Share a little of that Christmas excess with those in need

For many people, Christmas is a time of excess, with sumptuous food and lots of presents. Others have very little, even at Christmas. But here in Switzerland you can help!

The 19th ‘2 x Christmas’ campaign starts on Thursday 24 December 2015 and will run until Saturday 9 January 2016. The basic idea behind the campaign is to share a bit of this excess with others.

If you would like to get involved and help to make someone in need especially happy this holiday season you have two possibilities. You can buy a parcel online or put together your own parcel and drop it off at any Post Office near to you. The Post transports the parcels to the Swiss Red Cross free of charge and volunteers sort the contents.

Half of the donations will then be distributed through cantonal Red Cross associations to social institutions and people in need across Switzerland. The rest of the goods will be transported to Eastern Europe: mainly Armenia, Belarus and Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Moldova. The local Red Cross societies are ensuring the correct distribution to the people in need which are mostly elderly, families with many children or social institutions.

Things to put in your parcel:

• Non-perishable foodstuffs such as pasta, rice, oil and tinned goods with a shelf life of at least six months
• Toiletries such as soap, shampoo and toothpaste
• School equipment such as stationery, crayons and exercise books for children
• New children's shoes

There is no need for special packaging. An old card board box that closes well is sufficient. Please don't donate any clothes because they are already provided via old clothes collections, and sorting them generates a lot of additional effort. Cuddly toys are also not needed.

Take your parcel to the nearest post office between 24 December 2015 and 9 January 2016, free of charge. The Post offices have printed address labels ready. All you have to say is say ‘2 x Christmas’.

www.2xweihnachten.ch/en

You can rely on Swiss Post for those letters to Santa

The twinklies are in the shops, the Christmas lights are going up around town, it’s almost that time of year again.

As we open our advent calendars on 1^st December I will also ask my daughters to write their letters to Santa this year so we can get them in the post nice and early. This is because the Swiss Post team (who do a wonderful job) will be replying to each and every letter sent to Father Christmas – around 18,000 letters.

However imaginatively the addresses have been written,  ‘Santa, North Pole,’ 'Father Christmas, Lapland,' ‘Père Noël, aux Rochers du Naye' or any other variation, they all reach the Swiss branch of the main Santa Claus post office in Chiasso.

This amazing service has continued for more than 60 years, with each letter being sorted by language and every sender receives a reply – in English, German, French, Italian or Romansch, and a small present – as long as they have provided their address. The envelopes are decorated with a special Christmas stamp and the postmark comes from the Berne-Bethlehem post office.

So don’t forget to get those letters to Santa early – and don’t forget to include your address. Have a lovely Advent time!