How To Use Black Friday For Good Not Evil

You’ve already trawled Topshop’s biggest deals, and you’re just considering whether now is the time to invest in a new TV for your flat share and, as an afterthought, you might even do some Christmas shopping in that dead hour at 4pm, when you don’t really want to do any more work, but it’s too early to slope off to the pub. Yes, it’s Black Fridayagain - hasn’t it come round fast?

But, in between feeling guilty about our bank balances, silently berating ourselves for buying yet more stuff when we promised ourselves we’d take it easier on the whole consumerism front this month, and wondering how much of a bargain we’re actually getting today, there’s still an opportunity for some pure, joy-inducing altruism.

Charity Cash For Kids has organized Mission Christmas - which is the largest annual Christmas toy appeal in the UK. In 2016 the appeal generated more than £15.5 million in gifts and donations, which were distributed to more than 360,000 disadvantaged kids across the UK. This year one in four children in the UK will be living in poverty - making Christmas a luxury they simply can’t afford - and this year, Mission Christmas is aiming to beat last year’s fundraising total and help as many children as it possibly can.

So what can you do to help? It’s simple: buy a toy and take it to one of the many drop-off points around the country - the full list is here.

**To get you started, here are some of our suggested gifts from Amazon's Black Friday haul - if you click through to buy any of these, the affiliate revenue generated will also go straight to Cash For Kids. **

This article originally appeared on The Debrief.