Christmas festivities: Aberdeen charities events and fundraisers helping the community

The 1st of December kicks off the start of the Christmas festivities for local charities who are helping people in need in the city. Here are some of the events and fundraisers happening around Aberdeen:

Befriend a Child have launched their Giving Tree Appeal which encourages the community to donate a gift to a local child growing up in difficult life circumstances. There are different ways to donate such as buying an item from the charity's Amazon wishlist.

There are also tags hidden in Christmas trees around Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire that give participants the possibility to offer an experience such as an afternoon tea for a child and a volunteer in exchange of a £20 donation. You can find more information about the appeal on their Facebook page: https://fb.watch/25Wwe52vya/.

They have also just started a Christmas photography competition fundraiser on Facebook where £2 can be donated for the chance to participate in one of the six competition categories: best christmas tree, best christmas jumper, best festive bake, most festive pet, most tacky Christmas bauble and best elf on the shelf.

©Befriend a Child

Maggie's is organising an online Christmas singalong concert on Thursday 3rd December at 19.30. The "Maggie's Carols on Your Couch" event is expected to have a lineup of familiar Scottish musicians and singers such as Caitlyn Vanbeck who competed in the X Factor in 2016.

Tickets for the festive concert are available for a £10 donation which will be invested in Maggie's eight cancer support centres around Scotland, including the one in Aberdeen. Maggie's posted a video teaser for the concert on their Twitter account:

The charity expresses the importance of celebrating the holiday season during the COVID-19 crisis: "After such a difficult year for so many, we hope this festive season can be a time to focus on celebrating family, friends and the little moments that bring you joy".

You can sign up for the event on the following link: https://carolsonyourcouch.eventbrite.com

Aberdeen children's charity WeToo! opened their Elf school at the end of November, offering relaxed sessions for children between 5 and 12 years-old with additional support needs

Every sessions are carried out with elves costumes in order to celebrate the magic of Christmas. The charity has even made safety measures fun for the children by creating face masks with elves' ears attached to them.

©WeToo!

The next Relaxed Session will be on Saturday 5th December between 10-11am and you can register at the following link: https://elf-school-aberdeen.eventbrite.co.uk

Aberdeen Cyrenians is taking part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge, the UK's largest online match funding campaign. The fundraiser offers the opportunity to double the value of every donation given to the local charity which will help support people in the city who are affected by homelessness, domestic abuse and other forms of social exclusion.

The campaign starts today and will run until the 8th of December. Aberdeen Cyrenians have shared a video created by The Big Give YouTube channel to offer more information about the challenge:

The Aberdeen charity says that this opportunity can create change for people facing, poverty, violence, mental health and addiction challenges and allow them to have a place to call home, "our sanctuary during COVID-19".

To make a donation and make it count double, follow this link:https://loom.ly/-BZGJeU.

Aberdeen charity SensationALL has released its own virtual Christmas calendar with a special gift to open each day. The calendar offers resources such as sensory crafts, games and activities to help children and adults with complex conditions and their families during the Christmas period.

The Christmas calendar is as follows:

©SensationALL

Follow this link to discover your gift of the day: https://bit.ly/3fUH7Ln