{"id":783,"date":"2017-12-08T09:00:31","date_gmt":"2017-12-08T09:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.travall.com\/en-gb\/?p=783"},"modified":"2017-12-08T09:00:31","modified_gmt":"2017-12-08T09:00:31","slug":"7-ways-to-have-a-truly-happy-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.travall.com\/en-gb\/7-ways-to-have-a-truly-happy-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"7 ways to have a truly happy Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year,\u201d according to the Christmas song from the 1960s and for a lot of <\/span>us it certainly is as we enjoy the festivities of the season in our comfortable lives. \u00a0Despite the sparkle of the tinsel at this time of year, some people find that Christmas can be a bit flat as the commercial aspects of the season dominate.\u00a0 We all know the adage that it is better to give than to receive. This can be one way to truly get into the spirit of the season. Giving doesn’t necessarily mean buying presents for people. As Mahatma <\/span>Ghandi said, \u201cthe best way to find yourself is in the service of others.\u201d How can you best help others at a time of year that can be a struggle for many? We\u2019ve come up with 7 ways to have a truly happy Christmas by giving back this season, raising your spirits and having festive fun at the same time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Invite someone for Christmas dinner
\n<\/strong>Families often live a lot further away from each other than they used to.\u00a0 As a result, more people are alone at Christmas.\u00a0 Whether because of work commitments or other reasons, many are unable to spend Christmas with family and friends.\u00a0 Think of people in your community who live alone and might feel especially lonely on Christmas Day.\u00a0 Do you know someone who might appreciate being invited over for Christmas dinner?<\/span><\/p>\n

Volunteer at a homeless shelter
\n<\/strong>Many people in our towns and cities dread every night that they spend on the cold streets at this time of year.\u00a0 Could you spend a little time to help out at a homeless shelter, so that homeless people in your area can enjoy a good meal and a roof over their heads during the dark winter nights?<\/span><\/p>\n

Take part in a Santa run
\n<\/strong>Are you sporty?\u00a0 Perhaps you can find a Santa run in your area (hundreds of them take place annually across the UK). This allows you to give money to a charitable cause while having fun at the same time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Donate a coat
\n<\/strong>Many of us have coats hanging in the cupboard that we no longer wear or that our kids have outgrown.\u00a0 Winter is the perfect time to have a rummage through these cupboards and find cosy clothing that someone else would be very glad to receive.\u00a0 Wrap Up London<\/a><\/span> and other charities accept these types of items.<\/span><\/p>\n

Give to your local animal shelter
\n<\/strong>Animal shelters are often desperate for donations in the form of food and toys.\u00a0 Call your local shelter to find out what would be most useful for them.\u00a0 Travall<\/a> employees took this approach last month and were happy to donate what was collected in the office to the RSPCA <\/span>shelter in Derby.<\/span><\/p>\n

Purchase charity Christmas cards
\n<\/strong>This is an easy option if you will be buying Christmas cards to send to family and friends anyway.\u00a0 If you buy a charity card, you\u2019ll know that a portion of the proceeds will go to help that particular charity.<\/span><\/p>\n

Offer your time
\n<\/strong>Maybe you have a friend who has recently had a baby.\u00a0 Perhaps you could offer to babysit one evening.\u00a0 Or, do you have an elderly neighbour who is struggling to shop for food or collect prescriptions in poor weather conditions?\u00a0 Perhaps you could offer to shop for him or her, or as suggested by Age UK<\/a>,<\/span> pop in to make a cup of tea and have a chat.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you’ve never been involved in charitable work before, it’s not too late to begin.\u00a0 Simply start small and enjoy the feeling of reward and <\/span>wellbeing you get from helping someone else.\u00a0 Be the reason someone else smiles this Christmas – it just might make you smile too. Happy Christmas!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year,\u201d according to the Christmas song from the 1960s and for a lot of us it certainly is as we enjoy the festivities of the season in our comfortable lives. \u00a0Despite the sparkle of the tinsel at this time of year, some people find that Christmas can be …<\/p>\n

7 ways to have a truly happy Christmas<\/span>Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[76],"tags":[683,684,685,686],"yoast_head":"\n7 ways to have a truly happy Christmas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If all the fun of the Christmas season tends to leave you feeling a bit flat, we've got tips on things to do so that you have a truly happy Christmas.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.travall.com\/en-gb\/7-ways-to-have-a-truly-happy-christmas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"7 ways to have a truly happy Christmas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If all the fun of the Christmas season tends to leave you feeling a bit flat, we've got tips on things to do so that you have a truly happy Christmas.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.travall.com\/en-gb\/7-ways-to-have-a-truly-happy-christmas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Travall Blog Website\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-12-08T09:00:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.travall.com\/en-gb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/rsz_giving-final.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"833\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.travall.com\/en-gb\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.travall.com\/en-gb\/\",\"name\":\"Travall Blog Website\",\"description\":\"Travall Blog GB Website\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/blog.travall.com\/en-gb\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.travall.com\/en-gb\/7-ways-to-have-a-truly-happy-christmas\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.travall.com\/en-gb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/rsz_giving-final.jpg\",\"width\":1250,\"height\":833,\"caption\":\"7 ways to have a truly happy Christmas, How to have a happy Christmas Stardust and magic in woman hands on dark background\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.travall.com\/en-gb\/7-ways-to-have-a-truly-happy-christmas\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.travall.com\/en-gb\/7-ways-to-have-a-truly-happy-christmas\/\",\"name\":\"7 ways to have a truly happy Christmas\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.travall.com\/en-gb\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.travall.com\/en-gb\/7-ways-to-have-a-truly-happy-christmas\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-08T09:00:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-12-08T09:00:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.travall.com\/en-gb\/#\/schema\/person\/c57be161c10ac1ee87db20a1f73d94fc\"},\"description\":\"If all the fun of the Christmas season tends to leave you feeling a bit flat, we've got tips on things to do so that you have a truly happy Christmas.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blog.travall.com\/en-gb\/7-ways-to-have-a-truly-happy-christmas\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.travall.com\/en-gb\/#\/schema\/person\/c57be161c10ac1ee87db20a1f73d94fc\",\"name\":\"Travall\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.travall.com\/en-gb\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.travall.com\/en-gb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/DS36740.png\",\"caption\":\"Travall\"},\"description\":\"The blog is authored by members of our team who are passionate about adventuring with their family members (dogs included). 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