Public Christmas fundraising

With the festive season around the corner, we wanted to provide you with some fun and creative fundraisers. Our Charity elves have even included a checklist with each idea to help you make your event totally tree-mendous!

Where required, don’t forget to apply for a street collection licence from your local council as soon as possible, as these are limited.

If you would like any help or guidance on any of the ideas below, please contact you local Charity Community Fundraiser.

And remember to post your activity on social media – tagging us in – so we can support your un-fir-gettable festive event!

December Ascender

We’re asking individuals across the UK to take part in their own December Ascender event. You can choose any equipment you’d like to use, staircase, treadmill, or step machine to achieve your goal. You choose your goal (e.g. how many times you/your team can climb a virtual fire station tower). Or you can choose to climb the equivalent of a landmark, such as Scafell Pike, Ben Nevis, Snowdon or Everest – the choice is yours!

Rules

The event will run from 1 November – 31 December 2023. The challenge can only be re-scheduled to January if postponed due to work or weather related or unforeseen circumstances, provided we are informed by the date you would have taken part
You must register for the challenge to take place on a date during November or December 2023

The Challenge

You can take part on your own or as a team
You must register for the challenge to take place on a date during November or December 2023
You have one hour to complete your challenge!

Christmas raffle, tombola or quiz

Ask local businesses to donate gifts or voucher (you can either use the vouchers as a prize or buy an item as a prize)
If holding a raffle you could group lower value items into a “Goody hamper” as one prize
With a Christmas quiz, make sure the questions cover a variety of Christmas-themed topics to make it inclusive to as many individuals as possible
Having 20-30 raffle prizes won’t sell more tickets and people get bored waiting for all the numbers to be called/ prizes to be collected. If you have around 5 higher value prizes, consider raffling those and using the others for a tombola (30-50 prizes make a decent tombola) or a “Prize Every Time” 1 gift per gift bag – pay £1, choose a bag

Christmas Fair

This is the perfect festive activity to bring the community together around the holidays.

Tips for organising a Christmas Fair

Choose a date and publicise well in advance to give people the opportunity of adding it to their diaries
Ask for donations from local businesses for refreshments, prizes
Invite local crafters and makers to take a stall
Charge £10 or £20 depending on the size of your event
Ensure there is only one stall per product e.g. preserves, handbags, jewellery, wood carving etc. to ensure stalls aren’t competing with each other
Include your own fundraising stalls, such as a tombola, raffle, cake stall, name the cuddly toy
Ask a few local community groups (church/WI/Scouts etc.) if they’d like a table to promote their cause, or fundraise, but ensure they DON’T do the same fundraising as you – tombola/raffle etc. as it will dilute your fundraising opportunities
Have A Santa’s Grotto, complete with Mrs Claus and elves!
Have a “Stage” area, for local performances, and have a timed programme throughout the day
Ensure collection buckets are to hand during all displays

Carol Singing

Spread some festive cheer by singing Christmas carols to family, friends, neighbours, and your community.

Ask your local shopping Centre or supermarket if you can have a slot for Carol Singing
Ask a local choir or brass band to join you if you’re not confident singers
Make sure you have plenty of bucket collectors to hand
You can add this to traditional supermarket bucket collections, for added interest and crowd-pulling

Donate in Lieu of Christmas cards

Sending Christmas cards can be time consuming, not to mention expensive. And after New Year, the majority go in the recycling bin.

So, why not use the money you would have spent on cards by making a donation to our Charity instead? You could message all your friends and family to let them know and spread the word about how we help our amazing fire family!

Make a Christmas donation

Santa Swap

What can you swap a chocolate coin for? We’ve all heard about the man who turned a paper clip into a house in just 15 swaps! Well, what can you upgrade a chocolate coin for?

Tips for organising a Santa Swap event

Charge your participants just £5 per to enter, then provide them with a chocolate coin.
Participants have just 40 days of swapping and trading up their items, to turn their chocolate coin into something really valuable, unique, or special
Participants can raise sponsorship via a fundraising page (e.g. Just Giving), asking family & friends to donate a small amount each time they post an image of their new item

For suggested Terms and Conditions to use for this event, please speak to your local Community Fundraiser.

Santa’s Shopping list

Can your team of elves be the first to gather everything on Santa’s Shopping List without paying for anything?

Tips for organising a Santa’s Shopping List fundraiser

Your team could consist of 4 elves
Charge just £5 per person and you are required to raise sponsorship via a fundraising page (e.g. Just Giving).
Ask someone to adjudicate. They must supply Santa’s Shopping List 5 minutes before the start of the event (to prevent cheating!) and you have just 2 hours to gather as many items as possible
You can ask people to help you by donating or supplying the items free of charge BUT the items must be collected by your team members only
You can interpret the items on Santa’s Shopping List in any way you choose, but the judge’s decision will be final

For suggested Terms and Conditions to use for this event, or help with ideas for your Shopping List, please speak to your local Community Fundraiser.

Christmas Jumper Day

Dust off your favourite Christmas jumper this December – the more colourful and sparkly, the better – and raise money for our Charity!

Tips for organising a Christmas Jumper Day

Wear a novelty Christmas hat or jumper in exchange for a donation
Send an email around your work or group to get more people involved
You could offer a prize for the best jumper – extra points for jumpers with flashing lights!
Encourage local businesses and schools to get involved

Festive Quiz

Host a quiz over a video call or face-to-face, invite your friends and family and ask them for a small donation to take part. You can either find template questions online, write your own, or ask your contestants to submit a question each to mix it up a little!

Festive Bake Sale or Baking Class

Do all your friends and family think you should apply for Bake Off? How about literally dusting off your rolling pin and hosting a festive baking class for a small donation? Or selling your festive treats at work or at a local event?

Boxing Day or New Year’s Day Dip

Brave the icy waters and take part in a local, pre-organised event in the sea, river or lake near you.

Get sponsored by friends, family and colleagues
Set up an online giving page on www.justgiving.com and promote on social media

Unwanted Christmas Gifts

Ask people to donate their unwanted Christmas presents for a future raffle. Or hold a festive eBay sale of unwanted gifts donating the proceeds. You can do this by going to eBay for Charity and searching for The Fire Fighters Charity: charity.ebay.com

Whatever you do to support us this Christmas, we want to say a HUGE thank you! With your help, we can continue to be there for our UK fire family now, and in the future.

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