift cards and you can at least see exactly what card the gift recipient gets. They’re not aimed at children but DS might be tickled by a the gift that is ‘a pile of poo’

Still haven’t quite found anything that hits the mark of something child-focused like animal
adoption packs but for a medicine/health related charity. I guess it’s a bit niche!

@duckduckswan

Oxfam have a range of charitable gifts. The sponsor a guide dog is a minimum spend of £120 (I think) but it is lovely. What about adopting an animal from a zoo. Chester zoo does it and the money goes towards conservation work plus you can get a package that includes entry tickets and a cuddly toy. I’d definitely encourage a philanthropic 8 year old

I was going to recommend Chester zoo. You get tickets to go visit the zoo so you can go and see your animal, and they engrave your name into a plaque next to its enclosure.

market.unicef.org.uk/inspired-gifts/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyICf0IOV9AIVDvlRCh0bcgyjEAAYASAAEgKtH_D_BwE

Your son has been thoughtful enough to want to help other people. Animal charities are lovely but I have to applaud him putting children and people first so I’d support that.

I really recommend the Borneo Orangutan Survival charity.

There is a lovely tv series called orangutan jungle school which documents the work they do. We are huge big boy beni fans!

With the sponsor we have toy, photo, certificate and monthly email updates

Should add it’s about teaching orphan orangutans how to act/survive so they can be released back into the wild.

The tv show documents it really well

We did a couple of animal adoptions over the years, if you aren't keen on the children one with a cuddly toy, the basic normal one from Chester is good value. DD was chuffed when she saw her name on the lists. As we live too far away for the odd day out we opted for the package without the entry ticket and just paid for it when we. finally managed to go there.

Guide dogs is a good alternative, DD has a friend who will get one in 2-3 years time as a sibling is loosing his eye sight more and more.

For a boy twinning a toilet may be a good one as well.

@LowlyTheWorm

market.unicef.org.uk/inspired-gifts/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyICf0IOV9AIVDvlRCh0bcgyjEAAYASAAEgKtH_D_BwE

Your son has been thoughtful enough to want to help other people. Animal charities are lovely but I have to applaud him putting children and people first so I’d support that.

These options look great to me too - with all respect to animal-lovers, I don't understand why not help children as OP's son has requested.

My child has asked for something similar this year. I intend to get him the UNICEF vaccinations gift (which looks like it comes with at least a printable card) and then just buy a giant microbe soft toy of measles or something like that. So he still gets something tangible.

Vaccinaid? I guess he's going to be very aware of Covid making people sick after the last couple of years. It says that £25 could provide 20 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to health workers, teachers or vulnerable people around the world, which should be fairly tangible and nearly meets the medicine for sick people criteria in that it hopefully prevents them from becoming sick?

Or Macmillan also do charity gifts for specific things for people with cancer, though not medicine itself?

@LowlyTheWorm

market.unicef.org.uk/inspired-gifts/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyICf0IOV9AIVDvlRCh0bcgyjEAAYASAAEgKtH_D_BwE

Your son has been thoughtful enough to want to help other people. Animal charities are lovely but I have to applaud him putting children and people first so I’d support that.

I think the OP's looking for something that sends something about their impact whcih kids can understand?

Op I like Banardos and it's very clear what your buying eg, a child will get taken to the panto that sort of thing.

I think the OP's looking for something that sends something about their impact whcih kids can understand?

Yes that’s exactly it - some kind of pack aimed at kids

@MuffinFace

My child has asked for something similar this year. I intend to get him the UNICEF vaccinations gift (which looks like it comes with at least a printable card) and then just buy a giant microbe soft toy of measles or something like that. So he still gets something tangible.

I like the idea of a soft toy microbe!

choose.love/products/medical-care

Medical care for refugees?

"Send a cow" is a nice charity. Optional cards. We sponsored a ambulance working with mothers and babies one year for my husbands family. It was very well received. The toilet one is nice because they don't plonk a western toilet in but teach locals how to make one from available materials

Food aid rather than medicine, but for anyone else interested, Mary's meals is a really good charity - providing a meal for children attending school each day.

"We are a no-frills charity with a simple idea that works: by providing one good meal in a place of learning, children are drawn into the classroom where they can receive an education that could one day free them from poverty."

Mary's Meals

@LayTheTableMabel

"Send a cow" is a nice charity. Optional cards. We sponsored a ambulance working with mothers and babies one year for my husbands family. It was very well received. The toilet one is nice because they don't plonk a western toilet in but teach locals how to make one from available materials

Haha I remember toilets where I come from being 'Turkish toilets' Genuinely thought Western toilets were oddities until I came to the UK

**sorry OP off topic!

@LowlyTheWorm

market.unicef.org.uk/inspired-gifts/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyICf0IOV9AIVDvlRCh0bcgyjEAAYASAAEgKtH_D_BwE

Your son has been thoughtful enough to want to help other people. Animal charities are lovely but I have to applaud him putting children and people first so I’d support that.

Like pp, If you son has specified medicine for sick people, I’m not understanding the adopt an animal thoughts.

I sponsor 3 young orphan elephants from the Sheldrick wildlife Trust in Kenya.
You get a certificate and monthly updates.
Me too though just one.