An excellent charity which gives assistants to professional oer ex professional people who, through…read moreillness, have fallen upon financially difficult times. One does have to go through a application and provide a reference. They need to have good idea of how circumstances affect you and how they can best help. Sometimes they will offer a monthly sum, or give a lump sum towards a specific goal. They are funded by legacies and donations, as well as people raising money through being sponsored in marathons etc . Elizabeth Finn also run several retirement homes throughout the country.

There are many reasons that this charity survives. One of course most obvious, if your ticker goes…read moreon the blink, so do you!

Working Chance is an exceptional charity which just became Guardian Charity Awards Winner for 2015…read more Its main aim is restorative recruitment - supporting women with criminal convictions into sustainable, quality jobs. It prides itself with very impressive statistics of not only placing women into high quality jobs, but also maintaining incredibly low re-offence rate among the women it assists in comparison to national statistics. I have recently had a chance to volunteer for this charity at Holloway Prison for an interviewing coaching session, and I recommend the experience to everyone. The team was very welcoming and very well organised, and the entire session ended up being beneficial experience both for the convicted women seeking input on their interviewing skills and for the volunteers. These kind of grassroot organisations who have the guts to go out there, do the nitty gritty work and chance the societal and employers' attitudes one success at the time are exactly the kind of organisations which deserve more shoutouts and more support. I recommend connecting with this charity to anyone seeking an interesting and fulfilling volunteering experience.

Wow. Just wow. This is such a heartwarming initiative and I'm going to continue supporting it…read more I can't quite remember, how I stumbled upon their website, but as soon as I read about their work, I put a date in my calendar to check them out. Basically what it is: they rescue surplus food from businesses in the area and distribute it among the community for a super-discounted price: £4.50 for a shopping cart that was filled to the brim. Granted, you don't have much choice and some of the food isn't at its peak anymore, but I have a brain and I can sort out (or cut out) what's not so nice anymore. Integral to their operation are the volunteers who are your shopping companions: they go through the aisles with you and point out what you can take and how much. It sounds a bit prescriptive at first, but I understand that otherwise some folks would go bonkers and grab everything! Thank you for doing this!

Charity shops are always a guilt free way to shop, your helping children in abusive situations, you…read moreare giving a second life to any item in there, and it won't cost you an eye. I am generally a fan of charity because you can find some really good items that are maybe even classics. This one in particular is not the best one I have been to in terms of selection. I was in the look out for a pair of trousers and they had about three of four in my size and the rest were really tiny or really big. Also I was looking for a men's coat and I they had very few, the ones they had were more like waterproof jackets than coats. Even though I left empty handed, the kind saleswoman said they were low in stock and if I had any donations they would be of great help. I recently emptied some of the baby's drawers and she was very grateful for them.

I came across this in Autumn Newsletter for the Highland Hospice, great idea…read more Give a Car - Did you know that you could recycle, auction or scrap your old car to help Highland Hospice? Giveacar is a not-for-profit social enterprise that can turn your old car into cash for any UK Charity. They arrange FREE collection, then either sell your car at auction or scrap it with the proceeds raised going to your chosen charity. The award-winning scheme has supported over 1,500 charities in this way and, having disposed of over 22,000 vehicles they know how to raise the best donation possible, whatever the condition of the car.

This would be my 3rd visit to UNICEF. I must say every time…read moreI walk through the doors I feel in awe of all the amazing work this charitable organisation does. Whenever I attend I am welcomed by a friendly receptionist. The building is light and airy, the rooms represent countries around the globe. I was in Zanzibar this time. The shop has various items to purchase and documents that evidence the international work of UNICEF. This is an amazing environmentally friendly build - every opportunity to recycle is utilised.

Unicef UK is the UK committee of the United Nations children's charity. In the lead-up to Christmas…read morethey have for some years now had a shop in their office lobby selling their full line of Christmas cards and gifts. The cards are available at a number of other outlets, but this gives you a chance to poke your head in to the centre of activity of this vital organization and perhaps pick up a few brochures about their initiatives and programmes. The card prices are definitely on the expensive side, but think of it as an act of sanity in this otherwise insane season. N.B. The shop is ONLY open for November and December each year.

TearFund is a large Christian charity with an international anti-poverty agenda. They focus on five…read moremain areas: HIV, disaster response, challenging injustice, environmental action and helping with the basics (water, sanitation etc). Most if not all of their work is undertaken in less developed countries. They're a large charity, raising over £63m in 2007/2008. However despite their size I don't think many people have heard of them -- largely because a lot of their fund-raising is done through local churches, typically evangelical ones (I think the 'tear' bit originally stood for The Evangleical Alliance Relief fund). More information is available from their website (see link above) but TearFund is a very worthy cause and certainly one that enjoys our unreserved support.