Radical gifts spark ‘true’ Christmas spirit
14 November 2011
Charity offers alternatives to Scrooge bankers’ greed
Fed up with the growing divide between rich and poor in Britain and overseas?
Angry over huge pay and perks for bankers rescued with taxpayers’ money?
Now you can buy Christmas goodies that will not only delight families and friends, but help build a fairer society.
The gifts come from War on Want, the charity which campaigns against the corporate greed which causes poverty.
Festive cards portray a City executive deriding Santa’s modest gift, demanding a multimillion bonus and share options.
Other cards, which feature pixies toiling in a clothes factory, proclaim “Sweatshops are bad for your elf!”
Packs of ten cards cost just £5 – another set features the Three Wise Men, delivering gifts for Jesus, with one of them forced to dig their way under Israel’s separation wall.
For the same price, a winter hat will enable someone to keep warm and proudly bear the War on Want logo.
Another potential token of affection is for people to enjoy hot cuppas this winter – for £7 in a War on Want mug.
The mugs display the slogan “Poverty is political”, also printed on ethically sourced T-shirts, which at £13 offer two more choices with different wording - “Love Fashion Hate Sweatshops” or “End the occupation. Justice for Palestine.”
Further selections include alternative gifts, such as a £25 donation to improve working conditions in Central American sweatshops or £50 to expose corporations and make them accountable.
All the presents can be seen and bought on the charity’s website at http://www.waronwant.org/shop
Duncan Wilbur, fundraising and communications director at War on Want, said: “As the festive season nears, banks that we saved prepare to hand out obscene sums for executives while they dodge their taxes and force millions to face cuts in jobs and services. But our Yuletide shop enables people to reject the Ebenezer Scrooges and celebrate the true Christmas spirit through gifts that show they care both for loved ones and a better world.”
CONTACT: Paul Collins, War on Want media office (+44) (0)20 7324 5054 or (+44) (0)7983 550728
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