Giving Tuesday - your invitation to take part

shmu joins the #givingtuesday movement this year to encourage people in Aberdeen to do “good stuff” this Christmas! Happening on the 27th November, a day of giving after Black Friday and Cyber Monday, our awesome volunteers are organising a Radio Marathon to kick off our partership in style!

The campaign, which began in America, is an antidote to the mass consumerism of Black Friday and aims to get people thinking of others in the run up to Christmas, be it through donating to charity, volunteering or simply helping a  friend, neighbour or family member.

With our Radio Marathon, we are hoping to get as many people in the city involved as possible - taking on fundraising activities, coming and talking to our volunteers about their charitable work, or simply coming along and making Alan and Craig - who will be staying awake for the duration of the marathon - a cup of coffee at midnight! If you have an idea and would like to come along and get involved either on or off-air, we want to hear from you! Email Frieda at frieda.strachan@shmu.org.uk for more information.

Since its inception in 2014,  #givingtuesday has become one of the biggest events in the global charity calendar, breaking successive Guinness World Records for the most amount of money donated online to charity in 24 hours. In 2016, £48 million was donated online via PayPal with the UK accounting for the second largest amount of donations. An estimated 4.5 million people in Britain also did something to support a good cause on the day.

Ben Russell, Director of Communications at  CAF, said:

“Giving gifts is a big part of most peoples Christmas celebrations and because of this, it is no wonder that Black Friday has become such a feature of the Christmas calendar. However, while many of us will be sharing presents with loved ones this year, millions more will spend it alone, hungry or worse.

“The aim of #givingtuesday is to get people thinking about others this Christmas and doing little things that can make a big difference. It could be donating money to charity, volunteering in your community, or something as simple as offering to help a neighbour.

“If we all do something small this #givingtuesday, it could make a real difference to millions of people”