Guide to charity at Christmas in London

Crisis is the largest homelessness charity in the country and volunteers are needed at Christmas. Over the Christmas period you can volunteer at a Crisis centre in Stratford, Pimlico, or Bermondsey, providing companionship, advice, activities, and catering for homeless users of the centres. This might include serving a Christmas dinner to centre users on 25th December to ensure that no one misses out this year.

Basket Brigade UK brings together hundreds of volunteers on 23rd December each year. Volunteers get together on the day to create over 1,000 food baskets that they then deliver to Londoners who need help the most. You can sign up to take on a number of different roles, from packing or delivering the baskets to working as part of the event crew and helping the whole thing to run smoothly.

Every year the Rotary Club holds a big Christmas Day party in Wandsworth for elderly people. It's a major event and needs a big team of volunteers to ensure everyone has a great day. Volunteer duties include setting up and clearing up at the Battersea Park venue, escorting party guests from their homes to the venue, helping in the kitchen, serving, doing the washing up, and helping guests enjoy the afternoon entertainment. You get a full Christmas dinner thrown in too!

Christian charity Samaritan's Purse runs an annual shoebox appeal, Operation Christmas Child. All volunteers need to do is fill a shoebox with gifts for a child and then drop off the box at a dedicated location near you. Boxes are sent to children who are in need all over the world. Since 1993, millions of children in 160 different countries have benefited from this festive initiative.

The Trussell Trust runs a network of over 1,000 food banks all over the UK. Volunteers are always needed, especially at Christmas. As well as donating money or giving food at a supermarket or directly to the food bank, you can help at a local food bank by sorting donations and packing food parcels or welcoming service users, directing them to extra support, and helping to tackle loneliness and isolation.

Hackney Night Shelter has been providing shelter and support to homeless people in Hackney since 1996. Its services are especially in-demand during winter and the Christmas period, so it needs volunteers to keep things running. Volunteers work in teams to cook and serve dinner or breakfast to service users, as well as making them feel comfortable, welcome, and supported.

The Food Chain supports Londoners living with HIV and their dependants by offering cooking and nutrition classes, communal meals, and delivering meals and groceries. A balanced diet is important for us all, but especially important for those living with HIV. Volunteers are welcome all year round but volunteer drivers are needed on 25th December to bring service users to the centre in Stepney Green and get them home again. Volunteers also join the Christmas meal and all the fun and entertainment on the day.

Homelessness charity Whitechapel Mission works all year round to support Londoners who are sleeping rough. At certain times, such as Christmas, the charity receives a particularly large volume of food and toiletries donations; it needs teams of volunteers to sort donations and make sure they're available to service users. These gift-sorting challenges are aimed at teams of 8-20 people. It's an ideal festive volunteering and team-building opportunity for work colleagues.

You can do a bit of good every time you dine out during the festive months of November and December thanks to StreetSmart. Launched in 1998, the charity gets loads of restaurants across the UK to sign up for its annual fundraising campaign and add a voluntary £1 donation to diners' bills. The funds are then used to support reputable charities for the homeless. If you want to help out, check the list of participating restaurants on the StreetSmart website and go have a nice meal.