So I have left this blog post rather last minute because I forgot I needed a blog post….. But Baloo gave me a genius idea so I’m running with it and I hope you like it. I’ve had reusable advent calendars all my life and my parents have had a nativity scene and have filled another with chocolate or sweets every year so different advents were fun for me. I was thinking about how there are so many out there and the traditional non-chocolate ones might suit someone with a disability or chronic illness better than your traditional chocolate.

Firstly I do not own any of the photos of the advent calendars and I am not affiliated with any of the charities or companies I talk about. These are just some of my favourite ideas!

Reverse Advent -The first Advent calendar is not one for you to have it’s one for you to give. The Reverse Advent is growing in popularity you could do one for your local food bank, be sure to go onto their website to check what they really need first. The idea is that each day you put something in the box to give to someone who is in need. My practical side is thinking you could make up the box and give it well before Christmas so you know that you’ve made a difference around the festive season.

Daily Donation -You could donate a certain amount of money to a different charity every day that you’ve selected or you can put them in a jar and randomly pick one out each day. With being able to donate online this can be a simple process.

Onto some advent calendars for you now. I know some people don’t like chocolate or just like different ideas for them so here are some of my favourites:

Gibsons Twelve Days of Christmas Puzzle – £20

This is such a sweet idea you get 12 eighty piece puzzles to complete during advent and as it’s sold by the RNLI Lifeboats hopefully it can create some good by buying it. Plus puzzles are great fun and mostly inclusive!

The Body Shop 25 Days of the Enchanted Ultimate Advent Calendar -£99

Now I know this is is an enormous amount of money but after looking a quite a few beauty advent calenders this one seems to be the best value for money the advent calendar is worth £231. It has beauty skincare body stuff in it and has full sized items. Its a splurge but sometimes advent is more fun than Christmas gifts!

Pukka Tea Advent – £9.99 Amazon

Everyone knows someone who loves tea! This is a green tea and herbal tea advent calendar. It has 24 tea bags which are all organic and fair.

 THE PACT COFFEE ADVENT CALENDAR– £39.95 
Coffee addicts here is your caffeinated Christmas countdown with a heart. Pact Coffee is proud to be fuelling Shelter’s emergency helpline advisers over Christmas, to support people struggling with homelessness. We will donate 50p from every Christmas product sold, to Shelter.
Curb your chocolate-intake this year, with a caffeinated Christmas countdown! The Pact Coffee Advent Calendar is a carefully curated selection of 25 speciality coffees, all sourced through Direct Trade. These are some of the best beans you could ever hope to taste, expertly roasted to bring out their distinct flavour profiles. Enjoy a festive brew, while you read each coffee card – finding out about Christmas all over the world!
This advent calendar was so complicated I had to copy across their description to get it correct but I hope this is a good one as I don’t drink coffee.

I really enjoyed creating this even with the time pressure (Monday morning people hahaha). It’s made me think about advent more than just chocolate and how you can do good with your countdown. If you have any other idea please leave them in the comments!