Gifting Love For The Holidays: Our Favourite Charities
The holiday season has well and truly arrived and as we all look ahead to amazing food, drinking, exchanging gifts and more festivities, it can be easy to overlook the perfect opportunity this season provides to consider the gift of giving.
London especially has many interesting charities covering a broad range of missions of which we want to highlight a few that definitely deserve some attention!
Intoart
South London-based charity Intoart is an art and design studio working exclusively with people with learning disabilities to provide an equal platform for emerging visual artists. In their almost 20 year history, Intoart has exhibited in spaces such as Whitechapel Gallery, Tate Modern, Peckham Platform, Studio Voltaire, and the Victoria & Albert Museum to name a few. Head over to their website to make a donation or browse their shop.
Trees for Cities
It may come as a surprise to you but London is the greenest major city in Europe and the third greenest city of its size in the world with 40% of its surface area made up of publicly accessible green space. Environmental charity Trees for Cities operates as the only UK based charity working on a national and international scale to plant urban trees and create greener cities. Trees for Cities planted its millionth tree in 2019 and they're not stopping there. With trees planted in 16 cities in 13 countries including Ica in Peru to Nairobi in Kenya and Pokhara in Nepal.
Battersea Dogs & Cats Home
We're big on animals, especially when it comes to dogs and cats. Since its founding in 1860, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home has held more than 3 million animals. With animals at the center of everything they do, this organization is working to achieve their vision that every dog and cat should live in a home where they are treated with love, care, and respect. 
MIND
Mental health charity Mind has operated since 1946, initially as the National Association for Mental Health and now consists of 132 local Mind associations (independent, affiliated charities) provide services such as supported housing, floating support schemes, care homes, drop-in centers, and self-help support groups. Whilst campaigning for the rights of people who have experienced mental distress, they focus on areas including business issues and work-related stress, victimization, abuse, and exploring the impact that debt has on mental health.
