TIPS SHEET ON CHOOSING PRESENTS For last minute ideas, or avoiding costly mistakes, here are a few tips for gift ideas: A food item that can be used quickly (so it won’t hang around their house all year or can be given away if they really don’t like it). A charity donation (most charities now allow you to donate on behalf of someone or to ‘buy’ something for a needy recipient. You can sponsor a puppy for someone with sight or hearing problems, pay for the upkeep of a working donkey or mule, help provide clean water or toilet facilities and lots more. A subscription to something (magazine, organisation etc) but only if you know the recipient will be enthusiastic about it. Something you’ve made yourself – yes, you can do it! (Food, a photo collage in a frame, a flower arrangement – whatever works for you). A voucher for your time – made specific; for example: a voucher for an hour’s ironing, or dog-walking, or baby-sitting, or driving to the shops etc. A plant for the garden (something in a pot, a hanging basket, some bulbs or wild flower seeds – whatever works for the size and type of garden the person has). An ecologically sound replacement for a plastic item. Bird seeds or nuts A voucher for a photographic session An online course in a subject the person will appreciate