The Association of Jersey Charities is urging islanders to think differently about giving at Christmas this year, by helping local charities instead of buying another potentially unwanted gift.
According to Moneysupermarket.com, the average UK household spent £1,811 on Christmas in 2023, of which just under £300 was spent on gifts. If just 10% of the money spent on gifts by Jersey households was donated to local charities, it would total almost £1.5 million, which would make a significant difference to their work.
It is against this backdrop that, during advent this year, the Association of Jersey Charities (AJC) will be making daily suggestions across its social media channels as to how islanders can ‘give differently’ and help a Jersey charity this Christmas and beyond – such as adopting a family charity or buying charity Christmas cards.
In addition, the AJC has also launched an easy-to-use ‘The Best Gift’ button on its homepage, where people can donate to a specific charity, or direct to the AJC to enable them to support more charities.
A recent survey of AJC members confirmed that the high cost of living was continuing to impact local charities negatively. It found that:
- 96% saw or were expecting to see their operating costs rising.
- 78% were seeing or expecting to see a reduction in fundraising income.
- 45% were expecting an increase in demand for their services.
- 61% were using or expecting to use any reserves they had to meet increased costs.
Commenting on the AJC’s advent campaign, Marcus Liddiard (pictured), Chair of the AJC, said: “Christmas is a time of goodwill and this year we are urging islanders to ‘give differently’, by thinking about the need for more gifts and discussing with family and friends the idea of making a donation to charity instead, or doing their shopping at one of the many great charity shops in Jersey. They will also be doing their bit for the environment by reducing the accumulation of yet more ‘stuff’ that ultimately needs to be disposed of.
“There are so many ways islanders can support charities and our hope is that, through our campaign this advent and through our online donation tool, people will be inspired to support our charities and give them the best gift possible.”
