Every member of staff has been given £200 to spend on their own choices of Good Gifts. See our choices below.

It is the twelfth year that IS Oxford have donated to charity through the Good Gifts Catalogue. Our annual order always consists of our own personal choices together with the supply of a School Library in a poor neighbourhood in India. Our donation will establish the library, including a termite roof, and help supply cupboards and books.

Our individual choices covered a very wide range of causes (too many to mention in full here). We supported a supplementary school in a developing country for one month and choose to educate a disabled child in a developing country. In Africa we choose to de-worm 1500 children and train girls as bakers to help raise their self-esteem and gain independence. We opted for a fresh start for those forced to flee war or natural disaster, purchased a set of surgical instruments and closer to home we chose to supply activities including transport, room hire and refreshments for 4 OAPs.

On the theme of education we supplied a year’s schooling for four children in Africa and girl-friendly schooling for four girls in South Sudan.

We chose to supply four villagers in Africa with solar lamps which are healthier than kerosene lamps thus saving lives and money and gave the gift of sight to three children and fifteen adults. We supported three Afghan girls who have been abandoned by their families and transformed the life of two Indian street children.

In the UK we chose to help regenerate three bluebell woods and four areas of meadowland to create a playground for bees and butterflies. We purchased eighty four square metres of greenbelt land to protect against the urban creep. We also supplied two cats for comfort, a lamb for an Indian villager, care for one abandoned pet, supplied a child with a toy that would otherwise get nothing at Christmas and provided a visit to the pantomime and theatre. We also helped the elderly by supplying help with heating bills, a gift for two patients in hospital, a Christmas hamper and a hot lunch.

All this is in addition to the money raised by our Advent Calendar. For more details of the gifts we have given please visit Goodgifts.org.