Give a gift with feel-GREAT factor this Christmas!

Oxfam Ireland Press Release
15 October 2007

This Christmas, instead of the usual socks or box of chocs why not give a gift that you and your recipient can feel great about? The Oxfam Ireland Unwrapped catalogue offers a wide range of innovative gift ideas that are designed to really make a difference.

Give girl power new meaning with the ‘Support a woman in business’ (€38/£25) gift. This wonderful gift gives women in Africa the opportunity to turn their start-up enterprises into successful small businesses.

They’re baa-ck and we kid you not, this gift of a goat (€38/£25) is sure to get a giggle from the recipient. Not only are they cute, these goats make a huge difference in Rwanda, helping families earn a living and providing milk, manure and plenty of kids! ‘Goat’ on, you know you want to!

Christmas can stress the calmest of us but it’s not just us who are under pressure, so is the earth. This year, you can help by giving the new unique eco-gift of ‘Climate care’ (€75/£50). This gift helps protect people and the environment by monitoring droughts and floods, planning and diversifying farming and encouraging renewable and energy efficient activities which put less pressure on the earth.

For businesses, a bull (€705/£440) makes a corporate gift that is a great investment in a whole community’s future. Or for an udderly great family gift, a cow (€105/£70) will help feed a family, its manure will fertilise land and any surplus milk can be sold to pay for seeds, school fees and medicines. Plus, when your cow has a calf of its own it will be passed onto another family!

Got a green fingered pal? The Oxfam Ireland Unwrapped herb (€27/£18) and vegetable garden (€48/£32) gifts help people in Tanzania, South Africa and Zimbabwe affected by HIV and AIDS. And to help their gardens grow, your gift includes the provision of tools too!

For something that’s music to the ears, choose to buy some musical instruments (€30/£20) for children in Uganda. This melodic gift can be used to help share important messages about hygiene, safe food and water, and how to protect themselves from diseases like cholera. Most of all, your gift will be something new for kids to play with and enjoy so put your hands together for some lovely, life-changing music!

Ireland is a nation of food lovers and for all the foodies out there a cooking stove (€15/£10) or ‘Food for an orphan’ (€28/£19) is the recipe for a perfect gift.

A little something for the weekend? Pick up a quirky but vital gift of condoms (€36/£24)! Whole generations are being lost to AIDS in many parts of Africa and your gift of male and female condoms and the right advice to ensure that they’re used correctly can prevent the spread of HIV.

The Oxfam Unwrapped catalogue really has something for everyone, from dignity kits (€12/£8 for four) to toilets (€45/£30) for the loo-py loved ones in your life, clean drinking water (€25/£17) to school books (€18/£12) and bicycles (€57/£38) to buckets (€9/£6)!

If you like the idea but are a little unsure of how your friends and family will react to receiving ‘just a card’, think about all the gifts we receive each year that go unused… who wouldn’t prefer a gift that will really make a difference instead of a snowman patterned woolly jumper or something that simply drives you round the bend like a singing fish!

Where can I find a catalogue?

Republic of Ireland: Visit www.oxfamirelandunwrapped.com, pop into one of Oxfam’s 45 shops across Ireland, LoCall 1850 30 40 55 or text ‘Gift’ to 51500 (texts cost standard operator rate) . You can place your order online, in store, by phone, text or post.

Northern Ireland: Visit www.oxfamirelandunwrapped.com, pop into one of Oxfam’s 22 shops across Northern Ireland, Lo-call 0800 0 30 40 55 or text ‘Gift’ to 62277 (texts cost standard operator rate). You can place your order online, in store, by phone, text or post.

What do I get?

Each gift comes with a gift card detailing what you have bought, an Oxfam Ireland fridge magnet featuring a beautiful photographic representation of the gift and its own individual web address which gives the person you have bought it for an exclusive insight into the real difference their gift has made.

How does Oxfam spend my money?

Every gift in the catalogue is a real item that Oxfam uses in its work and has been identified as essential by the communities Oxfam works with around the world. All the gifts in the catalogue are sourced locally from the communities Oxfam works with, putting money back into their economy. So you can do all your feel–great shopping in one place and help Oxfam Ireland to overcome poverty, suffering and injustice at the same time.

Note to Editors

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Oxfam Ireland is an independent member of Oxfam International- a group of thirteen non-governmental agencies dedicated to fighting poverty and related injustice around the world.

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