5 Charities You Can Support, Join or Turn to this End of Year and Beyond
These 5 UK-based charities directly help marginalised communities through LGBTQI allyship, safe spaces, refugee integration, food redistribution, and more
BY JENNIFER HAKIM
"You may be looking for great non-profits to get involved yourself, for the festive season or the new year. Whatever your reason, there are thousands of charities that need support all year long."
BY JENNIFER HAKIM
9 December 2021
It’s that time of the year when you may be looking for charities to donate to, or browsing Christmas gifts that give back to communities. You may be looking for great non-profits to get involved yourself, for the festive season or the new year. Whatever your reason, there are thousands of charities that need support all year long. The selection below directly helps marginalised communities through LGBTQI allyship, safe spaces, refugee integration, food redistribution, and education.
Check out these 5 incredible UK-based charities and don’t hesitate to get in touch with them - whether you need someone to turn to, want to get involved, or donate.
1) The Lotus Flower
The Lotus Flower was born out of the founder’s passion, personal experience, and a response to the humanitarian crises of Kurdistan, northern Iraq in 2014. The charity empowers vulnerable women and girls so that they are safe, have opportunities to learn, given the tools to become financially independent, and have the freedom to speak out and lead change. The Lotus Flower runs safe community centres inside refugee camps for displaced women and girls, and you can support them via their website thelotusflower.org
2) Micro Rainbow International
Micro Rainbow’s vision is to create a world where lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and intersex people are free from discrimination, persecution and have equal opportunities in life, including in accessing employment, training, education, financial services, healthcare, housing, places of faith, and public services. In particular, their ‘moving on’ and employability support helps LGBTQI people who fled their country because of the persecution they face due to their sexuality, gender identity, or intersex status. LGBTQI asylum seekers and refugees can join their Holiday Social event on 17th December 2021. Find them on microrainbow.org
3) Compliments of The House
Compliments of The House is a community-led food redistribution charity working to cut food waste in Britain. CoTH unlocks the potential of nutritious surplus food, by collecting, sorting, and redistributing it to feed those in need. The organisation is neither a food bank nor a soup kitchen, doesn’t rely on public food donations (which often require taking food away to be cooked), and doesn’t cook meals on their premises - instead, volunteers collect the food that was about to get thrown away (every weekday evening from in and around Brixton Market) to give it directly to the needy. You can offer support through funding, volunteering, and food donations on their website complimentsofthehouse.org
4) Migrateful
Migrateful runs cookery classes led by refugees, asylum seekers, and vulnerable migrants struggling to integrate and access employment. The cookery classes provide ideal conditions not just for learning English and building confidence, but also for promoting contact and cultural exchange with the wider community. This festive season, you can help celebrate the individual cultures and traditions of refugees in the UK by booking a class (in-person or online) for yourself, with your loved ones, or with your colleagues on their website migrateful.org
5) Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation
The Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation celebrates the legacy of Stephen Lawrence to promote equality, diversity & inclusion. Stephen Lawrence Day was first celebrated in 2019 and takes place annually on 22 April, the date of Stephen’s death. The Day is marked officially in the British calendar as a celebration of Stephen’s life and legacy. Through its work, the foundation inspires a fairer and just society for young people globally, in classrooms, communities, and careers. You can get involved with the Stephen Lawrence Day Foundation through stephenlawrenceday.org
For more amazing charities to support this Christmas and beyond, you can sign up to our bi-weekly newsletter, where we highlight the great work of charities working with marginalised communities in our regular feature, #SpillTheGood.
