Christmas ‘tis’ the season to give and be charitable -even the tight fisted Scrooge dug his hands deep into his pockets for charity come Christmas morning. And being charitable doesn’t have to be hugely time intensive; it can be as simple or extravagant as you like, remember, every little helps!

This Christmas, Energizer is creating positive energy by raising £100,000 for the hugely inspirational charity Help for Heroes. To help us all ‘Be a Hero’ and get giving this Christmas, here are 10 ways you can raise money for charity and spread a little festive cheer this holiday season:

 
Trade in your pressies for a child’s wish: Be super charitable this Christmas by asking friends and family to donate money to your favourite charity such as the Make a Wish foundation, rather than buying you a pressie. Make a Wish's unique holiday donation options will help grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions, helping them to enjoy the best Christmas ever:www.make-a-wish.org.uk

 

  Hold a bake sale: Inspired by The Great British Bake Off, brush up on your Mary Berry baking skills and sell your tasty treats for charity! Breast Cancer Care’s Strawberry Tea Parties are a great way to show off your cake making expertise to friends who can make a donation to Breast Cancer Care. These Jubilee Strawberry Shortbread & Mascarpone Rounds look mouth-watering!!! Although if you don’t know your self-raising from your plain flour, perhaps leave the baking to someone more domesticated and stick to attending the tea parties instead!

 

Create some positive energy: “Batteries not included.” Those three fateful words strike fear into the heart of parents every Christmas morning, resulting in tears and tantrums from frustrated little ones wanting to play with their new toys. So instead of being left powerless this Christmas, why not create some positive energy and help Energizer raise £100,000 for Help for Heroes by stocking up on promotional ‘Be a Hero’ batteries? Energizer will donate 5p to Help for Heroes for every pack of batteries sold, so you can help make a difference to an incredible charity whilst enjoying a stress free Christmas morning!

Swap your heels for a pair of trainers: Sign up for the race of your life and put everyone to shame with how fit you are by running a marathon. If you’re super human, you could try and beat Eddie Izzard’s 43 marathons in 41 days record, but for the rest of us, how about a local Race for Life. Check out what races are coming up in your local area: www.raceforlife.org. Raise lots of lovely dolla for Cancer Research whilst getting in great shape so you look amazing in that LBD this party season!

 Head to Twickenham: If you like watching men running around in shorts and/or you’re a big rugby fan, you can help raise £1 million for Help for Heroes by buying a ticket to the Heroes Rugby Challenge on 3rd December 2011. England World Cup winners, Lawrence Dallaglio and Jason Leonard will manage the H4H Northern Hemisphere XV, against an all-star Southern Hemisphere XV side. The two teams will pitch professional players against the best players from the Armed Forces. Prices start at £30 for adults, £10 for under 16’s, and are available through Ticketmaster, www.ticketmaster.co.uk, so come on down and show your support for the men in shorts.

Hold a fundraiser down your local:  Showing us how to throw a charity fundraiser in style, Queen of Pop Madonna held her party at Soho's uber-infamous Punk nightclub to help raise money for Stonewall charity. If you don’t hold quite the same sway as Madge and cant quite attract a star studied Hollywood guest list, just ask your local bar if there is a slow night that you could use as a fundraiser for your cause, make a FaceBook event encouraging all your friends to come down and host a brilliant helping to raise money for a cause you feel passionate about – just make sure you don’t drink all the profits!

Climb Everest: Follow the hugely inspirational footsteps of Lance Corporal Jonathon "Frenchie" Le Galloudec who’s climbing the highest mountain in the world for Help the Heroes! This will be a massive challenge, as Jon was wounded in Iraq in 2007, sustaining a gunshot wound to his spine, which has left him partly paralyzed. Sponsored by Energizer, Frenchie is taking on the challenge to climb Everest in November, and if Everest looks a little steep, you can still do your bit by sponsoring him here.

 

 

Make a Splash – Don your Speedos al la David Walliams and get swimming up the Thames for charity. Or if you can’t quite pull off the swimming hat look, get behind Walliams and donate to sports relief.

 

Adopt a polar bear – Help support Santa’s neighbours up in the North Pole, by adopting a polar bear this Christmas, available now for just £3 a month from the WWF. The perfect charitable gift idea which comes with a super cute cuddly toy, Generation Game style.  

 

 

• Write a letter to Santa – This is the time of year when Santa is "snowed under", but he wants to support the NSPCC and is willing to take time out of his busy schedule to send a letter to whomever you choose. For a suggested donation of just £5.00 you can get a hand written letter delivered from Santa. A brilliant gift for children of all ages, who will be thrilled to get a personal letter from the big red man himself! Help bring joy to the children you know and also help the NSPCC bring an end to cruelty to children:
  
  http://www.charity-gifts.org/charities/nspcc-letter-from-santa/products/nspcc-letter-from-santa

Top tips for raising money for charity:

• Keep a list of the names of every person who donates, and how much they donate
• Become friends with the charity of your choice on Facebook. For Energizer’s Be a Hero Campaign go to the EnergizerUK facebook page
• Keep everyone updated with your charitable efforts on Facebook and twitter to help encourage donations
• Choose a charity that you feel really passionate about. Nick Powell at Energizer explains why they’re getting behind Help for Heroes, “Help for Heroes is a hugely relevant charity and, with this year seeing the 10th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan, it has an ever present role to play in supporting UK forces. For Energizer this is a very natural partnership, as the army has been using Energizer batteries over the last few years and we are proud to help rally the support of retailers and consumers to get behind our heroes!”
• Remember to thank everyone for their donation at the end of your fundraising!

 

November 30, 2011