The Association of Jersey Charities is calling on islanders to embrace a fresh approach to making New Year’s resolutions this year, that could make a significant and positive impact on local charities.
According to research, around 62% of people feel pressured to set a New Year’s resolution but some 90% of resolutions fail within just a few months. With this in mind, the Association of Jersey Charities (AJC) is recommending that islanders’ resolutions are based on helping others with small acts of kindness each week – something that is more manageable, less likely to fail, and that could have a positive impact both in the community and on the local charitable sector in 2025.
Suggestions include:
- Volunteer for 1 hour per week: making a resolution to volunteer for at least one hour per week could make a huge difference to the island. There are a wide range of opportunities from joining a governing board to delivering meals on wheels. Not only do these resolutions help others but they are also a good opportunity for self-development, meeting new people and getting a better understanding of need in the island. Just over 40% of islanders already volunteer in one way or the others, so if the rest of the population volunteered for just 1 hour per week that could lead to an extra 2 million hours (12,000 weeks) of doing good.! Islanders can find volunteering opportunities at www:volunteer.je or www.jerseycharities.org
- Donate another £1 per week: instead of wasting money on gym memberships or subscriptions to streaming services that are never viewed, why not set up a regular donation with some of the money saved to your favourite Jersey charity? We know that local charities really need support right now and we never know when we might need theirs. If every household in Jersey donated an extra £1 per week, that could raise about £3 million per year!
The campaign, builds on the AJC’s efforts in the lead up to Christmas to urge islanders to think twice about how much they are spending on Christmas gifts, and consider making a contribution instead – no matter how small – to local charities.
Marcus Liddiard (pictured), Chair of the AJC, said: “So many of us make New Year’s resolutions that are quickly broken, often wasting money in the process. What we are encouraging islanders to think about is making smaller, more manageable resolutions to help others just a little bit more in 2025. These ideas don’t need to cost that much, but they could make a huge difference to local charities and, in turn, the Jersey community.”
