The aim of our #GiveLeeds campaign is to make it as easy as possible for you to support local charities and community groups.

One of the positives of an extremely difficult year has been the kindness and generosity shown by individuals, community groups and charities across Leeds.

In such challenging circumstances, community groups in Leeds have been there for us like never before.

Yet at the same time, their traditional ways of raising funds have all but dried up.

There have been no sponsored marathons. No cake sales in the office. No tin-rattling in the shopping centre.

So as demand has increased, income, for many community groups and charities, has dropped off a cliff.

This is where our #ZeroWasteChristmas campaign comes in

When we were planning this year's #ZeroWasteChristmas campaign, we came across an estimate of how much we waste on unwanted presents in the UK each year.

It equates to £500,000 wasted each year, by people in Leeds, on unwanted gifts.

That's such a waste. Of money. Of effort. Of all those resources that go into to making all those gifts that no-one wants.

This year more than any year, we want to do our bit to cut down on waste.

And as always, we aim to to keep things practical - giving people in Leeds ideas for things we can do in our daily lives to cut down on waste.

So we came up with the idea of #GiveLeeds.

Inspired by the excellent #BuyLeeds campaign , #GiveLeeds is a campaign to make it as easy as possible for you to donate to local charities and community groups. Here's Gill and Rob chatting more about it on our YouTube channel:

With traditional fundraising near-impossible this year, online fundraising matters more than ever. But sometimes smaller groups and charities don't have the time or resources to promote their campaigns.

That's where we come in. We're sharing our platform - with over 13,000 social media followers and counting - to tell stories of all the great work happening in Leeds - whilst pointing you to where you can donate directly to charities and community groups that are raising funds in Leeds.

Wouldn't it be great if, instead of wasting that £500,000 on unwanted gifts, we could donate as much to charities and community groups in our city?

To find out more - and donate - visit Give Leeds.

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