Which Christmas gift will you pick?

‘Never work with children or animals’ or so the showbiz saying goes, but we’ve done just that to launch our new-look Oxfam Ireland Unwrapped range of Christmas gifts you’ll just love to give. Some of Santa’s little helpers were on hand as furry friends from Wooly Ward’s farm showcased gifts like chicks (€13/£10), goats (€38/£31) and pigs (€35/£28).

And it’s not only our locally-sourced Unwrapped animals that transform the lives of people affected by poverty – our huge range has everything from schoolbooks (€18/£15) to seeds (€7/£6) and solar panels (€32/£26), so you’ll find a special something for every special someone.

We’ve also teamed up with The Body Shop and Divine chocolates to create gorgeous gift sets, such as our Care for mums with Shea body butter gift (£35/€43). It combines our Care for mums gift – helping make sure thousands of mums and mums-to-be get the help, expertise and support they deserve in Ghana – and The Body Shop’s sensual Shea body butter.

It’s never been easier to pick up an Oxfam Unwrapped gift – our new shopping cart is much faster and easier to use, and we’ve also added Paypal as a payment option.

With something for everyone, the range includes seven new options - breakfast for a child (€10/£8), baby kit (€10/£8), care for mums (€20/£16), solar panels (€32/£26), literacy classes (€49/£40), and a small loan (€70/£57), along with the gift of girl power (€14/£11) that supports projects helping women to assert their rights, tying in with our Ending Poverty Starts with Women campaign.

No matter which ones you choose, each gift you buy supports our vital work from emergency responses to advocacy projects. And you’ll also receive a free 2013 calendar to show how your support is making a real difference around the world.

Since our Oxfam Unwrapped gifts launched 10 years ago, people across the island of Ireland have given more than 140,000 life-changing gifts and at the same time helped to improve the lives of over half a million people affected by poverty in countries like Tanzania and Malawi.

Unwrapped gifts can be purchased online, in your local Oxfam shop, by post and by phone (1850 30 40 55 in the Republic of Ireland or 0800 0 30 40 55 in Northern Ireland).

So how does it all work?

When you buy an Oxfam Unwrapped gift, you’re creating a better future for people like Fatimata in Mali.

In her village of Intadeynen, lack of rain is making food and water scarce – and keeping kids out of school. But by working with mums like Fatimata, we are tackling all three of these problems together thanks to your support. Providing a good meal in school (€10/£8) is a great incentive to get kids into class.

So we helped Fatimata’s village school to plant drought-resistant vegetables (€7/£6) such as cabbages, onions, potatoes and beetroot. The vegetables are grown specifically for school meals and the surplus is sold to buy rice and books (€18/£15).

Many children miss school in order to fetch water for their family. So we helped build new water pumps (€25/£20) to save travelling time and effort. Plus having water on tap means the school has plenty for irrigating their allotment. Fatimata and the other mums know how important education is. And the success of their garden in providing meals and having clean water has meant more parents can send their children to school.

“We knew that without one decent meal a day, some children would not be able to come to school. We are proud that we have made a success of our vegetable garden.”

Thanks for supporting Unwrapped gifts. You make it happen.