Each year we open door after door of advent calendars looking forward to what might be behind it. We've moved away from the traditional images to chocolates, gin, make-up and even bottles of wine.

Between 1st April 2016 and 31st March 2017, The Trussell Trust’s Foodbank Network provided 1,182,954 three day emergency food supplies to people in crisis compared to 1,109,309 in 2015-16. Of this number, 436,938 went to children.

The Reverse Advent Calendar Campaign

This year the UK Money Bloggers are coming together to help support those in need by completing a "reverse advent calendar". Throughout November & December money bloggers from across the country will be adding one item each day for 25 days to their own box. On day 25 this box will be delivered to a local food bank.

How ChammyIRL & Modern Money Life Are Taking Part

I will be taking part in this campaign across my two blogs. Each blog will have a post about the campaign including ways you can get involved by doing your own boxes. They're a great way to not only help those in need but help encourage your children (should you have them) do the same.

Both posts will have different ways to take part which tie in with the niche of the blog. ChammyIRL will be very general whereas Modern Money Life will be practical, showing you how you can complete the challenge without it breaking the bank.

ChammyIRL post: https://www.chammyirl.co.uk/lifestyle/reverse-advent-calendar-2017/

Modern Money Life post: https://modernmoneylife.com/off-topic/reverse-advent-calendar-2017/ (live 16th October lunchtime)

How You Can Help

I'd like to try and provide more than one box of 25 items and this is where you come in! I'm inviting anyone to join in with the campaign but I understand that not everyone can donate 25 things to their own bank, although any amount helps. Instead, what I'm offering is the chance to donate a couple of ££'s to add to the box or boxes I'm already making.

Most items in my boxes will be £1 (on average) so if I can raise £25 that means two boxes will go to a local food bank, if I raise £50 then that's three in total. If I only raise £5 then that's just as good and it means there will be around five more items in my original box.

If you do donate and want your donation to go towards a specific item then let me know in the message. Most items will be food but there will also be things like toiletries, hygiene products and pet food.

At the end of the campaign there will be an updated post with images, total raised, other figures and a thank you to each person who donated (if their name is given).

If you want more details about the campaign then check out my blog posts on ChammyIRL and Modern Money Life (both worth a read). You'll find out more details about how you can take part, how you can follow what is going in my box (daily Instagram post) and a running total of how well my own campaign is going.

These boxes will be distributed in December and might just make the difference to a family over Christmas.

Thank you for supporting me and the rest of the UK Money Bloggers , have a great Christmas.