Supporting and donating to charity is a very personal thing. Everyone has their own reasons for getting involved and, for many people, working with a charity becomes a multi-generational, family tradition.
If you’d like to encourage your family to get started with fundraising or charity work, but you’re not sure how, look no further than this guide.
What being involved with charities teaches children
If you’re here, you probably already appreciate the value of getting children involved with charities. But still, these points are worth repeating.
Understanding privilege and empathy
Conversations around privilege can be tough, but it’s important for children to understand that not everyone may have the same opportunities or resources they do.
Working with charities can help them learn that they can use their privilege to help others.
The value of money
If your child receives pocket money, you can open up conversations about putting aside a small amount to give to charity if they like. After all, it’s never too early to start learning about budgeting and the value of money.
Fundraising and making donations can show children that even small amounts of money can make a big difference.
In our outreach work, for example, a £10 donation means a team member can provide someone who’s experiencing homelessness with a meal and hot drink. It’s something children can relate to, and understand how their contributions make a difference to someone.
Learning to be a ‘villager’
Working with charities starts to give children an insight into life beyond work and school. They can get involved in their local community and learn to be a ‘villager’.
As they get older, they may decide they want to go beyond donating and start volunteering, where they’ll meet lots of other like-minded people in the community.
Because you never know when you might need the village to help you too!
They may be small, but they can make a big difference
Working with a charity allows children to see what difference they can make, big or small.
Children can also be your biggest source of inspiration when it comes to fundraising – they’re never short of a wild idea or two! Watch out, you may be doing a half marathon dressed as a T-Rex before you know it.
Share the causes you care about
Everyone has different causes that touch their hearts. For some families who have been personally helped by a charity, their support passes down through the generations. While one generation may have actively taken part in big fundraising events, the next might choose to carry on that legacy through payroll giving (as one example).
In other families, everyone might have their own unique cause they care about. One person might choose an environmental cause, while someone else might choose homelessness. There’s absolutely no right or wrong here.
You can find out more about how Simon on the Streets is tackling homelessness here.
The important thing is to talk about the causes you’re passionate about, and encourage the young people in your family to do the same so donating time and money to charity becomes a normal part of life.
Get stuck into hands-on fundraising activities
Once your family has picked a cause (or causes!) to give to, it’s time to start thinking about fundraising. Here are some ideas to get you started.
Younger children
For younger children, the concept of ‘giving’ or ‘donating’ can feel a bit abstract. Getting hands-on with sponsored activities is a great way to help children understand what they’re doing, who they’re doing it for and why they’re doing it. Plus, it can help raise awareness as well as money.
From sponsored silences and dance-a-thons to sport-a-thons or walks, there are plenty of ways for your keen, young fundraisers to challenge themselves (and their classmates) for charity.
Our Little Sleep In is a perfect example. Children can challenge their friends to pull off the ultimate sleepover to raise money for Simon on the Streets. All you need to do is sleep somewhere other than your bed. Camp out in the garden with your family or build the fort to end all forts in your living room.
These aren’t just great for families; schools can get involved too. Our annual Elf Run gets children moving to raise awareness of homelessness and introduce them to Simon on the Streets.
(If you’d like more information on our annual Elf Run for your child’s school, please email lauren@simononthestreets.co.uk).
Older children
Older children may want more ownership over their charity relationships. Once they’re more independent, they may want to get involved with volunteering days or more challenging events like charity runs or obstacle races.
Plenty of ambitious young people took part in the Great Leeds Walk in July for Simon on the Streets. We absolutely loved having them in the team, and hope they’ll be back for more.
Collect items for care packages/donations
Deciding which items to get, finding them all and putting them together not only shows children the value of money, it shows them the value of the things they may take for granted (toiletries, for example).
We recently met with a keen 9-year-old fundraiser who created 25 care packages for Simon on the Streets to donate to a local hostel. As well as the items she’d gathered with her mum, every single one contained a handwritten note, which we know will mean a lot to the people who receive them.
We love talking to young people about our work – especially when they show so much initiative and passion for helping other people.
If you’re ready to get stuck into fundraising with Simon on the Streets, make sure you check our events calendar, which is packed with a range of events to suit the whole family.
If you’d like to speak to us about working with your child’s school, please email lauren@simononthestreets.co.uk for more information.