Give an unexpected gift this Christmas

Christmas songs playing in shops, lights strewn between buildings on city streets, shopping windows decorated with evergreen trees and holly, rosy cheeks on passers-by. The Christmas season has officially begun.

This also means crowded shops, long queues, and heavy bags. Ba-humbug!

Instead of enduring the crowds, waiting in queues and braving the cold, consider nestling up to a warm cup of tea with your internet browser opened to Oxfam Unwrapped.

Oxfam Unwrapped offers 17 unique and unexpected gifts ranging from €5/£5 to €1,000/£926. Whether it’s a cooking stove or a clutch of chicks, each gift funds Oxfam’s work around the world. Don’t worry… a clutch of chicks won’t arrive on your doorstep. Your gift donation goes toward poor families and communities that need it most.

Leave the soap and lotion gift baskets at the shops. Instead, purchase our soap stocking filler for a family member. Money raised from your donation supports humanitarian work from our Saving Lives fund. It provides people like Binta and her daughter Fati in Niger with hygiene training to keep them from illness and deadly diseases.

Want to get something sweet for a friend? Instead of picking up the predictable box of chocolates, make a donation to our Livelihoods fund by buying a honeybees gift card. This purchase helps fund the communities who depend on animals for their livelihoods. It empowers people like Augustina in Ghana. Through an Oxfam-supported beekeeping project, she was able to earn additional income to pay her children’s school fees.

When drought struck Somaliland, Faria moved with her children to Karasharka Camp where Oxfam provided safe water. This Christmas, give something better than a bottle of wine or bubbly to your colleague. Consider making a donation to our Water for All fund by purchasing safe water for a family gift card. This gift provides poor communities with safe access to water through pumps, tanks, taps and purification systems.

Your unexpected gift card from the Unwrapped campaign provides the tools, training and resources to support and empower communities. While bringing a smile to your loved one’s face, you will also be building brighter, happier futures. Happy shopping!