This Christmas there will be a new scheme that promotes the idea of giving money to small charities in Dorset instead of buying presents for someone.

No Presents Please is a not-for-profit booklet aimed at anyone who doesn’t want presents for any celebration and would prefer that the money goes to help a small charity.

The booklet features 34 small Dorset-based charities who have come up with ideas of what they could buy with donations of £15, £25, £50 or £100.

For example, with £25 the Butterflies Children’s Disability Fund in Weymouth could buy sensory equipment for children on the Autism spectrum.

£50 could pay for the Dorset Reading Partners, based in Dorchester, to train a new volunteer who will provide regular one-to-one support to children across Dorset who are struggling to read.

A donation of £100 could pay for the Dorchester Poverty Action Group to buy a washing machine for a family going through financial crisis this Christmas.

No Presents Please has been compiled by Monique Munroe: “I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people say no presents please when asked what they would like for their birthday or wedding anniversary.

“Sometimes they will follow this up by suggesting a charity and nine times out of ten this will be a large national one, so I thought there are plenty of very small charities in Dorset doing fantastic work with very limited resources, wouldn’t it be great to give them some publicity? After all they are helping local Dorset people.

“These charities are often volunteer-led without the resources to shout about their work so every pound really does make a difference to them.

“I run a very small charity called Ideas2Action so I know first-hand what a difference even a small amount of money can mean, so I would urge anyone who really has everything to ask their families and friends to look in No Presents Please this Christmas.”

The No Presents Please booklet, with information on all the charities and how donations could be spent, is available online at only4good.org.uk and in limited availability at selected libraries across Dorset.

For more information email contact@only4good.org.uk or tweet @contact4good.