10 Ways to Share Your Sparkle this Christmas

This festive season, there are so many ways to spread joy while making your surroundings more magical. Whether it’s decorating with lights or lending a helping hand, small actions can brighten someone’s Christmas. This year, we are encouraging everyone to #ShareYourSparkle, and we are sharing a few ideas to help you on your way!

Offer to hang decorations and lights at shelters, community centres or spaces. Check in with them first, and ideally take someone along who can help. Research community Christmas activities happening in your area, and see if you can help in some way.

Lots of people get lonely at Christmas, and some people aren’t able to decorate their homes themselves. Why not offer to help out? You could even offer to help them with some Christmas decoration ideas and some easy ways to decorate for Christmas, get creative! 

Gather family and friends to help clear up a local park and community area, so that it's looking perfect for the holidays 

Who in your neighbourhood could do with a nice food hamper putting together? Organise a food collection amongst your colleagues, friends and family, and make sure it gets to someone who would really appreciate it, or donate to UK food banks. You could also organise a toy drive for local charities, collecting old and unwanted toys from friends and family and dropping them off at a local charity or charity shop.

Do you have old Christmas light decorations that have been cluttering up space at home? Anything with a plug, cable or battery can be recycled, collect it all up - maybe check in with neighbours too and get theirs. Go to www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk to find your nearest recycling centre and for how to recycle Christmas lights in the UK.

During the winter, when costs can be high for everyone, there are many ways to share your sparkle that don’t involve giving money. Offer to volunteer at charities such as Starlight, the amazing children’s charity, or serving food at Shelter. Also support local charities and smaller ones close by, do some research and find one that really resonates with you. 

For some more festive volunteering ideas, contact some local care homes and see if they need help, offer to come and decorate, or spend time with the residents singing carols, or reading stories, or simply just chatting and providing nice company.

Have you really checked in with family and friends lately? Christmas can be a challenging time of year for people, and often those feeling the worst are the ones who would rather keep it to themselves. Check in with those around you and make sure they know you are there for them - ask them if there’s anything you can do for them or how to help at Christmas.

Thousands of children will be waking up in hospital on Christmas morning. You can make their day so much better with Starlight’s Play Store. A special online shop where you can help buy play items for seriously ill children. You can help buy everything from a cuddly teddy to an hour of a play specialist’s time at the Playstore. Every fear-fighting, boredom-busting, comfort-creating gift helps to bring joy to children and their families.

Can you offer to help someone in your family, or a friend or relative, by wrapping their presents? It may be that they don’t have time, or find wrapping presents difficult for one reason or another. You could even team up with someone and see who can wrap the most! 

Let’s come together to spread kindness and joy with the #ShareYourSparkle campaign. Whether it’s helping a child at school, supporting an elderly neighbour, volunteering for a local cause, or simply lending a hand to a loved one, every small act of kindness adds up to something big.

Here’s how you can get involved:

Make Your Kindness Pledge
Think about how you can Share Your Sparkle. Try some of the 10 Ways to Share Your Sparkle, or come up with your own. No act is too small!

Share It on Social Media
Post about your pledge, tag @lights4fun, and use the hashtag #ShareYourSparkle to inspire others.

Challenge Your Friends
Encourage your friends, family, and followers to join in and keep the kindness chain going. Together, we can make this festive season unforgettable!

For every pledge shared, we will donate £1* to Starlight, a charity that brings the magic of childhood to seriously ill children through play. Plus, the most thoughtful pledge will win a £500 Lights4fun gift card and a bundle of surprise prizes—the ultimate Christmas treat!

Let’s light up this season with kindness and sparkle. Join the #ShareYourSparkle movement today!

*Donation capped at a maximum of £2,000. Donations will be calculated based on the number of unique qualifying social media posts that meet all campaign requirements. Posts must include the hashtag #ShareYourSparkle and tag @lights4fun to be eligible. The campaign ends when the donation cap is reached or on the 31st December 2024 at midnight, whichever comes first.