Introduction: How to Help Save Lives With Minimal Effort This Christmas

By

Christmas is a funny time of year, everyone is spending obscene amounts of money on friends and family, food and drinks, indulging and socialising, and of course, for it is a time of giving, merriment and reuniting with loved ones. During this period however, there are those less fortunate that need the generosity of those more able in order to survive. There are many different ways to help those in need over Christmas, many of which do not require much time or effort but can make a huge difference.

Step 1: Give Blood

This winter the NHS has a campaign urging people to give blood, and when each donation could save the lives of up to three people, it is hard to see why only 4% of those who can donate, do.  The task is quick and simple, once you have answered questions proving that you are safe to donate blood you can attend a local pop-up donor centre and from there the whole procedure can be done within an hour. You don't even need to move your arm, your heart pumps it out no problem! The donor teams look after you and provide you with refreshments until you feel ready and able to leave. From here, your blood is often separated into red blood cells, platelets and plasma, each of these have qualities that help varying diseases and illnesses, and are integral to saving someone’s life.

Step 2: Shop

At this time of year it is more than likely that a large proportion of the population are shopping, either for themselves or for gifts for friends and family, or for secret Santa presents. It is not difficult, therefore (as you are already shopping) to shop in order to save lives. There are many charity shops that you can buy from where all proceeds go to charity, you can find these on your local high street for great bargains. While a lot of charities today have an online charity shop too, this makes it ultra-convenient for anyone to make a donation to a good cause. The items sold are still of high quality and make wonderful gifts for any friend or family member so nothing is sacrificed for supporting an incredible cause.

Step 3: Donate

After Christmas, when you have eaten and spent too much and January is looming bigger and darker than ever, why don’t you give some of those unwanted gifts and decorations lying around the house to help a good cause? Just because you do not want them doesn’t mean that somebody else won’t. Instead of storing them in your loft or garage, or throwing them away, simply put all the goods into bags or boxes and next time you are going near your local charity shop, drop them off there. Many charity shops welcome donations all year round and they will always find room to accommodate your no longer wanted belongings. Find your local charity shop’s opening hours, or the location of your local clothes bank, and de-clutter your home for a great cause this Christmas!

Step 4:

There are so many other ways to help those in need over Christmas; these are just a simple three that take almost no effort at all. By merely changing the places where you shop or throwing your unwanted belongings away to a different place you could be saving lives, now there isn’t a greater present than that!

If you have found this Instructable helpful or insightful then please feel free to take a look at my other articles. You can also now follow me on Twitter - @jeffnevil


Sources:
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/blood-donation/Pages/Introduction.aspx
http://www.heraldseries.co.uk/news/10855228.Give_blood_and_help_hospitals_at_Christmas/?ref=var_0
http://www.charityretail.org.uk/faqs_donate.html