Christmas is meant to be the happiest time of year for families. It’s a time of celebration and overindulgence. But for many families, it’s actually a time of real hardship. Sadly, many families are forced to turn to foodbanks at Christmas just to be able to put food on the table, let alone be able to afford extravagances. That’s why the UK money bloggers have decided to support foodbanks with their #FoodBankAdvent 2018 campaign. Last year’s #FoodbankAdvent was a HUGE success with lots of UK money bloggers pulling together to raise the word that foodbanks need our help.

The run up to Christmas is sadly the busiest time for many foodbanks with 2017 being the busiest year yet. With all the excitement and business of the build up to Christmas, it’s easy to forget that there are people out there who need our help.

#FoodBankAdvent 2018 is a great way to help families who are struggling. You can make a real difference.

What is #FoodBankAdvent 2018?

We’re all familiar with the traditional advent calendar. But with #FoodBankAdvent, we’re giving rather than receiving. It’s a reverse advent calendar. The idea is that for 24 days in the run up to Christmas, you add one item each day to a box that you will then donate to your local foodbank.

Whilst this is aimed at helping families in the run up to Christmas, it’s actually better for them if you start this in November rather than December. That gives the foodbanks time to hand the supplies out to the people who need them most.

How can you get involved?

It’s really simple.

If you don’t already know, find out where your local foodbank is.

It’s a good idea to contact the foodbank to see what items they’re particularly in need of and which items they really don’t need. As a general rule, dried and tinned foods are usually a good bet, but also think about sanitary products and toiletries too.

You can find more information here about the types of products that go into a food parcel.

Then, grab a big box and start to add one item every day to it.

I’ll be doing this every day and it would be great to see lots of readers doing it too.

If you are taking part, then don’t forget to share on social media using the #FoodBankAdvent – let’s spread the word and get as many people as possible involved this year.