Helping-Hand Appeal: Fundraising ideas and tips

Activities, suggestions and steps everyone can take to support the Helping-Hand Appeal.

Raise funds

Here are a few things you could try this year as a corps or group. Tell us what you’re doing by emailing salvationist@salvationarmy.org.uk.

Community meal

Organise a dinner event and sell tickets. You could even feature Zimbabwean dishes to tie-in with the featured project.

Cooking class

Why not partner local chefs to offer cooking classes?

Gardening workshop

Teach attendees how to grow their own food, including providing starter kits with seeds and tools for a small fee. That could be at your own corps or centre, if you have a community garden, or it could be in partnership with a school or community centre. You could decorate any plant pots used with a Scripture reference.

Quiz night

Everyone loves a quiz evening! Why not play one of the Helping-Hand Appeal food security videos partway through to remind people why they’re there?

Generosity jar

Keep a container or jar at your corps or centre for people to pop their spare change in through the year.

Fashion show

Collaborate with your nearest charity shop to host a fashion show and raise money through tickets or the sale of second-hand items.

Sponsored walk

To help people think about travelling sustainably, why not host a sponsored group walk? Or a challenge to reduce the number of car journeys taken and donate any money saved?

Care for creation

Travel sustainably

How can you and fellow corps members consider more environmentally friendly ways of transportation? For example, car sharing, public transport, walking or cycling, reducing the number of flights taken.

Save energy

What tips and strategies have you found at your corps to reduce your energy consumption?

Try a plant-based diet

A plant-based diet has many environmental benefits and supermarkets now stock a wide variety of meat alternatives. Have you considered eating more plant-based meals? Can you share recipes or bring along examples to your corps to try together?

Grow your own

Have you tried growing your own fruit, vegetables or herbs?

Reduce food waste

One third of all food produced is either lost or wasted. Composting is one of the best ways of managing organic waste while also reducing environmental impact. How can you be creative with leftovers?

Slow fashion

The fashion industry accounts for 8 to 10 per cent of all global carbon emissions, with fast fashion encouraging people to throw away clothes. Try buying fewer clothes, repairing clothes where possible, donating unwanted clothes or swapping them with friends. Have you visited your nearest Salvation Army charity shop to donate or buy second-hand clothes?

Pray

Pray for politicians and local decision-makers. Pray for those who work in the agricultural industry, especially farmers. Pray for your own community – that people might respond to some of the ideas and challenges you adopt.