Posted on 01 December 2022 by Charity Car

An old car donation will help your chosen charity at any time of the year, but not only is this the season of goodwill, it's also the time of year when many charities need even more support to carry out their vital work.

Several of our Official Charity Car Partners have specific winter and Christmas campaigns that can help them give support at a time when it's needed most. If your old car happens to be reaching the end of it's life as we get to the end of the year, or if you've decided to make the switch to another form of transport for January, this could a great time to donate it to a good cause.

Here's a selection of the important campaigns our charity partners are launching during the season of goodwill…

Emmaus UK at Christmas

Being homeless at any time is devastating, but at Christmas it can feel particularly difficult. Emmaus UK supports the communities across the UK that give people who have experienced homelessness a safe place to live and a sense of belonging.

Emmaus told us: "The cost of living crisis is having a devastating effect on the most vulnerable in society. People are being tipped over the edge into homelessness and will be feeling forgotten and alone. Others are on a cliff-edge because they cannot make ends meet. For thousands of people this could be the bleakest Christmas they have ever faced."

“Your kind gifts achieve more than you will ever know.” Kev - companion at Emmaus Salford

Before the pandemic, Kev worked and lived in a pub. When the business suddenly stopped trading, Kev lost his job and his home overnight. After several months of sofa surfing and a council hostel where he felt unsafe, he was put in contact with Emmaus and offered a place in the Salford community. Not only has Emmaus enabled Kev to change his own life, but it's given him the opportunity to boost his self esteem by being a friend to others in a similar situation as he understands their fear for the future and feelings of abandonment. An old car donation to Emmaus UK could help someone like Kev this Christmas.

Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day

A happy and significant date leading up to every holiday season is Save the Children's Christmas Jumper Day. You may well have seen the Charity Car team (and sometimes their pets) take part in this joyous campaign, but you may not know how it helps children all over the world…

On Thursday 8 December, Save the Children will invite you to join the millions of people up and down the country – at their workplace, school or with friends – to 'make the world better with a sweater'!

Save the Children uses the funds raised to help children here in the UK and to work magic in Kenya, where, every year, 74,000 children die before reaching the age of five. This incredible charity will help mums-to-be, new mums, tiny babies and bigger kids get the food and medicine they need to be strong and healthy. That's 200,000 people helped – just by everyone wearing a super-Christmassy jumper! And of course imagine what an old car donation can help Save the Children to do. We're not suggesting you need to get knitting a super-sized sweater for your old banger… Just send it to us with Save the Children as your chosen charity and we'll ensure those funds go towards this vital cause.

Cotswolds Dogs and Cats Home Big Christmas Appeal

It's not just people that want to enjoy Christmas. Animals deserve to be safe, happy and healthy too. Cotswolds Dogs and Cats Home (CDCH) anticipate having around 60 animals in their care on Christmas Day, all waiting to find their forever homes.

Before telling you about the ways you can support this super charity in December, it's only responsible to share the reminder that just because animals look cute under the Christmas tree it doesn’t make them good gifts! Caring for animals is an enormous responsibility, and many people who receive animals as gifts find that they’re unable to make the lifelong commitment to caring for their new animal companion, no matter how much they’d like to make it work. Animals deserve the best lives possible, but being given as a gift will make that outcome less likely.

Happy Christmas to rescue dog Mickey who you can see here!

This caring charity is appealing to the public, to help give the animals that have ended up at CDCH a special Christmas Day by donating a shoe box full of goodies for them to enjoy. The team assure us the joy these boxes bring is amazing. You can find out more about this appeal on the CDCH website.

CDCH is also running The Big Christmas Appeal to help pet owners who are struggling to afford basic vet care. Funds raised over winter will go towards expanding the charity's welfare clinics - helping around 60 animals each month.

The funds raised by a single, average car donated to CDCH could help pay for the vet care for approximately 30 animals! That's a great rescue service from a set of old wheels!

WISH Standing together for women's mental health this Christmas!

Women at WISH are asking us to Stand together for women's mental health this Christmas!

WISH is the only national, user-led women’s mental health charity in the UK. They develop pioneering gender-specific and trauma-informed support services for underserved women, share evidence of what works to improve services and outcomes for all women, and campaign together for social justice.

Sadly Christmas doesn't mean a break from the issues that many women are facing. WISH told us: Women with complex mental health needs in England and Wales are being severely let down by systems that weren’t designed for them, and that fail to address their histories of trauma, abuse and domestic or sexual violence. They are disempowered, marginalised, often labelled – and dismissed – as “hard to reach’’ and then denied services.

The charity needs funds to help women connect and open up - often for the first time. Empowered by their own lived experience, the WISH team stands with them for the long term –  through the ups, downs, relapses and revivals –  offering them trust, relational security and guidance.

At this time, an old car donation to WISH could mean full support in the first 24 hours for a woman coming out pf prison, crucial to preventing re-offending, or four one-to-one trauma-informed counselling sessions. We are always stronger when we stand together. Stand with us for women’s mental health!

War Child's Winter Appeal

War Child sadly has a lot of work to do this Christmas. The charity's Winter Appeal urgently needs funds to support their work in war zones like Ukraine, where thousands of children have already lost everything and families now face a cold and frightening winter.

When the war broke out, Svetlana worked in a pharmacy, and lived happily in Ukraine with her husband and son. When the bombs started falling, her family were forced to leave their home with nothing, and take shelter in cold, dark basements. Terrified from relentless explosions, the stress caused Svetlana to give birth weeks too early, so baby Maria was born in a bomb shelter.
Exhausted, and fighting for her children’s survival, Svetlana made the heart-breaking decision to leave her husband and flee to Moldova with her son, Ivan, and new-born baby. Her family have experienced so much trauma already. But, as the freezing winter months set in, Svetlana is worried about feeding her children and keeping them warm.
 
An old car donation to War Child this winter, means you’ll help children in war zones when they need help most.

Make a Wish this Christmas

We all want the season to be special, but your support could help Make a Wish make a magical wish come true this Christmas for a child.

Ellie Photo Credit © Phil Harris - Daily Mirror

In December 2021, Ellie’s wish for ‘a Christmas wonderland at home’ came true after three years of gruelling leukaemia treatment, bringing hope and happiness to Ellie and her family. Inspired by a love of Christmas lights that started when Ellie was just 3 years old, her family home was transformed into a ‘winter wonderland’ that lit up the whole neighbourhood – just as Ellie lit up the lives of all who knew her.
 
Less than a month later, on the very day that her Christmas wonderland lights were finally switched off, Ellie passed away. She was just 17 years old. Christmas will never be the same again for Ellie’s family, but the memory of her wish helps them hold on to the light, magic and joy of that wonderful day.

By supporting Make-A-Wish this Christmas, either with a cash donation or by donating your old car, you can help grant a wish for the 60,000+ children and families in the UK who, like Ellie, are living with a critical condition – and who may not know how many Christmases are left.

Ready to make a Christmas car donation?

If your old car is on it's last legs or your swapping to a more eco-friendly form of transport in the New Year we hope you'll consider one of these wonderful charity Christmas appeals when deciding what to do with your old wheels. This is just a selection of our charity partners and there many more vital causes your old car donation could help to fund. Why not treat yourself to a festive mug of hot chocolate or mulled wine and consider the causes close to your heart...

See all our Charity Partners that you can donate your car to this Christmas >